Sony teams up with Left 4 Dead creator on new 4-player cooperative shooter

Today, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced a partnership with Bad Robot Games, a division of the filmmaking studio, to publish their first internally developed title, and it’s not what you might expect. Sony and PlayStation are perhaps best known for their single-player action-adventure experiences. Games that come to mind are The Last of Us, God of War, Ghost of Yotei, and Horizon: Zero Dawn. But the team at Bad Robot Games has announced they are working on “a four-player, cooperative shooter directed by Mike Booth,” the designer of Left 4 Dead. Booth serves as the Chief Creative Officer at Bad Robot Games. PlayStation’s own Left 4 Dead sounds like a promising concept.

Sony is publishing the Left 4 Dead creator’s next four-player co-op shooter

There is still very little known about this game. It does not have a name; however, we do know that it is being developed for both PlayStation 5 and PC. There is a clear emphasis on the cooperative nature of the game, as Bad Robot Games CEO Anna Sweet relays in the press release: “I could not be more excited that Mike Booth is at the creative helm, crafting a cooperative adventure that will lead to unforgettable moments with friends.” The press release promises that “more details on the game will be shared at a later date.”

Bad Robot Games press release.Source: Sony Interactive Entertainment

PlayStation Studios doesn’t exactly have a perfect track record with multiplayer shooters. Concord will perhaps forever live on in infamy as one of the most chaotic and catastrophic first-party launches. Marathon has not had an easy go of it either, and we have yet to hear more from Fairgames after the game’s director left the studio earlier this year. But there is one bright spot: Helldivers 2, and it seems like this new game from Bad Robot will share some similarities with it. Unlike the other multiplayer games, Helldivers 2 is cooperative and focused on PvE, featuring virtually no PvP, unless you count accidental friendly fire. If the team plays its cards right, this could be another much-needed hit for PlayStation's live-service shooter push.

Three months ago, Mike Booth posted on the Left 4 Dead 2 subreddit, inviting players to join a playtest for this upcoming game. That option is still available via the Bad Robot Games website. Unfortunately, the playtest is confidential, so don’t expect to hear anything about the game from anyone anytime soon. But it is encouraging to know that playtests have already been underway. Perhaps the wait for a more public presentation or initial trailer is not that far off. Maybe the game will be revealed at the Game Awards showcase next week.

Left 4 Dead

November 18, 2008

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• Overview

• Left 4 Dead (franchise)
• Turtle Rock Studios
• Sony Interactive Entertainment