By John Walker on February 11th, 2009 at 6:46 pm.
The matter’s settled. The DLC for Left 4 Dead will be absomolutely free on PC and 360. Valve have proclaimed the good news about the L4D Survival Pack, which we describe in words here. Quite how Valve have managed to get something out on 360 without forcing the masses to tithe to the Redmond Beasts we don’t know, but that’s not our problem anyway.
The Survival Pack will include the mysterious “Survival” multiplayer mode (I’m going to take a guess – it’s a mode where you see how long you can survive for, without safe rooms?), as well as Versus modes for Death Toll and Dead Air. And of course the PC version will come with the much-awaited SDK gubbins. Carry on.
11/02/2009 at 18:48 DragonSix says:
When ?
11/02/2009 at 18:50 NukeLord says:
Good to know, didn’t think they’d be charging for it.
Looking forward to it, whenever the hell it’s coming.
11/02/2009 at 18:51 jon says:
Was it ever not going to be free? *Grumbles at the scaremongering idiots on Steamforums*
11/02/2009 at 18:51 The_B says:
From what I’ve heard, I believe Survival Mode also takes away revivals and health pickups, so once you’re down, you’re out.
11/02/2009 at 18:51 Theoban says:
*angry comment about quality concerns due to it being free*
Just so this isn’t completely free of unaccountably angry posts.
11/02/2009 at 18:52 Fumarole says:
I hope the AIMs feel silly right about now.
11/02/2009 at 18:53 Rob says:
While I think that Valve of all companies could probably have gotten away with charging, I’m very glad they’ve stuck with their tried and tested free post-release support. Good way to maintain customer loyalty, one would think.
11/02/2009 at 18:54 Bret says:
That explains the reluctance, actually. They weren’t sure if they could make it free on the 360, so…
Makes sense. Shoulda known to trust Valve. ALL HAIL KING VAVE!
11/02/2009 at 18:55 Sp4rkR4t says:
They should have charged the 360 users, just for shit’s n giggles.
11/02/2009 at 19:07 Naurgul says:
The survival mode actually is a mode that you get a fortified place and your score is how long you can survive before getting overwhelmed.
11/02/2009 at 19:10 sbs says:
ALL HAIL KING VAVE
11/02/2009 at 19:11 LewieP says:
I am probably going to have to pick up L4D now, especially since it can be gotten on PC for a mere ten quid.
11/02/2009 at 19:14 James G says:
@Bret
Yeah, I think you are right on that. They were waiting to get the go ahead on the 360 pricing before they made the announcement. I’m glad that Valve have managed to swing the favour for out console brethren as well, makes everything nice and fluffy.
11/02/2009 at 19:27 sbs says:
LewieP: Sweet, but caution advised:
“That “G2Play” site is not legit. They are an unauthorized reseller selling retail keys without retail boxes. Valve have a stict policy in place when it comes to just selling game CD Keys – and those guys were operating under the radar up until a few weeks back when Valve became aware of them.
This occured a few years back with another site just selling CD Keys, and Valve region locked the CD Keys. If this occurs there is a chance that you will be unable to play the game if you are outside the “region” the CD Key was first originally allocated to.”
source
11/02/2009 at 19:27 cyrenic says:
Comon, this is the internet people. Let’s complain about how the PC content is obviously being delayed so it can release at the same time as the 360 content.
11/02/2009 at 19:29 LewieP says:
sbs:
I’m pretty sure since they are in the EU, that would be illegal. I know of the example you are talking about, but wasn’t that a Chinese site?
11/02/2009 at 19:31 Tomo says:
Win!
11/02/2009 at 19:34 Markoff Chaney says:
ALL HAIL KING VALVE!
I must say I’m shocked at the free DLC for the 360 though. I’d love to hear how that passed by the boys in Redmond.
11/02/2009 at 19:36 A-Scale says:
To be honest, considering that Valve didn’t announce it would be free when it was first discussed, I think two of the following scenarios occurred
1. They wanted to see public reaction to it not being declared free, and if most of the feedback was “I’d pay anything for new content!” they would charge for it. Since people flipped, we get it free.
2. They were still in negotiations with Microshaft, and as such didn’t want to announce the kit and kaboodle as free, or put off 360 users by only declaring the PC part free.
