Valve buys Turtle Rock

Valve has acquired Californian game studio Turtle Rock.

The studio is currently working on Left 4 Dead, a new co-op zombie shooter built on Valve’s Source technology. The two had previously worked together on other Source-based projects including Counter-Strike.

Left 4 Dead joins Valve’s growing portfolio of new IP that includes the much-acclaimed Portal, part of last year’s The Orange Box compilation. Turtle Rock was founded in 2002 by Michael Booth – its addition to the Valve business gives the studio a new base in Orange County, California.

"Valve has had great success bringing in projects and teams such as Team Fortress and Portal. As I spent time working and talking with the creators of those products over the past several years, it became clear that this was the right next step for myself, my colleagues at Turtle Rock, our customers, and our products," commented Booth. "We are excited to be a part of such a visionary and forward-thinking company."

"We have been seeing very strong growth with Steam and Source, our content distribution and development platforms, up over 150 per cent over the last 12 months. Given our expectations for Left 4 Dead and our long-standing relationships with members of the Turtle Rock team, this was an easy decision. It also gives us a base from which to expand our development activities in the Los Angeles area," said Gabe Newell, president of Valve.

 "Left 4 Dead fills a long-standing demand gamers have had for a coop first-person action experience, and it will also help Valve’s expansion into the console market," added Doug Lombardi, Valve’s VP of marketing.