‘Back 4 Blood’ developers confirm no ‘Left 4 Dead’ style versus campaign on release

Turtle Rock, developer of the upcoming Left 4 Dead inspired Back 4 Blood, has explained why the game will not feature a versus campaign mode.

Back 4 Blood developers confirmed the reasoning behind the decision after a fan asked about the popular Left 4 Dead mode on the game’s official Discord server earlier this week (August 6). Reddit user RadiumPWD asked the developers: “If you don’t mind me asking, what was the reasoning behind the feature being cut? It’s a pretty bold move considering how popular it is in the previous entries.”

Design director Chris Ashton responded to the question: “We have a lot of defensive equipment and our specials are good at ambushing. Defending worked far better for our game than running from A-B.”

Versus campaign in Left 4 Dead pitted two teams of four against each other, with one team playing as the survivors and the other as the infected. Survivors play through the game’s campaign mode as usual, while infected characters try to kill the survivors as quickly as possible.

Back 4 Blood, which is developed by former developers of Left 4 Dead, features a versus mode. However, the mode instead focuses on forcing a team of cleaners and ridden to battle it out in static areas across a smaller map. Versus mode is more about defending specific areas than Left 4 Dead’s sprint across maps.

Fans of the game have been vocal about their hopes for a spiritual successor to the versus campaign mode in Left 4 Dead. The news that Back 4 Blood developers Turtle Rock were building a different vision for the mode has been met with criticism online.

I’m super disappointed that there isn’t going to be campaign versus. Honestly a major let down…

— Ginge (@gingersofficial) August 7, 2021

Devs, I am loving the campaign mode, but versus is falling short. Please consider creating a L4D style versus campaign mode. That’s where that game really shined and tons of people still play it 12+ years later. If you want B4B to have true longevity, we need that mode. Thanks!

— Matt Seybert (@MattSeybert) August 8, 2021

Back 4 Blood is currently undergoing a beta test in which players who have codes or who have preordered can play. The game will host an open beta next weekend started August 12, which will be open to all players on PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series S | X and Xbox One.

Elsewhere, Xbox recently announced a new Twitch indie showcase which will take place on August 10. The showcase will feature upcoming indie games, as well as playable demos and titles launching on Xbox Game Pass.