Gamers from the Steam Community have created and signed a petition that expresses their displeasure with the announcement of Left 4 Dead 2. 15,486 members have signed and agree with the following:

The Left 4 Dead 2 Boycott is a group of individuals who have pledged to boycott Valve’s upcoming release of Left 4 Dead 2 on November 17th, 2009. We have assembled a manifesto outlining the basic consensus of many members of our community.

WE RECOGNIZE:
-Valve is a company with financial needs and cannot be expected to survive without the release of new games.
-Judgment cannot be passed on the quality of Left 4 Dead 2 until its release.
-Left 4 Dead was, and is, a quality game which deserves the praise of the entire gaming community.

WE ARE COMMITTED:
-To holding Valve to its promise of free, continual updates to Left 4 Dead in order to build and sustain the community.
-To keeping the Left 4 Dead community together in order to improve the quality of online gaming.
-To supporting the model of continual updates Valve has set forth with its staple products like Team Fortress 2.

WE BELIEVE:

-The release of Left 4 Dead 2 as a stand-alone sequel will split the communities and decrease the quality of multiplayer gaming.

-The announced content of Left 4 Dead 2 does not warrant a stand-alone, full-priced sequel and should instead become updates (free or otherwise) for Left 4 Dead.

-Left 4 Dead has not yet received the support and content which Valve has repeatedly stated will be delivered.

-The release of Left 4 Dead 2 will make Left 4 Dead an obsolete purchase and inferior piece of software after only one year since release.

WE REQUEST:

-That Valve honor its commitment to release ongoing periodic content for Left 4 Dead.

-That Left 4 Dead 2 not be released as a stand-alone, full-priced sequel but as either a free update to Left 4 Dead or an expansion with full compatibility with basic Left 4 Dead owners.

-That Left 4 Dead owners be given discounts for Left 4 Dead 2, should it be released as premium content.

Therefore, we – the members of this Left 4 Dead 2 Boycott – promise to abstain from the purchase of Left 4 Dead 2 until our requests are addressed.