On May 26, 2025, Valve launched its Zombies vs. Vampires Fest on Steam. As part of this limited-time sale, Left 4 Dead 2 is being offered for $0.99, a 90% discount off its regular price. This discount will remain active until Sunday, June 2, 2025, at 10:00 AM Pacific Time (PT).
The original Left 4 Dead, released in 2008, is also priced at $0.99 for the duration of the sale. This means that players can purchase both Left 4 Dead (2008) and Left 4 Dead 2 (2009) for a combined total of $1.98, not including taxes or regional fees.
Both games are Steam Deck Verified, which confirms they are optimized for and fully functional on Valve’s handheld gaming system, the Steam Deck.
- Left 4 Dead 2 and the original Left 4 Dead are each available for 99 cents on Steam until June 2, 2025, at 10:00 AM PT, as part of the Zombies vs. Vampires Fest.
- Left 4 Dead 2 includes all original campaigns from the first game, offers five new campaigns, and remains one of Steam’s highest-rated co-op shooters with a 96–97% positive user score.
- A new RTX Remix Path Tracing mod by developer xoxor4d is upgrading Left 4 Dead 2’s visuals, while fans continue to petition Microsoft to bring the games to Xbox Game Pass.
Left 4 Dead 2: A Complete Sequel With All Original Content
Left 4 Dead 2, developed and published by Valve Corporation, was officially released on November 17, 2009. It serves as a sequel to 2008’s Left 4 Dead and also includes all of the original game’s campaigns. These campaigns—No Mercy, Death Toll, Dead Air, Blood Harvest, and Crash Course—were added post-launch via free updates, meaning Left 4 Dead 2 now functions as a complete collection.
The game is a first-person cooperative multiplayer shooter set during a global zombie outbreak. Players control one of four survivors and must fight their way through various campaign levels, moving from safe room to safe room and completing objectives to escape the infected.
Left 4 Dead 2 introduced several new features, including:
- New melee weapons, such as the chainsaw, fire axe, frying pan, baseball bat, and katana
- Five new campaigns, including Dead Center, Dark Carnival, Swamp Fever, Hard Rain, and The Parish
- New types of infected enemies, such as the Charger, Spitter, and Jockey
- Improved AI Director 2.0, which dynamically adjusts enemy spawns, weather, and item placements
- Realistic gore system, using dismemberment and wound modeling
The game supports 4-player online co-op, 2-player local split screen, and 8-player online Versus Mode. It received widespread acclaim and currently holds a Steam user rating of 96% to 97% “Overwhelmingly Positive”, based on hundreds of thousands of reviews.
Players Petition Microsoft for Game Pass Access
As of late May 2025, there is an ongoing fan petition urging Microsoft to add both Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 to the Xbox Game Pass subscription service. Neither Microsoft nor Valve has issued a public statement on the request.
Currently, both games are backward compatible on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles. However, they are no longer available for digital purchase on the Microsoft Store. Players must already own the games physically or digitally to access them on Xbox consoles.
On Steam, the discounted $0.99 price is lower than the monthly cost of an Xbox Game Pass for PC subscription, which is typically $9.99 USD per month.
Modder Creates RTX Remix Upgrade for Left 4 Dead 2
In May 2025, a modder named xoxor4d began work on an RTX Remix Path Tracing compatibility mod for Left 4 Dead 2. This fan-made project uses NVIDIA RTX Remix, a tool that enhances lighting and reflections in older games using ray tracing.
The mod is being shared and developed through the GitHub platform. While it does not introduce new high-resolution textures, it significantly improves global illumination, reflections, and shadows, giving the game a modern look.
Screenshots posted by xoxor4d on GitHub forums reveal environments with ray-traced lighting effects that make Left 4 Dead 2 visually comparable to current-generation games.
This is not the first time the game has received community attention. In September 2020, Valve officially released The Last Stand update for Left 4 Dead 2. Created by community developers with Valve’s support, this update added:
- A new campaign: The Last Stand
- Over 20 new survival maps
- New melee animations
- Restored voice lines and unused content
- Rebalanced weapons and infected spawns
While Left 4 Dead 2 is one of the most popular games on sale, the Zombies vs. Vampires Fest also includes many other titles. The event runs until June 3, 2025, and covers both zombie and vampire-themed games.
Some of the main zombie games on sale include:
- The Last of Us Part I, now at its lowest price since launch
- Dying Light (2015) and Dying Light 2 Stay Human (2022), both known for their parkour and survival mechanics
- Dead Island: Riptide Definitive Edition and Dead Island 2, which take place on tropical islands
- State of Decay: Juggernaut Edition, where players manage resources and defend against zombie waves
- The Evil Within and The Evil Within 2, horror titles directed by Shinji Mikami
For action-focused players, Killing Floor 2 and World War Z are also on sale. These are both wave-based shooters that involve fighting large groups of enemies with guns and explosives.
On the vampire side of the sale, players can pick up:
- Evil West, a fantasy shooter where you play as a vampire hunter
- Vampire Survivors, a popular indie roguelike
- V Rising, a vampire-themed survival game with building and crafting
But a few well-known games are not part of the sale. These include Resident Evil, Castlevania, and Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines.
Sale Ends Soon: Left 4 Dead 2 Back to Full Price After June 2
The Steam Zombies vs. Vampires Fest will officially end on Sunday, June 2, 2025, at 10:00 AM Pacific Time. After that, Left 4 Dead 2 and Left 4 Dead will return to full price on the Steam platform.
For under $2, players can own both of Valve’s classic co-op zombie shooters. With continued mod support, fan updates, and verified compatibility with the Steam Deck, this deal is currently the best way to experience or revisit the Left 4 Dead series.
Once the sale ends, there is no guarantee that these titles will be discounted again to this level anytime soon.
