Update: Faliszek has confirmed to Shacknews that the update is on target for this week.

Original story: A major patch for the PC version of Left 4 Dead should arrive later this week, according to information from Valve that comes by way of forum fans.

Developer Chet Faliszek apparently detailed the patch in email responses to two fans, saying that the patch "got larger than [the team] would have liked." Read more »

In a Left 4 Dead blog post that rekindles memories of the great 2008 Diablo 3 darkness debate, developer Randy Lundeen has explained why Valve made the decision to lighten up the look of its tense zombie shooter.

Lundeen noted that in an early, much darker version of the game's lighting system, "Playtesters weren't able to see zombie silhouettes in the midground and background. Because of this, they were repeatedly getting mobbed." Read more »

Solid details on the first batch of Left 4 Dead downloadable content should be out "shortly," according to Valve writer Chet Faliszek. But, in true Valve tradition, it appears the announcement has already been postponed, as it was expected "before Christmas."

Though details are light, Faliszek confirmed that the upcoming download will bring new scenarios, as "what we want to do is just deliver more content you can play at this point." These new scenarios will be released on the "[Xbox] 360 at the same time as the PC," instead of receiving a later Xbox 360 release a la Valve's Team Fortress 2. Read more »

Want to play Left 4 Dead, but can't spare a megabyte? Left 4K Dead might be more your size.

A simple, free web game inspired by Valve's co-op shooter, Left 4K Dead was developed by Markus Persson for the 2009 Java 4k Competition--a straightforward contest that challenges programmers to program a game under 4KB in size. Read more »

Valve has released a server-side patch to thwart the "cheating behavior" allowed in the Xbox 360 version of Left 4 Dead, which saw safe rooms overrun with Witches by way of silly hackery.

"The fix is designed to halt the cheating behavior on the dedicated servers, which accounts for the majority of the co-op and Versus modes of play," writes Valve. Read more »

I've been called a cold-hearted individual, but even I felt a tinge of warmth creeping through my veins after watching this video of amateur game developer Foszor and his son Aidan "playing" Left 4 Dead.

With a few appropriate post-processing effects, a simple home movie became a charming, hilarious parody of Valve's shooter.

A new post on the official Left 4 Dead blog details the creation of the game's intro movie, and reveals the significant stages of iteration that went on behind the scenes to create the lengthy cinematic.

It's a great read, but the work-in-progress videos are even more interesting. Below is the first half of the "very first" animatic created by Valve's team. Read more »

Valve has just released a minor patch to Left 4 Dead, which addresses frustrations some users have reported with both the Versus mode and co-op difficulty settings.

In response to the nearly-impossible task of completing a stage on Expert difficulty in Versus mode, the difficulty has now been locked to Normal altogether. In co-op mode, the server will now switch to whatever difficulty the party has selected. Read more »

It's an undeadly sort of week for NPD's PC gaming sales chart, with Blizzard's World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King and Valve's Left 4 Dead taking the top spots on the US list for the week of November 16-22.

Sadly, PC juggernaut Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy has finally fallen from the chart, replaced by the Spore and Fallout 3-beating EverQuest II expansion The Shadow Odyssey. Read more »

Just in time for the happy holidays, Valve has rolled out the Left 4 Dead section of its online store, offering movie posters and T-shirts based on the horror game.

The shirts all run at an even $19.99, while each poster--all four being reproductions of the slick in-game one-sheets--cost $6.99. Those looking to grab all four of the posters can pick up some savings with the $14.99 four-pack. Read more »

With Left 4 Dead having been out for little over a week, developer Valve has released some in-game PC stats. In short, let's hope the zombie apocalypse never arrives.

As of this writing, less than 30% of those that play the co-op zombie shooter have been able to beat any of its four campaigns during one session, and only 36% have finished a campaign with all four players alive at the end. Oh, and 48% have caught a "rare strain of infection," and then passed it on to someone else. Not good folks, not good at all. Read more »

The day is here: Valve has shipped another game.

At this point, you've heard us go on and on about this one. Yes, Left 4 Dead is a great game. It's a fresh co-op experience, presented in unique movie-sized campaigns. If it sounds like you'd enjoy that kind of thing--or you liked the demo--it's an easy purchase.

But there is that pesky question of value, along with the possibility of hidden flaws. And so we trudged down to Valve HQ to review the full package ahead of time, playing countless hours of the game to answer a few necessary questions. Read more »

In less than two hours, Valve will unleash the zombie apocalypse. After numerous delays and setbacks, Left 4 Dead will finally be available for PC and Xbox 360, bringing the joy (and horror) of cooperative zombie-killing to an eager public.