Gabe Newell Responds To L4D2 Boycotting News

Now over 25,000 members strong, the Left 4 Dead 2 boycott group on Steam has caused quite a stir over the past week. Now Valve's President, Gabe Newell, has responded to the group's concerns and pledged to support the original Left 4 Dead after its sequel's release.

"Doing a sequel in one year is new for Valve," Newell told Kotaku. "But providing ongoing support for our titles after the initial launch isn't - it has been part of our philosophy since Half-Life was released ten and half years ago. We see no reason to change that and will continue to support the over three million customers in the L4D community."

"Some in the community are concerned that the announcement of L4D2 implied a change in our plans for L4D1. We aren't changing our plans for L4D1," Newell continued before adding: "In addition to the recently released Survival Pack, we are releasing authoring tools for Mod makers, community matchmaking, 4x4 matchmaking, and more new content during the coming months for L4D1. We also agree with our customers that there needs to be an interoperability plan for players of L4D1 and L4D2, as multiplayer games are driven by the cohesiveness of their community."

That sounds a lot more like the Valve we know and love. What are your thoughts on the group's demands and Valve's response?