Those who own Team Fortress 2 can pick up an all-important hat - and a very useful skillet - free for use in that game if they go grab Left 4 Dead 2 before 7 p.m. tomorrow (Thursday).

What's more, the game is $6.79, (roughly 6.47 times the price of freedom), so you can see, Valve's keen to sell some damn Left 4 Dead 2. Grab it and you get a trucker hat worn by Ellis, the alleged friend of Whitaker, who runs the gun shop across from Liberty Mall in L4D2. The skillet is, well, you've seen what it can do in Left 4 Dead 2.

Already own Left 4 Dead 2 and TF2 on the PC? You'll see the items show up shortly.

Free Hats! [TF2 Blog]

The Sacrifice episode is now available free for PC players of Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2. To celebrate, Valve is selling both games on PC for less than Xbox 360 players will pay for the DLC alone.

If there was ever evidence to back up Gabe Newell's mention of Xbox Live as a train wreck, then this is it. While PC players are already getting up to their elbows in The Sacrifice for Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead, Xbox 360 Left 4 Dead 2 owners are patiently awaiting to pay 560 Microsoft points ($7) for the privilege. That's pretty painful.

But not nearly as painful as the fact that in honor of the release, Valve has discounted both PC games 66%. That's $6.79 apiece. It's only $10.20 for both games, or $20.40 for a four-pack of either title.

Oh, plus the Mac version of Left 4 Dead 2 goes live today as well, for the same low price.

I'd be completely furious about this if I weren't playing it on my PC.

Let's hear from our Xbox 360 Left 4 Dead 2 players then. How do you folks feel about this?

Next week, downloadable add-on "The Sacrifice" comes to Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2, giving the original Survivors, Zoey, Francis, Bill and Louis, a chance to beat up on Spitters, Chargers and Jockeys with melee weapons.

To set the mood, Valve has released a heart-pounding cinematic trailer for The Sacrifice, filed with thrills, chills and Bill's molotov cocktail attack on a trio of Tanks. Let's hope it never comes to that as we follow the original quartet of Survivors on their journey down south.

The Sacrifice makes its way to the Xbox 360, PC and Mac on Tuesday, October 5. Xbox 360 owners will be charged 560 Microsoft Points, while PC and Mac players will get the add-on content free of charge.

Valve's Left 4 Dead 2 team gives Capcom a little love today with this image, hidden inside a blog post on the release of part three of The Sacrifice digi-comic. Then Chuck Greene shows up.

Valve has no qualms about broadcasting its love for other games, especially when it comes to the Dead Rising series. Frank West got a cameo of sorts in Left 4 Dead's The Passing downloadable content, after all, so it makes sense that the second helping from Capcom would score a little love as well.

Not only does Valve offer up this love letter, cleverly hidden behind an exclamation point, they also give Chuck himself a shout-out in the pages of the comic, seen below.

If two game companies can't whether the zombie apocalypse together, then what hope does the rest of humanity have? Perhaps one day we'll all gather 'round the television to play a rousing game of Left 4 Dead Rising.

The Sacrifice Comic Part 3 [Left 4 Dead Blog - Thanks Ego!]

Left 4 Dead games and expansions must be accompanied by a movie-style poster, according to some law of physics governing development studio Valve Software. The Sacrifice, which is out on October 5 for L4D 1 and 2, now has its own.

The Sacrifice is the newest piece of Left 4 Dead content that bridges Valve's original 2008 multiplayer zombie-shooting game and its 2009 sequel. The Sacrifice stars the heroes of the first game, as they fight toward an encounter with the heroes of the second.

The expansion, which lets players choose which of the L4D leads will die, is free to PC owners of either game and will cost $7 (560 Microsoft points) for Xbox 360 owners. Owners of the original game and the sequel will be able to download The Sacrifice. It includes levels that are playable in campaign, versus and survival modes.

Part two of the Left 4 Dead digi-comic "The Sacrifice" is live, the precursor to the upcoming downloadable content for Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll download it as a PDF.

Valve's sequel-spanning digital comic that explains just what happened to Left 4 Dead's original Survivors, dubbed "The Sacrifice," is yours for the reading. How do things go so horribly wrong between the original game and "The Passing"? Well, Tanks.

Part one of "The Sacrifice," part of Valve's new cross-game story arc plans, offers us plenty of blood and guts, plus a peek at a few new characters. I won't spoil it, just read it yourself, if you're a Left 4 Dead fan.

The digital comic version of "The Sacrifice" runs once a week until October 5, when "The Sacrifice" DLC will be released for Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 on PC, Xbox 360 and Mac.

The Sacrifice [L4D.com]

We're not sure the exact moment Left 4 Dead 2 cosplay took a turn towards choreograph city, but we like it (thanks Jose!)

Valve will be injecting life into Left 4 Dead 2 in the form of featured community maps for the PC. The developer says it plans to begin hosting bi-weekly community campaigns on its own servers, starting with "Two Evil Eyes."

Valve's Chet Faliszek writes on the official Left 4 Dead blog that the company will provide official dedicated server support for select fan-made maps, making it easier for players of the PC version to get their hands on some fresher content. And while that's great, what about the company's plans for giving Left 4 Dead players new content developed by Valve itself?

We'll have to wait until next week, when Valve will address the (very) late downloadable content for the original Left 4 Dead, future plans for Left 4 Dead 2 and the still-missing Mac version of the zombie shooter.

Next Friday, August 20th, we'll know, thanks to Spike's GameTrailers TV.

Here's Looking at You [L4D Blog]

After teasing the first statue in their Left 4 Dead 2 line on Wednesday, Gaming Heads sends us detailed pictures of their grotesque Tank statue, along with a $300 price tag, and that's the cheap version.

The blurry picture released earlier this week did not do Gaming Heads' rendition of Left 4 Dead 2's Tank any justice at all. Now that we see it in its full 15-inch glory, we can easily see how a hardcore fan might lay out the $299.99 asking price for one of these terrible beauties.

Of course a truly dedicated fan would spend an extra $25 on the exclusive version. Limited to 300 pieces worldwide (the standard version is limited to 750), an extra $25 scores you a pump-action shotgun and slightly rarer giant zombie statue.

Wouldn't this look lovely on your mantle, covered by some sort of velvet cloth?