Steam VR Datamine Sparks Hope For Left 4 Dead 3

I never thought that there would be a day in which I could be excited about a new Valve release, but recent times certainly have turned that notion up on its head. A datamine of the recent Steam VR update has dug up several programming strings indirectly mentioning both Half-Life: Alyx and Left 4 Dead; the latter of which stirring up hopes for a return of the property.

In the case of Left 4 Dead 3, strings referencing various characters and zombies from the L4D franchise were discovered. Within the lines of code, terms like ‘Namvet’, ‘Biker’, ‘Mechanic’, ‘Clown’, and ‘Hospital Patient’ can be found, all of which being descriptors of L4D1 and 2’s casts of survivors or campaign-specific zombie models. All of this would align well with what we know from previous leaks, which suggest that L4D3 was far into development upon cancellation, and that the game would feature both new and returning survivors, not to mention that L4D3 was going to support VR back during its development.

As for Half-Life, several strings have references to the various usable weapons Half-Life: Alyx, ranging from well-known items such as the Crowbar and the game’s Shotgun in addition to mentionings of an ‘Energy Gun’ and ‘Phys Gun’. There are also references to a new enemy type called the ‘Reviver’, and more importantly the Vortigaunts, the best thing to ever come out of the Half-Life series.

Of course, none of these leaks confirm anything, so as always taking everything with a respectable amount of salt. That being said, the announcement of Half-Life: Alyx and Valve’s interest in developing more Half-Life games leads me to believe that another debut of the Left 4 Dead franchise is definitely on the table, especially if Valve wants to generate even more excitement for VR as a gaming platform.

If you want a deeper exploration of everything found in the datamine then be sure to check out Valve News Network’s video below.