11/02/2009 at 19:38 Galen says:
Personally, I like to imagine the way Valve managed to get free DLC on the 360 is by telling Microsoft that either it was going to be free, or it wasn’t going to happen. Even Microsoft had to cave under the unstoppable might of Valve.
11/02/2009 at 19:38 Tei says:
Not only I am happy that will be free on the PC, but I am happy that somehow Valve has break the microsoft iron curtain and break his rules. Or maybe Valve is paying money to Microsoft for the distribution and hosting cost.
11/02/2009 at 20:03 Pags says:
And once more my reading-between-the-lines fails me. Curse you Valve for doing the right thing!
11/02/2009 at 20:06 Alex says:
I really like Left 4 Dead, but this Survival mode doesn’t sound that exciting to me. It basically sounds like that patched in arena mode from the lone Sin Episode- endlessly respawning waves of similar enemies, with your score based on how long you can hold out.
11/02/2009 at 20:29 Ian says:
Valve like us. They want to make us smiley and warm.
11/02/2009 at 20:31 roBurky says:
I think that’s excellent news about the 360 update being free, even though I don’t own a 360. Hopefully this is going to pave the way for all the other devs who have been trying and failing to get their updates releases on 360 for free.
11/02/2009 at 20:36 Oddtwang says:
@Fumarole: Why would they be shamed? They stuck it to the man!
11/02/2009 at 20:46 Wacky says:
I don’t get something though,if this DLC is free,why are they releasing “The Editor’s Choice” version which is supposed to contain both the game and the DLC?
11/02/2009 at 20:53 JonFitt says:
I know how the Xbox360 price happend: Gabe Newell beat Major Nelson in a golden fiddle contest.
It was awesome.
11/02/2009 at 20:53 SwiftRanger says:
Nice marketing move here, say nothing about DLC being free in the first official statement so people wonder/worry about it, wait a week or so and then give out another statement of it being free. The more this come in the news the better for Valve.
I don’t think it has something to do with waiting for players’ reactions or that they were still negotiating with MS, this is just how their PR plays. :)
11/02/2009 at 20:53 Smurfy says:
WTF I DEMAND THEY MAKE THE 360 DLC PAID-FOR! It’ll teach those damn consolefags to play on the 360! VENGEAAANCE!!!
11/02/2009 at 21:05 Lobotomist says:
Right choice, Valve
11/02/2009 at 21:17 Little Green Man says:
Smurfy wins +1 internet.
11/02/2009 at 21:24 Naurgul says:
Wacky – PR, mostly, I say. A new box means new shelf life. The Witcher did the same thing as well.
SwiftRanger – Nice to see I’m not completely paranoid to have thought of this possibility. Still, it seems far fetched, mainly because there would be people who would be concerned with the first announcement but then the second one doesn’t reach them. So, that would be too risky a move, that’s my conclusion. I don’t completely dismiss the possibility that this is what happened, though.
11/02/2009 at 21:25 bitkari says:
Cunning!
1. Create great game on both platforms.
2. Offer FREE content to PC version…
3. Oblige Microsoft to allow FREE content on Das Xbox too, lest it look decidedly inferior to the PC.
Nice.
11/02/2009 at 21:31 DeuceMojo says:
@Nuke Lord:
You look like an S1W at the swimming pool. That’s awesome.
Thanks be to God, it’s 100% free for Xbox. I thought for sure they were going to hang us out to dry for 800 MS Points, which I think equals $12.
I will so be into this game again when this happens. Hell, I might even start playing it before teh new content arrives.
11/02/2009 at 21:36 Al3xand3r says:
It’s probably free because even Microsoft understand it’s more of an update than actual meaningful new content. The new mode doesn’t also involve new maps, does it? On the other hand, enabling the final two campaigns in Versus mode is hardly worth money, it should have been available from the start even. I’m expecting actual new maps to be paid for as usual via Microsoft.
11/02/2009 at 21:37 Paul Moloney says:
All hail Valve, even though – sotto voce – I admit I got a little bored with L4D. Or, at least, got more excited by GTAIV. But I’ll definitely revisit at some stage to play the DLC.
P.
11/02/2009 at 21:37 RabidZombie says:
“basically sounds like that patched in arena mode from the lone Sin Episode”
Which happened to be my fav part of the game.
