According to reports from Express Gaming, Valve may be working on Left4Dead 3. Citing unknown sources, the article says that the title has been given a 2017 release date.
The reports also claim that the four main characters have been given names, including “gangster Irvin, comic book nerd Keenan and famous Kenpo fighter Garrett Jr,” and a woman named Katherine. The sources are unvetted, but the site seemed confident enough to publish the reports.
Left 4 Dead 2 released back in 2009, and in addition to spawning numerous mods, fan art, and other love from its community, has also left a trail of rumors and hopeful reports in its wake. While potential reports or hints Half-Life 3 get more attention, players are almost as hopeful for evidence of Left 4 Dead 3, leading to claims of the game's release.
Many were hoping that Evolve, the team-based shooter which released last year by Turtle Rock Studios (the same team that worked on the Left 4 Dead games at Valve), could serve as a spiritual successor to Left 4 Dead 2. The game suffered much criticism upon release, however, for a shallow amount of content and what some called a predatory DLC strategy. This led to one analyst citing only 300,000 units sold in the game’s launch month. A few weeks later, the game’s concurrent player rate dropped significantly.
Hopefully fans won’t have to wait too long for another good entry in the genre, whether it be Left 4 Dead 3 or another more successful asymmetrical shooter.