Turtle Rock Studios announced today that it will cease making post-launch content for the studios most recent title, the co-op zombie shooter Back 4 Blood.
On the studio’s official website, the development team thanked fans for their support and understanding and assured players that the online services for the co-op shooter would remain active for the foreseeable future.
This announcement comes a little over a year after its initial release, during which tim the studio released three DLC, Tunnels of Terror, Children of the Worm, and River of Blood.
As for the reason behind the decision, Turtle Rock cited its small developer team and a desire to move on to new projects as the main cause for turning off the valve for the new content pipeline.
Speaking of valves, you may know Turtle Rock by its previous alias, Valve South. After its acquisition by the larger Valve Corporation in 2008, the studio went on to create the much praised Left 4 Dead, along with its sequel, to which Back 4 Blood is considered a spiritual successor by many. If its name is anything to go off of, Back 4 Blood was Turtle Rock’s attempt to rebottle the greased lightning. This seems suspiciously true given the gameplay similarities between the two, both being 4-player co-op horde shooter experiences.
If this really is a case of history repeating itself, then we can look forward to a string of VR titles such as Face Your Fears and Journey of the Gods, as VR technology rapidly becomes more popular and more intuitive. Alternatively, Turtle Rock could give us another twist on the 4-player competitive multiplayer experience the studio has proven so adept at curating with its various multiplayer games.
For now though, regardless of what direction Turtle Rock Studios decides to go, Back 4 Blood remains supported on the various platforms it was released on. It is also available as part of Xbox Game Pass and the Playstation Plus Extra and Premium tiers for those who would like to give it a try. Turtle Rock has still given no concrete statements or indications as to the nature or release date of its next title, the only lead we have so far is that it may be the project which was canceled to give way to Back 4 Blood, titled Invaders.