One of the biggest announcements of The Game Awards 2020, and certainly one of the biggest surprises, was the reveal of Back 4 Blood. Turtle Rock Studios, the studio behind the original Left 4 Dead, is making another cooperative zombie shooter. It'll fill a spot in a genre game fans have been asking for for years. And while Back 4 Blood's release date may still be up in the air, Turtle Rock wants to let players try it as soon as possible. The team's confirmed that it has plans for a closed alpha, starting within a week.

Back 4 Blood's official website confirms that a closed alpha for the game will officially start on December 17. As the name implies the alpha is closed to the general public. It'll require interested players to submit their email address to WB Interactive Entertainment and Turtle Rock. Registration also confirms that the Back 4 Blood alpha will be limited to PC via Steam, at least to start. The alpha is likely to be extremely limited, so those that register shouldn't expect to be invited immediately.

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Further details regarding Back 4 Blood's alpha and future resting aren't available. The game's official website doesn't even have an FAQ yet. As such, it isn't clear what kind of content players can expect even if they are invited. Back 4 Blood is planned to feature both a cooperative story campaign and a competitive multiplayer mode, much like Left 4 Dead. Perhaps these will both be available, or perhaps just a glimpse at the cooperative mode.

Turtle Rock Studios has been through a lot to arrive at this day. After Left 4 Dead, Turtle Rock was acquired by Valve and then dismissed by Valve less than a year and a half later. The team then spent five years working on Evolve, during which its publisher THQ went bankrupt. After Evolve, the team focused on VR games between 2015 and 2019. And somewhere in those years, a AAA project with Perfect World was canceled. It's only now, in partnership with Warner Bros. Interactive, that Turtle Rock is moving back to its roots. Hopefully, the team delivers without any more controversy.

Back 4 Blood releases June 22, 2021 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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