trivard676We speculated earlier that L4D might get a Nintendo release with Valve’s interest in the Wii – U. While we’d like to see our favourite zombie shooter make an appearance on Nintendo’s new console (or on the PS3, for that matter), there’s something else we’d like to see, too. You know, something we can get without having to pay for a new console with a wacky controller?
We can’t help but feel that Nintendo thinks we should have three arms
Valve has a history of being extremely generous to its PC fans. Today the company announced that Team Fortress 2, the definitive online class-based shooter is now free to play. The game now joins Portal, and loads of other free DLC that Valve has given to its PC fans at one time or another. With this announcement, we’ve seen all of our Steam-using friends download the title and its sure to spark new interest in the title. And while we’re not ones to look a gift horse in the mouth, we can’t help but wonder if a little bit of Left 4 Dead is waiting for us down the line.
Robin Walker of Valve says…
The data we got back from the Mann-conomy Update leads us to believe that TF2 would be more successful as a completely free product. With just the data from a single product, it seems dangerous to assume that it would be true for all our products. Either way, we’ll know a heck of a lot more in a couple of months, and that’s the kind of thing that gets us excited around the office.
The only disadvantage – on Valve’s end – to this is that unlike TF2, L4D doesn’t have an internal store. Valve can make up whatever loss there might be through various micro-transactions in TF2, but L4D doesn’t have any need for those micro-transactions. It’s part of what makes the game great, the simplicity of it all, without having to purchase items or accessories. Portal at one time, was free to play as well, however now it has a $9.99USD price tag. It should be noted as well (in case you didn’t already know) that there aren’t any micro-transactions in Portal, so it’s not as if a FTP L4D ‘can’t’ be done due to fiscal feasibility.
Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 have already been discounted a number of times, as often happens on Steam. Both titles still have good fan-bases, too and see a lot of online play. The implementation of fan-made campaigns also keeps the online community rolling at a fairly steady pace, and we’re happy to see some of the fan-made campaigns made into official DLC. However, like The Sacrifice comic that came before it, nothing quite drums up interest for your game like making it free. Perhaps to promote some new DLC?
…Or L4D3?
