Turtle Rock’s next game may be another Left 4 Dead spiritual successor

Turtle Rock, the team of veteran Left 4 Dead developers, specializes in creating cooperative shooters. His first project, EvolveIt wasn’t quite the big hit I was hoping for, but the studio bounced back with the excellent Return 4 Blood.

And now, it looks like the studio has begun work on its next project, which, unsurprisingly, will be a co-op shooter. as seen by GamesRadarTurtle Rock posted a job ad for a Senior Combat Designer.

The paper, published in Greenhouse, has a list of requirements that include a love of first-person shooters, cooperative and multiplayer games. While the description is careful not to divulge too many details, it does confirm the existence of melee and ranged combat, which is certainly not much given Turtle Rock’s history, but at least suggests that the studio’s next game won’t be, say, a medieval ARPG.

The listing also suggests that the game includes both PvE and PvP elements as it focuses on what combat feels like against AI and other players. Turtle Rock wants someone who has experience with class design and boss encounter design, which is another clue.

There are several other listings for the same project, like this one for a main mission scriptwriter, which reveal a mission-based cooperative shooter with PvE and PvP gameplay. Theme, setting, structure, and all other relevant details have been omitted for obvious reasons.

Interestingly, the developer seems to be prioritizing controller play. While Turtle Rock’s games have always performed well on controller (Back 4 Blood’s controller gameplay is considered by some to be one of its best), gunplay was never really a specialty for the studio.

Turtle Rock announced earlier this year that it will no longer be producing new Back 4 Blood content when it begins work on its next game. Back 4 Blood received a healthy dose of DLC and gameplay tweaks throughout its life, enhancing what was always a co-op shooter with a solid blend of modern expectations and old-school gameplay.

It is difficult to speculate too much based on the information we have. Turtle Rock never made a sequel to any of their games, but Back 4 Blood seems to have done well enough for a Back 4 Blood 2 to make sense.