Gabe Newell restates L4D1 support

Valve boss Gabe Newell has told concerned fans that Left 4 Dead support has not been scrapped to focus on the sequel, and promised that mod tools, community matchmaking, 4x4 matchmaking and more content for L4D1 would be released "during the coming months".

"Doing a sequel in one year is new for Valve. But providing ongoing support for our titles after the initial launch isn't - it has been part of our philosophy since Half-Life was released 10 and half years ago. We see no reason to change that and will continue to support the over three million customers in the L4D community," Gabe Newell told Kotaku.

"E3 is a trade event where developers and publishers come to announce new games for the coming year. L4D2, like any new product, requires an appearance at the show.

"Some in the community are concerned that the announcement of L4D2 implied a change in our plans for L4D1," he added. "We aren't changing our plans for L4D1."

Newell assured fans that both the original game and the sequel will be interoperable, as multiplayer games "are driven by the cohesiveness of their community".

Left 4 Dead 2 was unveiled at E3 and appeared to many as a beefed-up expansion pack Valve had simply bundled all promised Left 4 Dead 1 extra content into. Over 20,000 joined a Steam-based group threatening to boycott the release of the game unless demands were met.

Head over to our hands-on impressions of Left 4 Dead 2 from E3 for a fuller picture.

Left 4 Dead 2 will be released for PC and Xbox 360 on 17th November.