It’s not shutting down completely but Back 4 Blood won’t get any more DLC, as Turtle Rock moves onto its next game.
After only launching in October 2021, Left 4 Dead successor Back 4 Blood has wrapped up its post-launch support, as confirmed by developer Turtle Rock Studios.
This makes its River Of Blood expansion, which launched in December, its last piece of DLC. So that means there’ll be no more story content, playable characters, or weapons.
Back 4 Blood was never the unequivocal hit that Left 4 Dead was, but Turtle Rock has already hinted that their next game will be a sequel.
We’ve seen plenty of online multiplayer games, such as Rumbleverse and Avengers, shut down recently, with the implication being that they weren’t making enough money to justify keeping the servers up, despite plans for long-term support.
‘Turtle Rock Studios is actually pretty small for a studio making AAA games,’ it explains in a blog post on its website.
‘We don’t have quite enough folks to continue working on Back 4 Blood content while we spin up another game – yes, another game! Given this, it’s time for us to put our heads down, get back in the lab, and get to work on the next big thing.’
Although it does have a single-player mode, Back 4 Blood is primarily a co-op game, best enjoyed with other people as you fight back against zombie-like monsters called the Ridden.
While it may not be getting any new content, Back 4 Blood isn’t shutting down. Turtle Rock assures players that the game will continue to operate as normal.
There’s no mention of whether it will receive any minor updates or patches in the future, but at least anyone who plays it regularly can still do so without fear of the servers going offline.
Turtle Rock also points out that the game is currently included with Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation Plus Extra, and PlayStation Plus Premium. So, if you’re subscribed to any of those, you can try Back 4 Blood at no extra cost.
The studio’s statement ends with the comment that: ‘This phase of our war against the Ridden now comes to a close.’ That seems to be a clear hint that the next game will be set in the same fictional universe – and is likely a direct sequel.
Back 4 Blood is available for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC.
