This was Gabe Newell and his team’s attempt to circumvent the rules of the ESRB (the U.S. age-rating board).
In hindsight, it seems strange. Before the release of Left 4 Dead 2 in November 2009, just one year after the original Left 4 Dead laid the groundwork for today’s massive cooperative gaming world, Left 4 Dead 2 was considered controversial. This rapid turnaround, coupled with the fact that the first Left 4 Dead was a relatively short game, led many to label Left 4 Dead 2 a cynical ploy by Valve to cash in on the success of the first game. Ultimately, Left 4 Dead 2 proved to be a worthy sequel to Valve’s cooperative shooter. However, it turned out that there were indeed machinations going on behind the scenes of Left 4 Dead 2—just not the kind fans had suspected. Shortly before the sequel’s release, a cinematic trailer leaked online that would ultimately serve as the opening sequence for Left 4 Dead 2. It has since been revealed that Valve orchestrated this “leak” to bypass the ESRB’s censorship oversight.
Chet Faliszek, a former Valve writer and Left 4 Dead designer, revealed Valve’s intentional leak in a YouTube video about lines of dialogue cut from Left 4 Dead. In the video, Faliszek explains why so many voice recordings were cut from the final version of Left 4 Dead 2. One reason was that Valve was in conflict with numerous countries and rating boards over the series’ violent scenes and profanity at the time.
“You have to remember that, especially during the time of Left 4 Dead 1 and Left 4 Dead 2, Valve was in fights with the ESRB, Australia, Germany, and a bunch of other countries about the profanity or violence in the game. One of Valve’s lawyers stepped in and said that we writers needed to be monitored. The first thing we did was make sure there was no profanity that crossed the line—basically, no F-bombs. We leaked our trailer ahead of time because they wouldn’t let us release it. I’ll just admit that. I don’t think we can get in trouble for that now. It’s been 20 years,” Faliszek said.
He personally believed that the boundaries regarding censorship of language and depictions of violence should be pushed and that the ESRB should be forced to back down. However, Valve’s attorney saw things differently, and Faliszek agreed. The ESRB’s regulatory oversight extended not only to the games themselves, but also to their marketing materials. Unlike today, the ESRB had different rules for trailers and games. Language or violence that might result in a “Mature” rating for a game could lead to a trailer depicting the same content being banned outright.
This was exactly the situation Valve faced with Left 4 Dead 2. The cinematic trailer isn’t more violent or profane than the game itself. According to Faliszek, however, the ESRB took a hard line against it. That’s why Valve decided to “accidentally” leak the trailer onto the internet.
Source: PCGamer
