Over the years, there have been plenty of leaks hinting towards the existence of Left 4 Dead 3. Various people at Valve have grouped together over the years to work on it but for one reason or another, nothing ever made it far enough for an announcement or release. If you've ever wondered what Left 4 Dead 3 might have looked like, then we have 29 leaked screenshots from the game, showcasing an entirely different setting compared to the first two games in the series.
Valve prototypes new ideas and scraps them constantly. We know that this is one of the reasons Half-Life 3 never came to fruition and the situation isn't different for Left 4 Dead 3 either. In some recently leaked screenshots, we can see that at one point in time, Valve developers were working on a version of Left 4 Dead 3 set in the middle east- similarly to several of Counter-Strike's most popular maps, like Dust II.
The screenshots were posted by Valve News Network's Tyler McVicker. According to his sources, these screenshots date as far back as 2013, with the maps shown being built in Source 2, with new textures and lighting models. In the VNN video, we can also see some concept art from Left 4 Dead 3, showing off the middle-eastern setting a bit more. You can see all 29 leaked screenshots in the imgur gallery.
This version of the game was apparently cancelled back in early 2017 due to various disagreements within the team. Due to Valve's structure, when employees can't agree on something specific, nothing gets done, leading to teams breaking up and seeking out different projects.
This version of Left 4 Dead 3 would have had eight playable characters/ Nick, Zoe, Coach and Louis would have returned from previous games. The remaining four characters would have been brand new.
This version of Left 4 Dead 3 may also have had support for VR, so players could choose to play on a standard PC, or with a VR headset. Multiplayer would have been cross-compatible with both.
KitGuru Says: It is entirely possible that Valve already has a new version of Left 4 Dead 3 in the works after scrapping this version. One thing is certain though, we will be hearing more about Valve's future game releases in May, once the Valve Index headset is fully unveiled.