Left 4 Dead 2 finally gets an 'uncut' update in Germany

(Image credit: Valve)

German owners of Left 4 Dead 2 can now download a free DLC upgrading their copy to the blood-soaked "uncut" international release, following a re-evaluation from national authorities.

Like Left 4 Dead 2's infamous Australian release, German copies of the game were heavily modified to remove blood, gore and offending content that would otherwise block the game from sale in those regions. In 2014, Valve successfully resubmitted the unmodified game in Australia, updating Aussie copies with a free patch—and now, over a decade after release, the studio has done the same for Germany.

"Valve recently requested that German authorities re-evaluate the game Left 4 Dead 2", the developer wrote in a Steam update. "We are happy to let you know that as a result the uncut international version of Left 4 Dead 2 is now available to our customers in Germany."

Besides Left 4 Dead 2, Germany also suffered from a comically modified version of Team Fortress 2 which replaced bloody giblets with robot parts. Other Valve games were also cut to fit regional standards, though most restrictions were removed in a sweeping 2017 update. German folks who want to update their game to the international version can do so by downloading a free DLC patch on Steam.

20 years ago, Nat played Jet Set Radio Future for the first time, and she's not stopped thinking about games since. Joining PC Gamer in 2020, she comes from three years of freelance reporting at Rock Paper Shotgun, Waypoint, VG247 and more. Embedded in the European indie scene and a part-time game developer herself, Nat is always looking for a new curiosity to scream about—whether it's the next best indie darling, or simply someone modding a Scotmid into Black Mesa. She also unofficially appears in Apex Legends under the pseudonym Horizon.