Five years have passed and we still haven't heard of any Left 4 Dead 3 release date. However, these leaked screenshots might tell us something. Hopes even soared high when Counter Strike co-creator Minh Le who previously worked with L4D's developer Valve Corporations stated: "It wouldn't be any news if I said yes, I saw it. It looks great."

This pronouncement was further brought to new heights when he assured that Left for Dead 3 is now in the works and progress is moving along as expected.

"So I was really excited when I saw that. I was like 'Wow, this looks great.' I really enjoyed Left 4 Dead. It was just one of those games that really changed the industry because I think at the time there weren't many good co-op games, so it was like, 'Yeah, this is a great co-op game'," he shared.

Early this year, a blog organized by true-blood L4D fans, gathered and posted some evidences about the development of a sequel. According to leaked infos, Left 4 Dead 3 will be released together with Portal 3 and Half Life 3.

Falisek from Valve even teased: "I really like working on this series, it is one of my favorite. It creates so much fun with the world and the characters. I love horror and I love Zombie." Could he be talking about L4D 3?

Another evidence that set off speculations was a YouTube video posted by Valve, featuring their illustrator Andrea Wicklund naturally navigating through her desktop portfolio. While filming, some Left 4 Dead 3 related files were revealed. One concept art file was reportedly modified last June 2012, while the other showed a July 2013 time frame.

Rumors about the addition of new infected characters named The Breeder, The Bloody Clown, and The Assassin also arise. Could they be greater than The Tank or The Witch? Or more tricky than The Charger?

While it is advisable to take Le's musings and other rumors with a pinch of salt, leaked screenshots of the restructured plantation level from Left 4 Dead 2, might just keep our hopes up for the possibility of a follow-up game/update. These slides from a supposedly confidential PowerPoint presentation evidently show graphic improvements including enhanced foliage and better lighting and shadow effects (via Valve Time).

(Photo : Via Valve Time)

(Photo : Via Valve Time)

So far, we only have this additional screenshot that may suggest the coming of Left 4 Dead 3 or just an additional functionality for their new engine:

(Photo : Via Valve Time)

They're pretty vague but Valve Time quotes the first four lines included in the presentation:

-Redesigned Tools & Workflow

*Powerful GUI front end for content authoring.

-Can be easily extended with custom and pre-game assets

-Browser for quickly finding, managing, editing assets

-Simple, automatic compiling of content

The first Left 4 Dead release date was November 2008, followed by the November 2009 release of the sequel. A lot of Novembers have gone by, and we still haven't heard anything about the third installment. Is it finally going to be on November 2014?

Watch out for more news about Left 4 Dead 3 release date/rumors.