A Left 4 Dead patch yesterday added support for 4v4 Versus mode matchmaking, allowing teams of players to find matches against similarly organised opponents.

The feature was originally announced in April and its late arrival helped fuel the Left 4 Dead 2 boycott movement, who were dissatisfied with Valve's post-release support.

The sequel Left 4 Dead 2 arrives for PC and Xbox 360 on November 17. The demo is now available to everyone on all platforms, after opening to Live Silver members today.

Dead Before Dawn, the much-anticipated Left 4 Dead fan-made campaign based on the Crossroads Mall of Zack Snyder's zombie remake Dawn of the Dead, was released this Halloween weekend and can be found in a 1.1GB download over on FileShack.

This first public beta contains five maps--the finale arrives in a future release--of zombie mall fun for co-op or versus, complete with new props, sounds, music, voice-overs and even a new line from Francis, on show in the following pre-release teaser trailer.

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Several new games will soon be added to the Xbox 360 Platinum Hits lineup, Microsoft announced tonight.

Left 4 Dead, Grand Theft Auto 4, Street Fighter 4, Saints Row 2 and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed will all soon be branded with the Platinum moniker and appropriately discounted.

No updated pricing information was included in the release, with Microsoft only saying the games will be available for "as low as $19.99."

Retailers will also be running a "Buy 2, Get 1 Free" promotion on Platinum Hits games through October 31.

Following a ridiculous chain of events, Valve president Gabe Newell will finally be flying to Australia next week to meet a local modder that raised over $3000 for the trip.

The chain began with the modder, known as Joe W-A, finding it unfair that Valve flew several members of a Left 4 Dead 2 boycott group to the company's headquarters. "Why the hell haven't I been flown to Valve? I mean, you guys need to preview my campaign," he wrote to Newell in an email.

"We are boycotting your campaign," Newell replied, to which Joe W-A asked, "Does that mean I have to fly you here?" Newell raised the stakes: "Me and [Valve designer Erik Johnson]."

Unfazed by a $1200 Qantas price quote, Joe W-A solicited help from the gaming community, raising over $3000 for the trip. Valve public relations... Read more

Valve sent us six codes for the 360 version of the Left 4 Dead Crash Course DLC last night, but we're all too lazy to leave our computers to play video games, so we decided to give them away.

We've got the randomly-selected winners all picked out, and this is the post where you find out if you've won. Actually, if you've won, you probably already know it. Because you're a winner.

So to all you losers out there, this is what a winner looks like: ... Read more

As promised, Valve today released the downloadable "Crash Course" campaign for the PC and Xbox 360 editions of its cooperative zombie shooter Left 4 Dead.

The expansion, free for PC players and 560 MS Points ($7) for those on Xbox 360, delivers a new two-chapter campaign playable in single-player, co-op and competitive multiplayer. The download also adds several new maps for use in Survival mode.

In celebration of the DLC's release, Valve is offering 50% off the PC edition of the game--bringing it down to $14.99--until Saturday, October 2. The company has previously said that it plans to keep supporting the original Left 4 Dead even after Left 4 Dead 2 arrives on November 17.

"The primary goal of 'Crash' is to deliver a complete Versus mode experience in just 30 minutes, resulting in a streamlined version of the game's existing Versus campaigns," Valve explained, with patch notes for the PC version just below... Read more

Following through on its promise to deliver a batch of Left 4 Dead downloadable content by September's end, developer Valve today dated the "Crash Course" add-on for a September 29 release.

The download--free on PC, 560 MS Points ($7) on Xbox 360--brings new maps to the zombie shooter for use in Campaign and Versus. New Survival maps are included as well.

"The primary goal of Crash Course is to deliver a complete Versus mode experience in just 30 minutes, resulting in a streamlined version of the game's existing Versus campaigns," explained the company.

Though Left 4 Dead 2 is due out November 17, the company has pledged to "keep supporting Left 4 Dead 1," with more content apparently coming after Crash Course.

Fresh off their visit to Valve, the guys responsible for the Left 4 Dead 2 boycott committee are now saying the developer has even more DLC lined up for the original game.

"There is more DLC for Left 4 Dead coming after Crash Course," said boycott organizer Walking_Target on the group's Steam blog.

Tangent was allegedly told by Valve that the new content will at least consist of "a new special infected, a new campaign or new weapon(s)."

We've contacted Valve for confirmation on the news. Thanks to Gummy Joe for the tip.

The decision to charge for the Xbox 360 version of the upcoming "Crash Course" Left 4 Dead DLC was ultimately made by Microsoft, according to Valve's Chet Faliszek.

"We own our platform, Steam. Microsoft owns their platform. They wanted to make sure there's an economy of value there," said Faliszek to Eurogamer.

The first content release for Left 4 Dead, which included a new Survival mode and extra Versus maps, was free on both platforms. Crash Course, set to include a new campaign for the game, will be free on PC and cost 560 Microsoft Points ($7) on the 360.

"[Microsoft] helped us get the first one out for free," explained Faliszek. "We had the one DLC out for free. And I think... they have to look and say, wow, we're... Read more

When Valve announced Left 4 Dead 2 before mentioning that it would also be releasing Left 4 Dead 1 DLC, it caused many fans expecting an update before a full-priced sequel to cry foul.

Now Valve writer Chet Faliszek says the L4D1 DLC coming in September, dubbed Crash Course, was originally intended to be released prior to E3 and Left 4 Dead 2's announcement.

"I think in this case we just didn't message correctly," said Faliszek to Offworld. "We didn't make it clear that Left 4 Dead was still going to be updated. We just didn't think to mention it, we were focusing on other stuff."

