page_title: Left 4 Dead: The Sacrifice
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Left 4 Dead: The Sacrifice / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Michael Avon Oeming
context_page_description: The Sacrifice is a digital comic book created by Valve based on the Left 4 Dead video game, detailing the events that the protagonists – Zoey, Louis, Francis, and Bill – experience after the chronologically-final campaign, Blood Harvest. It accompanies a campaign in both Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 of the same name. It also serves as a prequel to a campaign from Left 4 Dead 2 called The Passing, which makes allusions to the events.
context_section_description: The comics were illustrated by Michael Avon Oeming, a comic books veteran. Valve stated that the comic was made both because it wants to expand its video games into other mediums, as well as in response to both the critical reception that the Team Fortress 2 comics received and the commercial sales that the comic led to for Team Fortress 2. While the plot of The Sacrifice is canon, its creators Valve made a note that they did not want to force the plot into the game; as such, they designed the accompanying in-game campaign to choose how it ends. Valve commented that they hated to see video games made into bad films or comics, due to most of them being "disconnected from [the video game's] source", so they decided to make the comic in-house. They commissioned Oeming to illustrate their comic to allow the comic to reach a certain level of quality. While the comic began as smaller than the current size, it grew as they fleshed out certain parts, due to their enjoyment of the characters and their intention to "give each one time in the spotlight." Valve also explains that they feel that comics are a better format for video game adaptations than films; they state that when players get attached to a character, a comic book allows them to appreciate them more than a two-hour film versus spending "hours and hours, even hundreds of hours with them" with them in the video game. They add that comics help to go into stories that the game doesn't elaborate on.
  Much of the comic's content was created before the comic was created; in particular, the flashback featuring Francis was one of the first thing that was written for him. Valve explains the addition of numerous supporting characters is due to the new format; where the video games only allowed for focus on the main characters, they could go more in depth on others and show the effects of the infection on the rest of the world. When asked why Bill was chosen to die, Valve explained that they wanted the sacrifice to be done by the most impacting and favourite character by both Valve and the community, as well as the fact that his story matched The Sacrifice well.
  The Sacrifice was released in four parts. Valve released it in both downloadable PDF format or viewable on their web site. They specifically released versions of the comic without text or speech bubbles for the purpose of allowing fans to localize them into other languages. They added that this would allow fans to make their own dialogue for them. Valve announced that the best fan-made comics would be featured on the Left 4 Dead developer's blog. The first part was released on September 14, 2010. Each following part was released every week following, up until the release of The Sacrifice in the games. It was eventually released for the iOS items iPhone and iPad. When asked whether more comics would be made by Valve, they stated in the affirmative, specifically saying that "this isn’t the last you will see of Left 4 Dead comics." The full comic was published by Dark Horse Comics in Valve Presents: The Sacrifice and Other Steam-Powered Stories, a volume along with other comics created by Valve for Team Fortress 2 and Portal 2, which was released in November 2011.
caption: Comic book veteran Michael Avon Oeming was brought on by Valve in hopes of creating a quality product based on Left 4 Dead.
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