Back 4 Blood delayed, but an open beta will happen this summer

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The June release date has been pushed to October.

Back 4 Blood
(Image credit: Turtle Rock Studios)

Back 4 Blood, the Left 4 Dead-alike co-op shooter that was expected to be out this summer, has been delayed. Publisher Warner Bros. announced today that the game is now set to launch on October 12, instead of arriving on June 22 as planned.

"Turtle Rock Studios is working hard to make Back 4 Blood the best game it can possibly be at launch and the team needs more time to do this," the publisher said on Twitter. "Therefore, we will release Back 4 Blood on October 12, 2021. We thank our community for its continued support and are excited to share that there will be an open beta this summer."

It's not all bad news, at least: We won't be able to buy in the summer, but at least we'll be able to play it for a bit and see how it's shaping up.

As you'd expect from the title, Back 4 Blood is a Left 4 Dead sequel in all but its name, and as we said in our December preview, that formula may not actually hold up quite as well as we remember—it's been more than ten years since Left 4 Dead 2, after all. Warner didn't detail any the specific reasons for the delay, but it's possible that it wants to ensure Turtle Rock can spend a little extra time ensuring that B4B is more than just Left 4 Dead 3.

Back 4 Blood is available for pre-purchase on Steam. You can find out more about what's coming at back4blood.com.

Andy Chalk
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.