"We, internally, always knew we were going to do cool new stuff, so we didn't say anything about the original game," he added. "Of course we also intended to get the Crash Course DLC for L4D out before E3, but some things held us up."

"I think if we had that out before the Left 4 Dead 2 announcement, then it would have been clearer for our intentions. Losing the opportunity to get that right hurt us, but I think we made the right choices otherwise."

Having already promised additional downloadable content for the original Left 4 Dead, developer Valve today announced that a new campaign entitled "Crash Course" will be released for the cooperative zombie shooter in September.

The downloadable add-on will be available to owners of the PC version at no cost, with Xbox 360 players needing to pony up 560 Microsoft Points ($7) for the experience.

"New locations, new dialogue from the original cast, and an explosive finale" were promised, with Valve noting that the download--meant to bridge the gap between the existing "No Mercy" and "Death Toll" campaigns--will also bring new Survival maps alongside the new single and multiplayer campaign.

"The primary goal of 'Crash' is to deliver a complete Versus mode... Read more

Valve released a Left 4 Dead patch today, adding a lobby browser to the multiplayer-focused co-op shooter.

"The lobby browser (under Play Online) will show you a list of optimal games available for you to join," writes Valve. "The browser pares down the thousands of lobbies and games currently being played to show you the best list of games available to you."

"This list includes official and add-on campaigns, including add-on campaigns you have not yet installed, making it a great way to discover them. You can filter by difficulty, official and/or add-on campaigns and by lobbies and/or games in progress."

The full patch notes follow:... Read more

Though Left 4 Dead 2 is slated to arrive on PC and Xbox 360 come November 17, developer Valve has reaffirmed that it will continue to support the original edition of its cooperative zombie shooter with as-yet-unspecified downloadable content.

"More info will be coming shortly on the [Left 4 Dead 1] DLC," Valve's Chet Faliszek told Shacknews, adding that the DLC will come in addition to enhancements, such as the promised team-based matchmaking update for the first Left 4 Dead.

"We plan to keep supporting Left 4 Dead 1," Valve marketing VP Doug Lombardi recently told CVG. "I think folks took our [E3] announcement [of Left 4 Dead 2] as a sign that we were dropping Left 4 Dead 1 and that's just not the case."

Lombardi noted that "there will be some announcements coming before summer's out about what's coming there," explaining that the internet's vocal... Read more

An update released today for Valve's zombie shooter Left 4 Dead allows users to easily download and play custom campaigns.

Content creators will now package their maps into a single .VPK file, which users can install with a simple double-click.

Players can manage their add-ons and campaigns within the game. Valve has also added matchmaking, leaderboards and auto-update/download support for custom maps.

Check below for the full patch notes:... Read more

Through the Left 4 Dead Blog, Valve has announced it will release a new update for its zombie shooter some time next week.

Focusing on custom campaigns, the update will provide mod authors with non-beta mod tools, which will now include source files for all of Valve's campaign maps, along with an example campaign add-on tutorial map.

The update will also allow content creators to use a new framework that will package their campaign content into a single .VPK file. These can then be installed by double clicking on them, or dropping them into Left 4 Dead's new 'addons' folder.

Lastly the update will rework the game's matchmaking system, providing support for these custom campaigns, while also making it easier to create a lobby.

The software development kit for Valve's zombie shooter Left 4 Dead were released to open beta today.

The SDK mod tools are now freely available to all owners of the game through Steam.

Valve has also released SketchUp Source tools, which allows modders to create content for the Source engine using Google SketchUp.

The full list of kit features follows:

• Updated Hammer, the Source level editor
• Suite of command line compiling utilities, such as studiomdl... Read more

Update: Valve has extended the free trial until 1pm EDT / 10am PDT on Saturday.

Original: With the full version of Left 4 Dead free-to-play until 7:59 PM EDT / 4:59 PM PDT today, developer Valve has kicked off a weekend-long 40% off sale on the PC edition.

That brings the price of the cooperative zombie shooter down to $23.99 in the United States. Thanks to a recent price drop, that means it's cheaper than ever before on Steam, with a previous $24.99 sale having brought about a 3000% sales increase.

The studio also announced that a new statistics page is available via Steam Community, enabling players to glimpse a multitude of gameplay-related figures, including weapon usage, accuracy, pill consumption, and damage dealt to teammates.

Thanks to Shacker ajvitaly for the tip.

Valve today announced that it will run a 24-hour free trial for its popular multiplayer shooter Left 4 Dead this Friday.

The trial will begin on Friday at 12:01 am GMT (8:01 pm EDT Thursday), and will include the recent Survival pack content. Those interested can pre-load the content ahead of time on Steam.

The first post-Survival patch for Left 4 Dead has gone live, fixing a number of exploits and bugs introduced in the free update.

The patch notably addresses exploits on several Survival mode maps. Tank-spawning bugs and leaderboard issues have also been alleviated.

The full list of changes:

• Darkened the Lighthouse background movie and increased the contrast with the user interface elements
• Chapter selection is now available when creating a Survival lobby
• Single player coop now works correctly after... Read more

The free Survival Pack update for Valve's multiplayer zombie-killer Left 4 Dead has been released on PC, following the debut of the Xbox 360 downloadable content this morning.

The update adds a new fast-paced Survival Mode and 16 specialized maps to the game, and enables the Dead Air and Death Toll campaigns to be played in Versus Mode.

Valve notes that both the PC and Xbox 360 editions of Left 4 Dead are "now available for a special price," with Steam selling the PC version at $39.99, a $10 price drop.

Patch notes for the PC version follow. Oddly, the notes don't mention the addition of the two campaigns to Versus, but Shacknews can confirm they have indeed been added.

Survival Mode
• New gameplay Mode
• 16 maps including Last Stand... Read more