11/02/2009 at 22:16 Thomas Lawrence says:
This is highly speculative, but I can’t help but wonder if earlier ambiguity from Valve as to the freeness or otherwise of the DLC was a sort of trial balloon to see how the community felt about it? Perhaps that’s too paranoid a scenario.
Anyway, glad to hear it definitely will be free. Valve are well aware how their strong reputation for after-release support drives both initial sales of their titles and further sales spikes when the new content arrives. Trading away the certainty of that reputation for an additional revenue stream was probably not going to be a savvy move in the long term.
11/02/2009 at 22:26 Malagate says:
I’m not sure I understand why people are looking down upon a Survival mode where you would possibly be surviving as long as possible either on a map or in a barricaded location. It’s almost as if they haven’t heard of the pant-wetting terror that was the lone survival mode in the AVP game, or some of the better survival maps in the zombie mods for various HL games. It all depends on execution, and I’d imagine Valve will be taking the time to try for the perfect execution.
11/02/2009 at 22:36 sigma83 says:
The major concern I have for a survival mode is pacing. The various crescendos and finales in L4D are harrowing because they’re capstones. They’re the meat on top of mayo, but without the mayo the meat is dry. Sort of thing.
11/02/2009 at 22:42 Big Boomer says:
Is it just me or why isn’t there an f’in OFFICIAL post from someone at Valve or on Valve’s website stating that the Left 4 Dead DLC will be free? Seriously here people, what is the source of this information?
11/02/2009 at 22:45 Rich_P says:
If survival mode really is about defending a roof or room against endless zombie waves, I’ll probably get off my ass and buy L4D by staying on my ass and buying it from Steam.
Survival mode appeals to the part of my brain that loves tower defense and “DEFEND THE ALAMO!”-type scenarios.
11/02/2009 at 23:09 cowthief skank says:
Big Boomer: There is this http://store.steampowered.com/news/
11/02/2009 at 23:11 PHeMoX says:
No surprise there, as they initially promised us that the Survival mode would be included in the first release.
I might buy Left 4 Dead soon, the demo was more fun than I had expected. Too bad it had a time-limit. :p
11/02/2009 at 23:12 Rei Onryou says:
Ah Valve, sweet Valve. You’ve done it again. Not just free PC, but paid 360 (like most things), but you twisted the M$’s arm around to your way of thinking.
It’s only a matter of time until DLC as we know it falls to the power of PC’s free thinking mindframe.
Just for this, I’m tempted to buy a game off of Steam as a way of saying “thanks”.
11/02/2009 at 23:34 sbs says:
Please, as a favor to me, don’t do that “M$” thing anymore, ok? Please?
11/02/2009 at 23:36 rabbitsoup says:
I think i’d be more likely to buy if they let me play survival mode the ADD part of my FPS brain was bored stiff by the demo.
i like the concept but reality was more : “o noes 20 zombies” bish bash bosh… no zombies. they go down sooo easy i feel no fear and thus get no thrill, even the witch was more or less a walkover
12/02/2009 at 00:10 TooNu says:
*Big opinion words*
*I agree with blaa blaa*
*I disagree with blaa blaa*
*Digression*
*Slight agreement*
*rar angry internet man*
*repeat for every RPS article*
12/02/2009 at 00:39 Arathain says:
Is anyone else thinking Versus on Dead Air will be really, really good?
12/02/2009 at 00:50 James Brophy says:
Yay! When though? Seriously… WHEN?!?!?!
12/02/2009 at 01:35 Saul says:
It amuses me that some people are complaining that Survival mode sounds boring BEFORE THEY EVEN KNOW FOR SURE WHAT IT IS. And seriously– they’re not taking out the other modes. You don’t have to play the new one if it isn’t your thing!
Always knew Valve would come through with the free-ness. Am impressed that they’ve pulled it on Xbox too.
And sbs, I’ll keep spelling it M$I$C$R$O$$$O$F$T until the day they go down in flames. Then I shall rejoice.
12/02/2009 at 01:49 Bret says:
This is Valve. Valve, an awesome group of people who make great, well tested games.
So, when Hell freezes over, probably. Timeliness is not one of their virtues.
12/02/2009 at 02:01 MetalCircus says:
As many have said ALL HAIL KING VALVE!
