Xbox Addict

Left 4 Dead DLC only free for PC!?

Living up to previously-made claims that Left 4 Dead
would receive additional content in the wake of the Left
4 Dead 2 announcement, Valve has sent out word of the
upcoming "Crash Course" update, to be available for free
on PC and for 560 Microsoft Points ($7) on Xbox 360.

The update is said to contain maps for the game’s
Cooperative, Survival, and Versus multiplayer modes,
with the team giving itself the design goal of allowing
for "a complete Versus mode experience in just 30 minutes."

In addition to the maps themselves, various gameplay
tweaks have been made to facilitate that end result.
The game is set in between Left 4 Dead’s existing "No
Mercy" and "Death Toll" campaigns, explaining what
happened to the four survivors after their ostensible
rescue at the end of the first campaign.

Valve has long been a proponent of free content updates
for its games, describing that policy as a way of
continually promoting sales of full games and keeping
its titles relevant among the gaming audience.

However, numerous reports have suggested Microsoft is
less amenable to the practice of offering free content
through its Xbox Live Marketplace, leading to
publicly-revealed disputes between the manufacturer and
companies such as Epic, which also has a tradition of
free expansion content, over pricing structures.

Said Valve co-founder Gabe Newell, "Since the release of
Left 4 Dead last November, the design team has been
excited about creating new experiences for this world and
allowing players to do the same, by releasing much of our
internal toolset, like the Survival Pack and Authoring
Tools. We’re working with the fans toward the ongoing
entertainment value of the product."

Crash Course will be released this September for
both systems.