It's been a few weeks since the last Left 4 Dead 2 update, and players will have to wait a couple more. Valve gave some details to tide you over though.

Along with the upcoming "The Passing" DLC, the team is working on an update for Left 4 Dead 2 that will add bots and get rid of auto-spawning. The bots will be added to the Infected team to help them out.

In response to auto-spawning in the Versus finales, Valve has decided to get rid of it completely.

According to the L4D Blog:

Bots
We are adding bots for the Infected team to help out the Infected when they are down a man or two. This will also make 1v1 Versus a bit more fun.

Auto-spawning
We've also been experimenting with a solution for auto-spawning in Versus finales. Even though it's pretty obvious from the L4D forums that EVERYONE LOVES auto-spawning in finales, we figured, what the hell-we'd just go ahead and remove auto-spawning anyway. But before we make any change to Versus we always need to see how the game is currently being played.

So how do finales currently play out? Across all finales in Left 4 Dead 2 currently, a single survivor has a 34.56% chance of escaping. That includes the Concert Finale in "Dark Carnival", which boasts close to a 50% escape rate (and yes, a fix for everyone's favorite cheese spot is coming). Remove the Concert Finale, and we see the average drop to 29.61%. With these figures in mind, when we make changes, we can measure the difference and see how much the change impacted the balance.

Another stat we often see discussed: What gets played more, Versus or Campaign? It really depends on the day, as they are almost always statistically tied. They are unquestionably the two favorite modes of Left 4 Dead.

Zombie shooter sequel, Left 4 Dead 2 has sold over 2 million hard copies since its release on November 17, 2009, even in the face of controversy that it was being released too soon after the original. These numbers more than double the original Left 4 Dead, which released last year.

According to an announcement by Valve, "[Left 4 Dead 2] appears to be on target to become one of the top selling Xbox and PC titles for the month of November." Doug Lombardi, VP of Marketing for Valve, praises the game, "Left 4 Dead 2 is off to a great start with strong support at retail and great reviews from the press. Meanwhile the title has already been played by over 1 million Xbox LIVE Gold account holders, and news regarding L4D2 DLC 1 is coming very soon."

A Left 4 Dead 1 contest last year where people were challenged to take funny, unique, inventive pictures in front of a L4D ad was met with a huge response. Because of this, there is a new contest this year: "The Dude Where's my Thumb?" photo contest, ending November 15th.

The contest is simple: take a funny, interesting, scary or otherwise unique photograph of you or a friend in front of one of L4D2’s outdoor media placements (billboards, bus ads, etc.) Valve president and founder Gabe Newell will then select the best photo to win an 'Infected', hand-painted, laser engraved and custom designed, Xbox 360. Twenty-five runners-up will receive Xbox 360 copies of Left 4 Dead 2 autographed by the L4D2 team.

Get those creative juices flowing and go hunt down a L4D2 ad with your camera!

http://www.l4d.com/contest/ for full details.

Those that pre-ordered Left 4 Dead 2 will have access to an exclusive crossover item for Team Fortress 2: Bill's Hat will be available today with the Team Fortress 2 update, which also fixed client-side perf problem after changing levels on Koth_Harvest_Event.

But why? TF2 Blog lends us a little history: "And lest you think this is just some marketing gimmick, here's the intricate back-story justifying it: while conducting a science experiment on parallel dimensions, Bill's hat fell off a table into the Team Fortress universe."

If you haven't preordered Left 4 Dead 2, you can still do so and get Bill's hat for TF2, and other pre-order goodies.

Weeks ago, Valve appealed the Australian classification board's decision to not rate Left 4 Dead 2, and offered an edited version; still hoping that the appeal would be successful and Australians would experience zombie killing in all its gory glory.

The appeal has been denied, and Valve reports that the approved, edited version of the game will be the one that's commercially released down under. The decision reads:

According to the Classification Review Board, the game has been once again refused classification due to violence.

In the Review Board's opinion, Left 4 Dead 2 could not be accommodated within the MA 15+ classification. The computer game contains a level of violence which is high in impact, prolonged, repeated frequently and realistic within the context of the game.

In addition, it was the Review Board's opinion that there was insufficient delineation between the depiction of general zombie figures and the human figures, as opposed to the clearly fictional 'infected' characters. This was a major consideration of the Review Board in determining the
impact of this game on minors.

Computer games classified RC cannot be sold, hired, advertised or demonstrated in Australia.

The Classification Review Board convened today in response to an application from the distributor of the computer game, Electronic Arts, to review the decision made by the Classification Board on 15 September 2009 to classify Left 4 Dead 2 RC.

Left 4 Dead 2 will be released on November 17th for the PC and Xbox 360. Those who haven't pre-ordered yet still have time to get in on the pre-order goodies.

If you need more zombies, check out the Zombies Exposed blog and see HyTek's Top 20 Zombie Movie Countdown!