12/02/2009 at 02:04 MetalCircus says:
Rabbitsoup: That’s because it’s not TRYING to scare you, you ninny! It’s a game about teamplay! Resident Evil 2 might be more your bag if it’s scares your after.
12/02/2009 at 02:38 FuzzDad says:
Seems to me Valve probably discussed ROI on their previous DLC PC-based content w/MS and MS looked at their failures with their e-marketing and GFW and had an epiphany: “So…you give stuff away and your customers stay loyal and buy your next triple A release based on faith?”
12/02/2009 at 03:01 Nick says:
Nope, I don’t feel silly, most of the actual anger kicked off after the Edge post which was extremely misleading and before that it was mostly ‘huh.. its not stating it will be free, why not?’. I’m happy it will be free.
12/02/2009 at 03:44 Heliocentric says:
THE INFECTION IS A LIE, YOUR ATTACKERS ARE ANGRY INTERNET MEN.
12/02/2009 at 04:21 markcocjin says:
For all those 360 L4D players that long for the patched up version of the game…
Prepare to die often and easily on expert more than you thought possible. The game is tougher and more challenging. I had a zombie drop from a ledge on me and with only a few slaps to my brand new health, I fell to the ground pewpewing my tiny pistol.
Prepare to be molested like the first time you played. That is unless they nerfed it for the console. On PC, you won’t survive on your own closet meleeing a horde.
12/02/2009 at 04:22 Arathain says:
Helio, I shall never play L4D in quite the same way.
12/02/2009 at 05:49 DBeaver says:
*Does the Can-Can*
12/02/2009 at 07:40 Right2Life says:
SBS, you get normal spellings of Micro$oft when I can get just one comment thread online talking about Valve without someone proclaiming them as some kind of shiny saints.
“All Hail King Valve!” (I saw what you did with the Vave, btw. That was funny)
Sigh.
12/02/2009 at 08:28 Tei says:
@Helio.
Is a well know fact, that a FPS engine could be modded to make so the mosters repressent users or programs on a real system.
http://www.cs.unm.edu/~dlchao/flake/doom/
So If a monster is killed the users is logout or the task killed.
So the survivors are BOFH Forum Moderators.
12/02/2009 at 09:11 rabbitsoup says:
@ metalcircus
thats problay the problem then, i played it with some savy FPS guys and gals form TF2. the team play bit was a piece of piss
12/02/2009 at 09:42 Aramis says:
Not to detract from what Valve are doing, but Criterion have managed to release oodles of free DLC for Burnout Paradise without any noticable problems.
12/02/2009 at 09:50 Don says:
@Bret
>This is Valve. Valve, an awesome group of people who make great, well tested games.
If you’ve ever tried ‘Campaign>Play online>Find a game in progress’ you’d know that is not entirely true. The gameplay in L4D is great and has been well tested but the whole connectivity side is a steaming heap. The above gets you connected to a game about 1 time in 5, though about half of those successes will connect you to a Versus game which is not what you asked for. It’s usual result is to try to connect to a server which it then says is full, or loses the connection, or hangs while trying to connect, plus the odd crash to desktop. And when it fails it kicks you back up the menu levels so you have to click like a monkey to try again. Not a great advertisement for Valve’s testing skills.
12/02/2009 at 10:09 Ecko says:
Seriously though guys, I’m confused, why are you Now going to buy Left4Dead? It’s brilliant and you get a lot of playtime for what you’re buying.
But that assumes you are a social person I concede.
12/02/2009 at 10:46 Dave Gates says:
God bless Valve, the last bastion of the real gamer.
12/02/2009 at 11:05 Tei says:
@Don: I suppose the engine is not designed for this type of stuff, or the matchmaker itself would reserver a slot for you, and handle you with it. I suspect the matchmaker *see* a free slot, but by the time you try to connect, another guy has it, because has connect directly, trough the gamebrowser, or trough a concurrent matchmaker suggestion. This result in humurous error messages, like “there are too much humans”, “the server is full of humans”, “there are 6/4 humans” and other computer human-hate comments. I suppose Valve don’t want to make the matchmaker smarter and I don’t blame then, because …will you make smarter a machine soo full of hatred for humanity?
