Left 4 Dead 2 writer says Valve intentionally ‘leaked’ its cinematic trailer to get around ESRB rules: ‘I think we can’t get trouble for that now’

It’s strange to think about in hindsight, but Left 4 Dead 2 was a controversial game in the run-up to its release in November 2009—just one year after the original Left 4 Dead laid the foundations for today’s enormous cooperative gaming scene. Indeed, it was that rapid turnaround, combined with the fact that the first Left 4 Dead was a relatively short game, which led to accusations that Left 4 Dead 2 was nothing more than a cynical ploy by Valve to cash in on the success of the first.

Ultimately, Left 4 Dead 2 would prove a worthy follow-up to Valve’s cooperative blaster. But it turns out there was some skulduggery afoot behind the scenes on Left 4 Dead 2, just not the kind that fans suspected. Shortly before the sequel’s launch, a cinematic trailer—which would ultimately serve as Left 4 Dead 2’s introductory cutscene—leaked onto the Internet. Now, it’s been revealed that this ‘leak’ was orchestrated by Valve to evade the censorious watch of the Entertainment Software Ratings Board.

This is according to former Valve writer and Left 4 Dead designer Chet Faliszek, who revealed Valve’s deliberate leak in a YouTube video about cut Left 4 Dead voice lines (via Ars Technica). In the video, Faliszek explains why Left 4 Dead 2 had a large number of voice lines cut from the final game. One reason was that, at the time, Valve had run-ins with numerous countries and ratings boards over the series’ depictions of violence and use of profane language.

“You have to remember, especially during Left 4 Dead 1 and Left 4 Dead 2 time, Valve was in fights with the ESRB, with Australia, with Germany, with a bunch of countries about the profanity in the game, or the violence,” he explains. “One of [Valve’s] lawyers stepped in and said that us writers needed to be babysat on this. And so [the] first thing we did was, well, we made sure there was no profanity in there that crosses the line—basically F-bombs.”

Faliszek personally believed that, when it comes to censorship of language and depictions of violence, “you push it and have the ESRB push back”. But Valve’s lawyer felt differently and Faliszek went along with it. However, the ESRB’s regulatory oversight didn’t just cover games, but extended to the marketing material for those games. And unlike today, the ESRB had different regulatory rules for trailers and games. Language or violence that might land a game a ‘Mature’ rating could result in a trailer that depicted the same things being banned outright.

It’s this exact scenario Valve faced with Left 4 Dead 2. The cinematic trailer is no more violent or foul-mouthed than the game itself, but according to Faliszek, the ESRB drew a hard line on it. Hence, Valve decided the trailer should find its way online by ‘accident’. “We leaked our trailer ahead of time, because they wouldn’t let us release the trailer,” Faliszek says. “I’ll just admit that. I think we can’t get in trouble for that now. It’s like 20 years ago.”