Left 4 Dead "never would have happened" without Turtle Rock, says co-founder

Left 4 Dead "never would have happened" without Turtle Rock, studio co-founder Phil Robb said during an Evolve event last week.

Speaking in a Q&A, OXM queried Robb as to why the team wasn't working on a third entry in the Left 4 Dead series, you know, since it's being rumored and all.

"I can tell you that without the original Turtle Rock team, Left 4 Dead never would have happened," he said. "It's our creation, we gave birth to it. That is not in any way to diminish Valve's contribution to the game - they had a huge contribution. Those guys are smart, they know their s**t.

"They were really good sort-of mentors for us. When you're in with those guys, we were always able to take our ideas and throw them at them and see what they thought."

According to Robb, the idea for Evolve was in the making before Left 4 Dead.

"It actually pre-dates Left 4 Dead," he said. "We were talking about this idea before Left 4 Dead was anything, before we even thought of Left 4 Dead.

"Left 4 Dead almost came about just from watching the community and watching what people were doing, whereas this was an idea where we were really like, 'Wouldn't it be cool if...'

"[But] this is the point where Turtle Rock proves that we are our own independent entity."

It was revealed by Robb earlier this week that Turtle Rock and Valve parted ways due to the logistical nightmares working as a satellite developer can impose.

Evolve is slated for a Q3 release on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.