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.

Come 12:00 AM EST, Valve will flip the switch and open the floodgates, allowing everyone who's purchased and pre-loaded via Steam to start playing on PC. Read more »

Valve has unleashed another TV commercial on the eve of the release of Left 4 Dead, its high-intensity, zombie-fleeing shooter for PC and Xbox 360.

Fans of TV commercials can watch the new commercial below, and even the first TV spot from the day before Halloween.

Left 4 Dead ships to retailers tomorrow and unlocks tonight at midnight EST for customers using the Steam digital distribution service. Read more »

As those who played the recent demo will be aware of, each of Left 4 Dead's four movie-sized acts is introduced by loading screen art done up in the style of a film one-sheet poster, complete with campy quips and a full credit list.

Valve today released the posters as downloadable images, any of which will surely serve as stylish desktop backgrounds in anticipation of the co-op zombie shooter's November 18 release. Read more »

Valve has issued a press release proclaiming that its zombie-fleeing shooter Left 4 Dead is finished, off to the presses, and is now pre-loading for customers who have bought the game in advance over the company's Steam digital distribution service.

The developer announced that the game will unlock at 12:01 am EST on November 18. Customers who buy the game before then will receive a 10% discount and will be able to download the game in advance, though it will not be playable until the unlock time. Read more »

Following through on its previous promise, Valve has publicly released the downloadable PC and Xbox 360 demos for its cooperative zombie shooter Left 4 Dead.

Featuring two levels from the first of the game's four acts, the Xbox 360 demo is now available to download from the Xbox Live Marketplace and supports online play for up to four players. It was released last week to GameStop pre-order customers. Read more »

Gamers were pleasantly surprised to find that support for PC splitscreen play was available in the demo of Valve's Left 4 Dead by way of a simple console command.

However, after the most recent patch to the demo quietly removed splitscreen support, those same gamers were left wondering whether the "feature" would make it into the final release of the game.

Valve designer Yahn Bernier has answered the question in a post on the Steam forums: Read more »