12/02/2009 at 11:23 Fitzmogwai says:
sings the Flight of the Conchords’ Robots song
12/02/2009 at 12:03 clovus says:
Oh good, that got patched away? I was stunned the first time I saw someone do that. Everyone was down and they backed into a corner and started meleeing away. For some reason I wanted the guy to die, but the infected bodies just kept piling up. I found this disappointing. OTOH, I did get a rush when I did it myself the first time. Either way, I’ll be glad to find the meleeing nerfed. I’m just waiting for L4D to hit the right price…
@Smurfy
consolefags? Really? RPS!=\b\, I hope. Or should I feel comfortable throwing the word “britfags” around now?
Is Valve just getting around the DLC must be paid for rule by calling it a “patch”. Patches are free on XBox Live, right?
12/02/2009 at 12:12 Heliocentric says:
Britfags are cigarettes, do try to keep up.
12/02/2009 at 12:30 Diogo Ribeiro says:
Yes, don’t take the expression “light up a fag” the wrong way, mmmkay?
12/02/2009 at 17:25 Nick says:
*lights up a flag*
Whoops.
12/02/2009 at 20:09 EyeMessiah says:
@A-Scale
“Since people flipped, we get it free.”
/salute internet
12/02/2009 at 21:13 clovus says:
::BLUSHES:: Dang it, I really did know that “fags” are cigarettes in England, so you can understand my embarrassment here. I also obviously misunderstood what Smurfy was trying to say! It’s good to know he wasn’t using the word “fag” in an offensive way, just in a nonsensical way. I was also unaware that using “Brit” in a portmanteau requires that the rest of the word to be interpreted in the King’s English. That rule trumps the whole “we are on the internet and I even referred to the meme factory that this suffix comes from.” Me fail english? Unpossible!
12/02/2009 at 21:15 Nick says:
Also just because one idiot says it, doesn’t mean you should too.
12/02/2009 at 21:39 Klaus says:
It seems he meant consolefag as in… well, consolefag. From my interwebs knowledge. I’d assume he meant ‘one who greatly prefers consoles to computers’. Whether he used it in an offensive way is up to the interpreter.
I’m of the opinion the internet has it’s own lexicon, and on it britfag does not mean cigarette.
12/02/2009 at 22:21 Funky Badger says:
Umm, guys, there’s lots of free DLC on teh Xbox.
12/02/2009 at 23:58 Thomas Lawrence says:
@Arathain: yhou can already play Dead Air on Versus if you want. The best way is to find and download the Versus versions of the maps that have been put together, but you can also achieve a reasonable look at how it will play with console commands:
start the game on Dead Air or Death Toll in Campaign mode
bring up the console
enter:
sv_cheats 1
director_no_human_zombies 0
sb_all_bot_team 1
Then hit M and change to the Infected. Congratulations, you;re playing single-player versus on Dead Air/Death Toll. (It will however switch back to Campaign mode when the next map is loaded, which is why getting the custom maps is better).
13/02/2009 at 13:10 catska says:
You guys are hilarious. Ever hear of Battlefield: Bad company, Crackdown, and Burnout Paradise (a game that just came to PCs a year after the consoles)? Yeah. They all got significant free DLC so get off your high horses and realise DLC is a game by game situation (horse armor) and not some set in stone rule that consoles all have paid DLC that the PC gets for free.
13/02/2009 at 13:18 Jante says:
The only reason games like Bad Company got free DLC was because EA told Microsoft that they would release it for free on the Playstation Network. Hence, Microsoft couldn’t charge any bux for it because that would just give Sony an exclusive DLC.
16/02/2009 at 04:53 DiscoMonkay says:
Seeing as i dont have teh xbox or el computer(or atleast a good one) getting a valve game on ps3 would be nice, (orange box was ported by ea)
19/03/2009 at 04:55 daada says:
sucks dis game SUCKS TO THE CORE!!!
05/04/2009 at 00:26 inf says:
wow valve released something for free that should be free
people bitching about EVIL MICROSOFT is getting old. guess what guys its greedy publishers charging stupid amounts for horse armour, not ms
18/04/2009 at 07:30 Tommy says:
Im new here is a DLC something you have to buy or something you have to update to your xbox 360
11/05/2009 at 09:06 joshua says:
im not looking for this im looking for website that has something that i can download the game