...at least it might according to Valve's Erik Johnson and Doug Lombardi who, in an interview with Eurogamer said that they think Left 4 Dead will surpass the popularity of Counter-Strike. Here's what they had to say:

Erik Johnson: When we think of Left 4 Dead, we think about it like it's the next Counter-Strike. Counter-Strike still is quite successful and we think it's filling that gap. We don't think it's a hard sell.

Doug Lombardi: Counter-Strike was a harder sell. It had been a free mod for a year, we were not going to stop that happening, and that made retailers and our publisher at the time outrageously nervous and scared of doing it. It had two characters per side, seven maps and about five weapons when it first launched.

Erik Johnson: And it was a brutal game. And it was buggy. Everything about it was fighting against it, but there was this piece of Counter-Strike that people couldn't get away from. Over time it became a full-fledged product that continues to do well today. Left 4 Dead is way ahead of that. We feel pretty good about saying it's going to be the thing that finally beats Counter-Strike.

...


Let's hope they're right on that count. It's about time something came along to replacethe aging Counter-Strike.

IMO it will struggle to replace something as popular as CS. Maybe these guys are just talking themselves up a bit?

according to Valve's Erik Johnson and Doug Lombardi.

The guys work for Valve. Why would they 'talk themselves' up over a currently existing product?

Perhaps they think CS has saturated the market and can't reach out to anyone else. By saying this is a CS beater they're going to add some weight behind it come release date.

It will probably beat cs source, but there will of course be people that will still play the game, and also others will probably still buying cs source, but not as much.

Yeah, I think a lot of people will be converted from CS:S to L4D when it comes out. But a lot of people will play both (like I will) and all the competitive CS gamers will stay with CS for the most part.

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Veiled Duality

well once left 4 dead comes out my pc will become dry and i wont touch counter strike for like ten years, considering that left 4 dead plays differently each time and yes i will keep playing that left 4 dead until im in the hospital becuase i tryed to put a fork in the toaster to see what happened, and than after that ill be too freaked ot to touch anything electric for about 6 years and than ill be all like "omg mah 360 has becomes a fat ass from over use" and than ill be all like "WTF is counter strike?"

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take THAT canada

So your going to play it nonstop, not even eat?

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Well I'm still not sure if im leaving CSS..

But it bores me in last time, so i might stick on Left 4 Dead

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