10 Video Game Developers Who Made The Right Decision To Ignore Fans
4. Being "Glorified DLC" - Valve (Left 4 Dead 2)
The only game on this list to earn backlash simply by existing, the sequel dropped only a year after the original Left 4 Dead. Fans of the four-player co-op zombie shooter were concerned by the possibility of a Valve money-grab by rushing out a sequel, and soon after its announcement a Left 4 Dead 2 boycott group on Steam had attracted over 37,000 members.
As you can probably guess, these fears turned out to be groundless. Left 4 Dead 2 introduced a wealth of new modes, levels, and zombie types, as well as notable features missing from the first iteration such as melee combat.
Classily, Valve even continued to support the first game with both free and paid content, and soon opposition melted away. The boycott group didn't even survive until release date; incredibly, at least according to Valve supremo Gabe Newell, members of the boycott actually preordered the game at a faster rate than other players.
It's possible that Left 4 Dead 2 could (and should) still have been released as downloadable content for the first game, but it's hard to argue that fans who stumped up for the sequel didn't get their money's worth.