Left 4 Dead 2 sales very much alive


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Fending off a zombie apocalypse still garners plenty of appeal to video game players.

Developers Valve Software have revealed that 2 million copies of cooperative zombie shooter Left 4 Dead 2 were sold worldwide since its debut November 17. Sales to date for the follow-up to 2008's Left 4 Dead are more than double the original game.

In a statement, Valve cites last week's Black Friday promotions for the unexpected sales surge. Some retailers such as Amazon were selling the game for as low as $39.99, roughly $20 less than the standard new game release.

Left 4 Dead 2's strong start could also be attributed to an aggressive marketing blitz from Valve, who spent $25 million to promote the title.

Also, news on downloadable content for the title is "coming very soon," says Doug Lombardi, Valve's marketing vice president.

Left 4 Dead 2 follows four survivors of a zombie apocalypse, as they attempt to escape hordes of the undead invading the southern United States. Check out our review of the game for more details.

USA TODAY

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who spent $25 million to promote the title

Wow. For whatever reason that number seemed really high to me, but I guess you have to spend money to make money.

Even if you put that average price of each sale of the game at $40, that still means they made 80 million dollars. Take away another $25 million for development cost (which I am just guesstimating and would assume it is actually much lower but I also never would have thought they would spend 25 million on advertising) and that is still a profit of 30 million bucks.

Now imagine if the "community" was in agreement with it not being just a glorified expansion pack? :laugh:

I tend to still view them as a small developer, especially since I was fortunate enough to visit their main office in Seattle, but the truth is they are one of the big dogs so to speak, especially with Steam, but I still feel if anyone deserves to make money, it it is Valve. They are probably my favorite developer of all time just from a consistency high quality standpoint.

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Their $25M investment is paying off. I'm actually surprised they made twice as many sales as Left 4 Dead. Valve is, in my opinion, one of the best developers out there.

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To be honest I don't really know what the advertisment was/is to total $25 million? Haven't really seen anything about L4D2 anywhere :p

But it might just be because I'm not looking, not all that interested. I'll play TF2 over L4D any day, but both quality titles from Valve.

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To be honest I don't really know what the advertisment was/is to total $25 million? Haven't really seen anything about L4D2 anywhere :p

But it might just be because I'm not looking, not all that interested. I'll play TF2 over L4D any day, but both quality titles from Valve.

I was just about to say the opposite, maybe they didn't show many commercials across the pond. :p I can't remember a game (outside of Halo 3) where I saw its commercial so many times, they really got L4D2 out there in terms of making it visible to more of the general public. It just goes to show that it definitely makes a difference in sales especially when this was supposed to be the big "boycott".

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I was just about to say the opposite, maybe they didn't show many commercials across the pond. :p I can't remember a game (outside of Halo 3) where I saw its commercial so many times, they really got L4D2 out there in terms of making it visible to more of the general public. It just goes to show that it definitely makes a difference in sales especially when this was supposed to be the big "boycott".

Probably true, game adverts on Freeview over here are either on really late/stupid times, or on obscure channels :p

The only adverts I ever really see is PS3 adverts before Champions League Football as Sony are a sponsor, and the odd MS 360 advert during normal viewing hours. I did see an AC2 advert the other week to be fair. Not seen one L4D2 advert though - I'm sure Munky will come in to say I'm blind and there's been tons on our TV ;)

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To be honest I don't really know what the advertisment was/is to total $25 million? Haven't really seen anything about L4D2 anywhere :p

But it might just be because I'm not looking, not all that interested. I'll play TF2 over L4D any day, but both quality titles from Valve.

Well, I've seen tons of billboards driving around -- both in Dallas and in minor markets. I've also seen the TV commercials plenty of times.

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All those suckers that paid for a glorified expansion pack. I'm still boycotting.

All those suckers getting their panties into a twist over a few dollars difference between this and what an expansion may cost. I'll just enjoy playing the game regardless of how its packaged.

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Their $25M investment is paying off. I'm actually surprised they made twice as many sales as Left 4 Dead. Valve is, in my opinion, one of the best developers out there.

You hit the nail in the coffin there. I not that surprised that Valve made twice as many sales with L4D2 than L4D. Left 4 Dead laid the platform for a successful sequel and Valve laid out the goods.

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All those suckers that paid for a glorified expansion pack. I'm still boycotting.

To be honest, you're missing out. L4D2 is what L4D wants to be when it grow up. When you play the game, it becomes quite obvious why it couldn't be a DLC pack or an expansion.

L4D was a great game, and laid a great foundation for the series, L4D2 builds upon and extends it drastically :).

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All those suckers that paid for a glorified expansion pack. I'm still boycotting.
To be honest, you're missing out. L4D2 is what L4D wants to be when it grow up. When you play the game, it becomes quite obvious why it couldn't be a DLC pack or an expansion.

L4D was a great game, and laid a great foundation for the series, L4D2 builds upon and extends it drastically :).

This is how it is. While you're boycotting, we are having fun :)

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All those suckers that paid for a glorified expansion pack. I'm still boycotting.

Those "suckers" have actually PLAYED the game and realize its NOT an "expansion" You can keep sitting in your cave if you like though.

I guess calling games "expansions" is the new craze nowadays though.

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