In 2009, Ars reported that a trailer for the then-upcoming Left 4 Dead 2 had leaked online. At the time, the footage “looked like it came straight out of a high-gloss action movie.” Seventeen years later, we can provide an important update: The so-called trailer leak was deliberately orchestrated by Valve.
The revelation comes from former Valve writer Chet Faliszek, who discussed the cut content from Left 4 Dead 2 in a newly published video. While describing the company’s dealings with the Entertainment Software Rating Board, Faliszek said, “We leaked the trailer ahead of time because they wouldn’t allow us to release the trailer.”
Faliszek was referring to the Entertainment Software Rating Board, or ESRB, a self-regulatory industry organization that has issued age ratings for video games since 1994. For years, publishers seeking shelf space at major retailers generally had to follow the ESRB’s standards, although some smaller and online-focused developers now avoid the rating process.
A “leaked” Left 4 Dead 2 trailer that was apparently too violent for the ESRB.
The ESRB’s rules also covered video game advertising and promotional materials. Looking back at the supposedly leaked Left 4 Dead 2 trailer, it is easy to see why Valve may have faced problems. The ESRB’s guidelines prohibited trailers containing “graphic or excessive depictions” of violence, weapons, blood, or gore, as well as “crude and/or offensive language.”
Valve had already experienced the ESRB’s strict marketing standards firsthand. In early 2009, the organization reportedly asked the company to alter a promotional image for Left 4 Dead 2. The original image showed a hand with three fingers bitten off, leaving two fingers to represent the game’s sequel number. To satisfy the ESRB, Valve created a revised version in which the missing fingers were restored and simply curled inward. That modified image was later featured on the game’s box art.
“Faliszek pointed out that this is a game where you use chainsaws to tear people apart,” we reported at the time. “But you bite off a logo’s finger? That’s crossing the line.”
“May cause serious offense to the average consumer”
The ESRB’s advertising restrictions were particularly controversial when applied to video game trailers. In 2007, the organization demanded changes to trailers for D3’s Dark Sector and 2K’s The Darkness after the videos had already circulated online, including on websites with age restrictions.
In comments made at the time, ESRB president Patricia Vance argued that age gates did not give publishers unlimited freedom when promoting games. “Just because an age gate exists, publishers can’t simply put whatever content they want into trailers,” Vance said. “All trailers still need to comply with the Advertising Review Council’s principles and guidelines, which prohibit the display of content that is excessively violent or likely to cause serious offense to the average consumer.”
Valve’s decision to leak the Left 4 Dead 2 trailer appears to have been a calculated way to show the footage to fans without formally releasing an advertisement that might violate the ESRB’s marketing rules.
Source: arstechnica.com