We have upgraded our network infrastructure to better accommodate the huge response to L4D2. 360 players will now have lag-free servers. We've also added more dedicated servers.

We will continue to monitor the situation and add resources as needed.

Thank you for your patience. Now quit reading this, get out there and kill some zombies!

Spike TV just posted their nominees for the 2009 Video Game Awards, and we're proud to announce that Left 4 Dead 2 is up for six awards—Game of the Year, Studio of the Year, Best Xbox 360 Game, Best PC Game, Best Shooter and Best Multiplayer Game. If you've been enjoying L4D2 this week, don't forget to drop into Spike's onine voting center and give us some love!

Due to high demand for L4D2, we decided to move various street dates forward for a coordinated worldwide release—except in the UK, where this was not possible (copies of the game are still arriving).

The good news is that we plan to have everyone in the UK playing Left 4 Dead 2 by Friday morning. Those who pre-ordered in the UK before the worldwide launch have been given access to the game.

The PC version of Left 4 Dead 2, the sequel to the best-selling and critically-acclaimed co-operative multiplayer thriller, is now available via Steam to gamers around the globe. The title will be available for the PC and Xbox 360 at retail stores on Tuesday, November 17th in North America, and worldwide throughout the week. For more information, please visit www.steamgames.com.

The "Dude, Where's My Thumb?" contest is officially closed. Congratulations to contest winner Roland Nagy, who just won himself an extremely limited edition (i.e. one) customized "infected" Xbox 360 for his entry below:

During the production of a game, a lot of concept art gets drawn up, redrawn, thrown away, cursed at, and, occasionally, even used. There's a mountain of this stuff fluttering around the Valve offices, and while the non-artists among us might not know much (anything) about art, we hope we're not embarrassing our artists by saying it looks pretty kickass. So we grabbed some of it off the nearest pile and made it into desktop wallpaper:

For our Left 4 Dead 1 contest giveaway, we gave all you gamers a simple proposition: take a picture of yourself or a friend doing something creative in front of a L4D ad. We were blown away by the inventiveness, humor, and photoshop mastery of some of the replies.

Starting today, L4D2's second television spot (watch the first here)—drops on TV channels across North America. It's packed with explosions, jets, the song "Electric Worry" by Clutch, and hard-hitting action courtesy of our four Survivors Coach, Rochelle, Nick and Ellis.

Oh, and zombies.