Back 4 Blood's first expansion is coming in April

(Image credit: Turtle Rock Studios)

Back 4 Blood, the Left 4 Dead-alike made by the team that made Left 4 Dead, is very good—our best co-op game of 2021, no less. And more is on the way: Developer Turtle Rock Studios announced today that the first expansion, Tunnels of Terror, will be out on April 12.

Turtle Rock also revealed that Back 4 Blood is a legitimate hit, notching up more than 10 million players since its October 2021 release and becoming the best-selling new game property of 2021.

"To achieve such a milestone in the short time since the launch of Back 4 Blood is a historic event for our studio and this franchise," Turtle Rock Studios president and general manager Steve Goldstein said. "As we look ahead, we’re excited to keep the momentum going with our upcoming expansion, Tunnels of Terror, which will offer more cooperative content for fans to continue cleansing the world of the Ridden."

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It would be fair to point out that pretty much everything related to Back 4 Blood is "historic" because it's the only Back 4 Blood game—talk of turning it into a "franchise" didn't really come to the surface until December 2021, when Turtle Rock was acquired by Chinese gaming conglomerate Tencent. Still, there's no denying the significance of the numbers, which may see a fresh bump in April with the launch of the Tunnels of Terror expansion.

Tunnels of Terror will be coming to Fort Hope on April 12th, 2022. Here's a little sneak peek on what to look forward to! pic.twitter.com/AOrigv2UuKMarch 1, 2022

Tunnels of Terror will introduce two new characters—Sharice, an axe-wielding firefighter, and Heng, a tough as nails, no-nonsense restaurateur—along with a new co-op activity called Ridden Hives, set across seven different dungeons below the town of Evansburgh that are filled with a new type of enemy called Warped Ridden. ("Ridden" is Back 4 Blood's name for zombies.) The expansion will also feature eight new character skins, seven legendary weapons and 12 new weapon skins, new cards, and more.

The release of Tunnels of Terror will also bring a free update for all players that will add a new difficulty setting called No Hope—details about the setting weren't provided but you can probably pick up the gist of it based on the name alone.

Turtle Rock noted in the launch date announcement that all players in a Back 4 Blood party will have access to the content in Tunnels of Terror as long as at least one person has purchased it. The studio also promised that "there will be no microtransactions of any kind, cosmetic or otherwise, added to the game as part of this expansion or any future content update."

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.