L4D2 pre-order demo MIA on Steam

by Richard Mitchell { Oct 27th 2009 at 5:57PM }

We knew that the pre-loadable Left 4 Dead 2 demo on Steam would send withering waves of madness through the world's populace, but we never considered what would happen if the demo failed to materialize on the promised date. Steam users have been reporting that the demo is still unavailable, and Steam's own events page -- pictured above -- notes that it won't be available until early tomorrow.

The delay seems to only affect Steam users at the moment, as the Xbox version of the demo is currently available on Xbox Live Marketplace for those that have the redemption code. We've contacted Valve regarding the delay and will update this post as soon as we have more information.

Tags: demo, left-4-dead, left-4-dead-2, steam, valve

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Smoke_me_a_Kipper @ Oct 27th 2009 6:01PM

SUCKS!!

Matt @ Oct 27th 2009 6:18PM

For whatever reason Torchlight officiall launched at 12:00pm noon (CST) today, but isn't available on Steam until 7:00pm (CST), so it seems a pattern is going on here. :\

Phillip @ Oct 27th 2009 6:56PM

Oh, and MW2 launches 11/10/09 except on steam where it launches 11/12/09.

This means something.

Zing @ Oct 27th 2009 6:02PM

Don't cry, its only one more day, you've waited this long

tr1cky tpr @ Oct 27th 2009 6:03PM

I'm not suprised. Same thing happened with the Survival Mode update for L4D. Ended up staying up for it, but had to turn it off because my piece of shit comp fan was keeping my family up.

NitroMikeo @ Oct 27th 2009 6:03PM

Where's your Boycott now?!

jasonp @ Oct 27th 2009 6:10PM

Could it be that it is an 11:00 PM launch time tonight? I'm pretty sure the L4D2 demo stub I got from Gamestop said that it would be available at 11:00 PM EST (I think).

CH3BURASHKA @ Oct 27th 2009 6:06PM

One could say that the demo has been...

*pulls out shades*

left for dead...

NitroMikeo @ Oct 27th 2009 6:08PM

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAH!

Discotheque @ Oct 27th 2009 6:09PM

Epic response.

Kuro @ Oct 27th 2009 6:12PM

Win

Old Professor Zertoss @ Oct 27th 2009 7:21PM

This right here is why I love Joystiq.

Autopsy15 @ Oct 27th 2009 9:59PM

I can't decided whether you guys are from reddit or 4chan...and that scares me.

CH3BURASHKA @ Oct 27th 2009 10:00PM

Fuck reddit, 4chan all the way.

O SHIT PEDOBEAR IS HERE

Cj @ Oct 27th 2009 6:08PM

I wasnt even emailed my redemption code! Fuck you Gamestop. i preorder for that exact reason last night and no demo.

jynxycat @ Oct 27th 2009 6:31PM

Probably shouldn't of waited until the last minute to do it -_-

Sly @ Oct 27th 2009 6:41PM

yeah... not the smartest idea.

Cj @ Oct 27th 2009 6:54PM

There was no first come first serve thing. But i called and some guy said i should be getting the email before 11. So i guess its in first to last. No biggie.

spencer byrd @ Oct 27th 2009 9:32PM

you have to go to gamestop to get the code

jason @ Oct 27th 2009 6:12PM

I'm not surprised...Valve is ALWAYS late

cyruss @ Oct 27th 2009 9:43PM

yeh no joke, they are really terrible with unlocking their games, even the most hyped ones... i really dont get it, it gives me the impression they really dont care and kinda just flick the switch before they leave the office (probably not doing this, but it gives me that impression that they just dont care)... im not talking about l4d2 either as im not buying it, but plenty of other games in the past this same shit happened... i mean ffs the games are already preloaded its not gonna hammer their servers, just unlock the damn game!

gamer4250 @ Oct 27th 2009 6:11PM

You all seem to be forgetting about Valve time.

Eglorian @ Oct 27th 2009 6:13PM

And, for future reference:

http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Valve_Time

Dustin @ Oct 27th 2009 6:22PM

came in here to post that...thanks!

cyruss @ Oct 27th 2009 9:46PM

OMG thats hilarious! it's so true!!!!

Asmerom (PSN: neon6plz) @ Oct 28th 2009 1:29AM

Fuck me, that's confusing...are Valve Terminators or something?

Einhanderkiller @ Oct 27th 2009 6:26PM

This story is about L4D2 on Steam yet it has only the Xbox tag. lolwut.

jynxycat @ Oct 27th 2009 6:32PM

Not really a big deal.

It's just one level,and so far, none of the new enemies are anything special. I was never really THAT into the first one, but this seems like a very minor update. The level itself is pretty much standard fare.

+1 point for getting a Guitar to melee with though.

Eglorian @ Oct 27th 2009 6:47PM

I just to play the game because of that, really.

DarkMousy @ Oct 27th 2009 6:58PM

Well the back of the voucher from GameStop states that "Demo goes live 10/27/09 at 11PM PST."

WXsniper @ Oct 27th 2009 9:28PM

About time someone read the fine print. And here I was just getting ready to post that.
Time zones mean everything in these things.

Avatar @ Oct 27th 2009 7:08PM

Am I the only one who thinks it's a little sad that the demo for a Valve game isn't on Valve's own Steam, but is available elsewhere? I mean come on, get with the program, Valve.

Wince @ Oct 27th 2009 7:19PM

You're right, it should be embarrassing for them.

What I don't understand is WHY? I mean, the damn thing is preloaded, so why not just unlock it?

CaramelZappa @ Oct 27th 2009 9:28PM

Hey, the xbox guys can have the demo a few hours before me. I got the game for $35, and I get mods and free DLC. They get the demo early, and the nicety of having the voice chat and the game sound/music come out of 2 different audio devices.

DriveBy Lawsuit @ Oct 27th 2009 7:29PM

Are people seriously still bitching about Valve not releasing something on time?

Wince @ Oct 27th 2009 7:45PM

I think what is irking to some is the fact that the demo is available elsewhere (Xbox Live), and not on Valve's own download service.

In the end, of course, you're right. People have waited a long time for this, they can wait a few more hours.

Hytch @ Oct 27th 2009 8:09PM

I reeeeally didn't want to go to bed tonight without having a go, but it's 12:03am here...
Why don't they just say "the 28th", so I don't waste a whole freaking night just checking Steam?! :(

capt_carl @ Oct 27th 2009 8:19PM

Guys, "Valve" and "delays" are synonymous.

/waits

CaramelZappa @ Oct 27th 2009 9:17PM

Did anyone ACTUALLY think it was going to unlock on time? Really?

Hytch @ Oct 27th 2009 9:40PM

Like as been said already, they managed to do so for the 360 - it'd be fine if they showed a bit of consistency...

CaramelZappa @ Oct 27th 2009 9:42PM

It's perfectly consistant. Valve has a history of being slow to take off on pre-loaded games and the like. It's just how they work. See the link to valve time someone posted above.

The 360 version of the demo is being dealt with by EA, and Microsoft, both of which are always on time for such things. This happened with the l4d dlc, too, remember? Valve just takes a while to release things. It's lame, but not surprising at all.

WXsniper @ Oct 27th 2009 10:08PM

What you're forgetting, which DarkMousy posted, is that the demo on Steam was already scheduled for 11pm PST.
Just because EA and/or Microsoft (not sure exactly) decided to launch it early for XBL doesn't mean that Valve is gonna change the PC launch time.
Two different systems, two different companies deciding when to launch.