Left 4 Dead Prequel by Valv- Overkill!

[KingOfSentinels]

Payday: The Heist developer Overkill Entertainment is working on a prequel to Valve's Left 4 Dead, a reliable source has told CVG.

The PSN dev announced a partnership with Valve late last month, although it wasn't immediately clear what form its collaboration would take.
We're now told its a game that will tell the story of the zombie outbreak that happened before the original Left 4 Dead games.

In its vague announcement Overkill described the project as a "very cool blend of Payday and Left 4 Dead".

"As perceptive gamers will have noticed, several hints have recently been dropped into Payday: The Heist, which has led to various rumors," a statement read. "We are excited to be able to confirm that an in-depth collaboration between Overkill and Valve is currently in production.

"We are working on a very cool blend of Payday and Left 4 Dead. I am sure it is so exciting that it will have some players check into the hospital before we are done."

Overkill was recently acquired by The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, The Darkness and Syndicate maker Starbreeze.

A sequel to Payday: The Heist is also currently in the works.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...om-payday-dev/

I'd prefer just Valve, no way Overkill can match the high-quality standard Valve's games always have, hopefully they'll pull Overkill up rather than Overkill pull Valve down; but it's about time we get a new L4D! Old survivors and a good setting plz. It's a prequel, no reason we can't be Francis, Louis, Bill and Zoey again.

Sounds like it could be more storyline oriented too.

[Sinful Sam]

Yeah... I rather see Valve develop it but I'm guessing they are busy with another project.

[calintz]

busy on half life thr...

haha yeah i couldn't finish that sentence without cracking up

[Alucard]

Christ now they're too lazy to make their own games. Ignoring this completely unless it proves to be good.

[Sinful Sam]

They are too busy completing Half life 3!!! That has to be it. Right!? Right!?

[bujeezus]

Originally Posted by calintz

busy on half life thr...

haha yeah i couldn't finish that sentence without cracking up

lol! awesome!

[zechin]

Too busy implementing all the hats from their steam catalogue into half life 3 for Gordon Freeman to wear.

[KingOfSentinels]

^ More likely.

[Einhander]

Originally Posted by Alucard

Christ now they're too lazy to make their own games. Ignoring this completely unless it proves to be good.

OMG WE AGREE

[KingOfSentinels]

Remember they are partnering with Overkill, not hiring them; Valve will still be working on the game too, though Overkill will likely be taking the lead on it.

You say they're lazy but they're currently working on both Counter-Strike: GO and Dota 2, both of which are in Beta and one of which is having a second massive tournmanet organised by Valve, they've said HL3 is still in the works, all the while Steam continues to be supported, TF2, Portal 2 and L4D2 content is still being released/worked on, and the Steam Workshop feature is continuing to be developed by a studio of ~200, which is relatively small when places like Bioware have 800+, and they still manage to be awesome.

Valve are one of the least 'lazy' developers out there...

[Alucard]

No, they're lazy, always have been. I think Gabe mentioned how everyone in the office was too busy playing WoW or some game I totally forget, and they'd gotten a little behind. hmm...no not WoW.. oh well, moral is they are lazy. They dont rush anything and take forever. Overkill is making the game with valve peering over their shoulder at times. Otherwise Valve wouldnt waste their resources hiring them if they planned to do it themselves.

[KingOfSentinels]

And look what happens when they don't rush anything; they produce awesome software. Being lazy =/= taking your time with things. It's not 'lazy' for them to be extensively Beta testing both Dota 2 and CS:GO before release, and if every studio did that we wouldn't have Diablo 3-type launches anymore, and it's not like that's all they doing. They're also kicking every other DD outlet's arse and probably working on more games too. Gabe's comments would have been tongue-in-cheek like they always are.

But looks like this rumour has been shot down anyway.

Valve Software has rebutted claims that Sweden studio Overkill is developing a direct prequel to its 2008 hit title Left 4 Dead.

Chet Faliszek, a developer at the Washington based studio, said there would be some kind of creative cross-pollination between Valve and Overkill, but without wanting to reveal any further details he said: "I want to make sure that people don't think the prequel is coming".

Overkill, formed in part by executives at the defunct studio Grin, broke onto the scene with its co-op shooter Payday The Heist for PSN and PC. The studio revealed last month that it was collaborating with Valve.

But Faliszek told PCGamesN that such a partnership will not extend as far as sharing duties on a new Left 4 Dead game.

"Those guys are still making Payday: The Heist, we're still making Left 4 Dead," he said.

"We're trying to be a little coy and a little fun because we want the communities to discover the collaboration for themselves," he added.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...l-by-overkill/

So they're still making L4D then. Good.

[Drunken Savior]

L4D3 will come out before HL3.

[Alucard]

They need to be less coy and more blunt. Dont piss off your fanbase. Worst thing you can do.

[KingOfSentinels]

So it's a cross-over between the two games!

I've been looking forward to seeing how the whole Payday: The Heist and Left 4 Dead crossover was going to happen. Today, we're treated to the debut trailer which shows the clown-faced criminals of Payday in Left 4 Dead's No Mercy hospital.

The Payday criminals are at the hospital on a mission to retrieve some blood from a patient in quarantine. Is this perhaps patient zero, and is this what unleashes the whole outbreak in the first place? The YouTube description asks "Have you ever wondered how the Left 4 Dead series began?" Followed by, "It started with a heist!"

As far as crossovers go, this is looking really awesome.

http://www.destructoid.com/payday-s-...l-229602.phtml

Can see the trailer for it at the link, and it does look pretty awesome. Big fan of Left 4 Dead, specifically the first one, and it looks like a really cool cross-over. I'm guessing Valve helped with the No Mercy hospital and may even have helped finance this project I'm going to guess at. Woo!

Never actually paid Payday: The Heist, but might have to look into it. Gameplay looks fun.