Valve announces Left 4 Dead 2 add-on “The Passing”

The survivors from the original Left 4 Dead will finally meet the survivors from Left 4 Dead 2 this spring in the first add-on for Left 4 Dead 2. Players will meet with the original Left 4 Dead survivors in a small town in rural Georgia in a campaign that takes place after the Dead Center chapter. The Passing also promises a new melee weapon, a new firearm, a new uncommon common infected, new arenas for versus, survival, and scavenge mode, and an entirely new co-operative gameplay mode.

Traditionally, PC gamers have been treated to free content updates for Valve games, but Valve is labeling The Passing an “add-on,” and the press release states “pricing will be announced closer to launch.” So PC gamers will probably have to pony up some coin.

But I already feel like I owe Valve for all the laughs they’ve provided with free Team Fortress 2 content, so I don’t mind paying for a fresh versus map or two and some new weapons. The rest of the content is just gravy.

“The Passing will become the most important campaign in the Left 4 Dead story, as all the Survivors are being called together in one campaign,” said Doug Lombardi, VP of marketing at Valve. “It will also be a huge offering of new gameplay content, with something new for every game mode plus a new uncommon common and weaponry.”