BACK FROM THE DEAD
PC Gamer|January 2022
How TURTLE ROCK STUDIOS righted itself after rolling on its back
Jeremy Peel
BACK FROM THE DEAD
One commonly accepted piece of games industry wisdom is that ideas are cheap; everybody has them. It’s the execution that’s difficult and expensive. But it’s evidently not a philosophy shared by Valve, which has long bought its best ideas.

Counter-Strike, Portal, Team Fortress, Dota – all were first dreamed up outside Valve by modders or students. Again and again, the studio has acted as a kind of incubator – hiring on creators and giving them resources and expertise, so that they can take those magic ideas to their big-budget conclusion.

Often, in time, those creators fade into the grey anonymity of Valve – contributing to the studio’s brain trust in ways both crucial and imperceptible to the general public. But one team has retained not only its distinct identity but a degree of wider recognition: Turtle Rock, the outfit behind Left 4 Dead.

Perhaps that’s because Turtle Rock built the vast majority of its most famous game as an independent. Valve had reason to trust the studio – as a contractor, Turtle Rock had effectively become the custodian of Counter-Strike – and so largely left its team alone during Left 4 Dead’s development, providing funding and the services of acclaimed Portal writer Chet Faliszek.

Valve’s greatest contribution to Left 4 Dead was actually the organic and full-throated enthusiasm of its staff, who quickly adopted the game for their play sessions outside work. They demonstrated the argument – so obvious to us now – that the FPS genre was missing a trick with casual co-op. Turtle Rock was reacting against Counter-Strike’s baked-in competition; put simply, the team was sick of fighting each other.

This story is from the January 2022 edition of PC Gamer.

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This story is from the January 2022 edition of PC Gamer.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.