Left 4 Dead 2 Pre-orderers will gain access to the demo on October 27th, but the rest of us will still get a shot to see the zombie shooting goodness. Valve announced that the demo will be available to all on November 3 for PC and Xbox Live Gold Members. Those Xbox 360 owners without Xbox Live Gold will have to wait a little longer for the demo to be available on November 10th.

The demo includes a sample of "Parish" campaign, set in New Orleans, and will provide up to four online (or LAN) players with a glimpse of all of the new melee weapons, and the new boss infected zombies. The Xbox demo will also include two-player split-screen.

Left 4 Dead 2, a quick sequel to 2008's popular Left 4 Dead, will be available for PC and Xbox 360 on November 17th. Those still itching to get in on the zombie action can cash in on pre-order goodies such as 10% off the game, early access to the demo, and an exclusive melee weapon. If you're looking for cheaper zombie killing thrills you can still pick up the original Left 4 Dead for around $30.

Valve is trying to appease Australia with an edited version of Left 4 Dead 2. Weeks ago, the game was denied rating in Australia, effectively banning it, due to the gore and violent content which was too much even for Australia's highest rating of MA 15+.

Valve's Gabe Newell revealed in a press conference in Sydney, Australia today that an edited version of Left 4 Dead 2 had been submitted for approval. "We think Left 4 Dead 2 is a lot of fun," said Newell. "It's a game for adults. But we're aware that different countries have different restrictions, and we want to make the choices that make the game the most fun for that country." He stated that he believed this new version would be fully compliant with ratings guidelines.

The original ruling has been appealed, but Valve submitted this editted version as a backup in case the appeal is denied. The appeal ruling won't be until October 22nd. "Our goal is not to ship this second version," said Newell.

Valve's zombie FPS, Left 4 Dead 2 will be released on November 17th for the PC and Xbox 360.

Valve promised goodies and incentives to those who pre-order Left 4 Dead 2 from certain retailers, including 10% off the price of the game. This brings the price to $45 for the PC and $55 for the Xbox 360 version. Pre-orderers will also get an exclusive melee weapon, the American Baseball Bat, and early access to the demo (which some are estimating to be the week before the game release).

It is unknown which retailers will be participating, other than Valve's very own, Steam.

Left 4 Dead 2 will be available for PC and Xbox 360 on November 17th.

Left 4 Dead's "Crash Course" DLC released this morning free for the PC and 560 MS points ($7) for Xbox 360 users. Earlier this morning the price of the DLC was incorrectly listed for 800 MS points. It was corrected later in the day, but the description says "no refunds" so users who purchased at the inflated price may be out of luck.

On the bright side, those who haven't had a chance to pick up Left 4 Dead yet can do so at a reduced price on Steam. Steam is offering the zombie-shooter for 50% off it's regular price bringing down to $14.99. This short term deal lasts until Saturday, October 2nd.

Both come right before the release of Left 4 Dead 2 which will be released November 17th. Valve stated that they will, however, still support the first game.

The new update will add(as stated for the PC patch):

• A new campaign, "Crash Course", is now available for play in Campaign, Versus and Survival modes
• In Versus mode, all weapons, pills, health packs, molotovs, pipe bombs and other items will now be identical for the second round of a chapter
• Matchmaking has had several improvements to make finding and joining games even faster
• Ten all new "Crash Course" achievements have been added

Left 4 Dead 2 has been denied classification in Australia, essentially banning the game. Australia's highest video game rating is M 15+ and anything that would meet criteria beyond that cannot be sold or demonstrated.

It seems the gorey nature of the game is the reason behind this. According to documents from news.com.au "The game contains realistic, frenetic and unrelenting violence which is inflicted upon "the Infected" who are living humans infected with a rabies-like virus that causes them to act violently... it is the use of the "melee" weapons such as the crowbar, axe, chainsaw and Samurai sword which inflict the most damage. These close in attacks cause copious amounts of blood spray and splatter, decapitations and  limb dismemberment as well as locational damage where contact is made to the enemy which may reveal skeletal bits and gore. Projectile shots to infected humans can cause abdominal wounds which can reveal innards or even cause intestines to spill from the wounds."

"The interactive nature of the game increases the overall impact of the frequent and intense depictions of violence," concluded "This, coupled with the graphic depictions of blood and gore combine to create a playing impact which is high."

It is then noted "A minority of the Board is of the opinion that the violence is strong and playing impact and therefore warrants an MA 15+ classification with the customer advice of strong violence" which the classification the board had granted the original Left 4 Dead.

If the game were to be altered it could yet see classification in Australia. This is not uncommon for games. Fallout 3 was originally denied classification due to its depiction of morphine use. Once it was changed from morphine to "Med-X" a new mythical drug, it was granted the MA 15+ rating.

Those outside of Australia ready for some intense depictions of violence, copious amounts of blood spray and splatter and decapitations and limb dismemberment can expect Left 4 Dead 2 on November 17th, 2009 for PC and Xbox 360.