Video Games

Turtle Rock might be working on Back 4 Blood 2, if its code names are anything to go by

Turtle Rock may have started development on Back 4 Blood 2, assuming the code names for its horror games don’t change between projects 

Josh Broadwell

Turtle Rock

Turtle Rock may have started development on Back 4 Blood 2, assuming the code names for its horror games don’t change between projects. An eager sleuth at Multiplayer1st did some digging into Turtle Rock’s naming conventions after spotting a curious entry on the resume of Jesse Hutch, a motion-capture actor who worked on the first Back 4 Blood.

Hutch lists “Gobi 2” from Turtle Rock as a project they’re currently working on as lead performer, which seems like nothing in itself, until you look at Steam’s backend entry for Back 4 Blood. There, when Turtle Rock first uploaded information about the game, it existed under the codename “Gobi.” Turtle Rock also said at the start of 2023 that the development team was beginning work on its next, unnamed project.

Since Gobi was Back 4 Blood, it’d make sense that Gobi 2 is Back 4 Blood 2, unless Turtle Rock is particularly free and slightly unorganized with its naming conventions.

A team of designers who worked on Left 4 Dead and its sequel created Turtle Rock and Back 4 Blood as a kind of spiritual successor, though B4B had a bit of a rough go at launch. Its highest player count on SteamDB was only 65,987, and its highest recent player count was just slightly over 4,000. Meanwhile, 49,000 people played Left 4 Dead 2 – a 15-year-old game – in the last 24 hours.

Back 4 Blood is fun and ambitious. However, since Left 4 Dead 2 has a combination of existing communities, extensive mod support, and a more simplified version of what people want – blasting zombie hordes, not dealing with roguelike card systems – it’s unsurprising that Turtle Rock’s first iteration on the formula had a less than solid landing. With The Game Awards 2024 just around the corner, perhaps we’ll see a bit of what the studio has in store soon.

Published
Josh Broadwell
JOSH BROADWELL

Josh is a freelance writer and reporter who specializes in guides, reviews, and whatever else he can convince someone to commission. You may have seen him on NPR, IGN, Polygon, or Rolling Stone shouting about RPGs. When he isn’t working, you’ll likely find him outside with his Belgian Malinois and Australian Shepherd or leveling yet another job in FFXIV.

Home/News