Valve’s work on Left 4 Dead has paid off, as the studio announced that the cooperative shooter has now sold over 2.5 million copies since its debut in November 2008.

This news came as part of project lead Michael Booth’s GDC presentation on the game. The figure includes both PC and Xbox 360 releases, but does not include sales from the company’s digital distribution platform Steam. The numbers would be higher of course, and it should be pointed out that a recent discount saw sales jump 3000%.

Developer Insomniac has revealed that the first bit of downloadable content for Resistance 2 will be released today alongside a new patch.

The “Aftermath Map Pack” will offer three new multiplayer maps for the shooter – Aftermath, Pit Stop and Orick. There will also be six new skins for multiplayer characters, including two female models, each going for $0.99. The map pack will sell for $5.99.

Meanwhile, a free v1.50 patch will add two new multiplayer modes – Meltdown Mode and Superhuman Co-op – as well as bug fixes and the ability for a second player to log into their PSN account on the same console.

A new patch for Team Fortress 2 officially adds multicore rendering support, allowing users with dual core and quad core CPUs to take better advantage of the money they spent on their computers.

It was a hidden console command at first, but even though it is now official and included in the GUI, Valve notes that it is testing the compatibility of the feature, so the option is turned off by default. You will have to manually enable the option in the game’s menu.

Other changes in the patch include crash fixes, improvements to the engine and more.

Having released the game, Sony Computer Entertainment has partnered with community site Global Gaming to throw an online multiplayer tournament for Resistance: Retribution, its portable third-person shooter.

Registration has already opened and runs until May 10. There will be two ladders – 2v2 and 4v4 – offering over $25,000 in prizes for US gamers.

The tournament itself will begin on April 8, with winners declared May 31. Prizes include LCD televisions, large-size memory sticks, Sonystyle gift cards and more.

EA sent out word that a new multiplayer mode for The Godfather 2 will be released as a free downloadable patch right after the game’s release on April 7 in North America and April 10 in Europe.

Called “Don Control”, the mode will take the strategic gameplay of the title into an online environment where players build a family, command them in battle and view the action from a bird’s eye view from above. Here’s more:

Don Control introduces an additional layer of gameplay on top of the four multiplayer modes and six maps already available in the game and invites players to compete to see who is the ultimate Don of Dons. Players can now challenge one another in 16-player battles for their in-game currency from the single-player game. As a Don online, players can recruit others to join their family by giving them a cut of the profits. But if a player loses as Don, the in-game currency they wagered will be removed in their single-player campaign and their empire can come crumbling down.

The Godfather 2 is being released for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

In a post on the PlayStation Blog, Noby Noby Boy creator Keita Takahashi revealed that multiplayer is coming to his little creation, but that it will be offline only. He didn’t offer any details, but a co-operative mode is being speculated.

He, however, took time to thank players for playing his game.

"There have been many reviews/criticisms since Noby Noby Boy released," he wrote.

"I totally understand as this is such a unique game and I expected those reactions. I don’t mean to make any excuses. That being said, I do get depressed from time to time as I want users to enjoy the game as much as possible. But at the same time, this is what I wanted to create."

Gears of War 2 fans wake up! More multiplayer maps and another patch for the cover-heavy action game is due out by the end of the month.

The “Snowblind Map Pack” is due out on March 31, and will deliver four winter-themed maps: Grind Yard, Under Hill, Courtyard and a remake of Fuel Depot from the first game. While no pricing was given, the last multiplayer map pack sold for 800 Microsoft points ($10).

As for the patch, it will bring a new experience-based ranking system plus a variety of fixes when it is released on March 24. Hit the jump for full details.

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It was surprising news earlier this week when Capcom wanted to charge additional for multiplayer offerings that usually come built-in in other games. So, it wasn’t much surprising that they were on the receiving end of a huge backlash from fans, which has caused the company to defend its decision for charging for multiplayer DLC in Resident Evil 5.

Seeing as how the DLC will be released within the next few weeks and will not add any content beyond the modes themselves, fans have argued that the pack should be free, as in the case of the free patch enabling online functionality to the existing Mercenaries mode.

"Although Versus mode makes use of the assets that exist in the game, the functionality is not currently in the game and is above and beyond the initial scope of Resident Evil 5," said Capcom. "We have never included a Versus mode in Resident Evil before, and as well as the costs of development of the feature, there’s also additional bandwidth costs associated with it."

More on it as the story develops.

Quelling rampant speculation, Monolith and Warner Bros jointly announced that the recently announced “Toy Soldiers” DLC for F.E.A.R. 2 will be released for free next month on PS3 and Xbox 360.

They also stated that the DLC will also be released for PC, though they would not give a date or further details. Hopefully it will be free on PC as well.

Moving away from the cooperative nature of the game, Capcom today announced ‘Versus’, a new multiplayer mode for Resident Evil 5 that will pit player against player – aka deathmatch. Most surprisingly, it will be premium content, as in you actually have to pay to have deathmatch mode added to your game.

Versus will allow up to four players in online battles in two different game types. First up is Slayer’s Rule, a point-based game that challenges players to kill Majinis. The second is Survivor’s Rule where players hunt each other.

It will be available on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network a few weeks after the game is released. It will cost 400 Microsoft points ($4.99).

Missed the first MotorStorm: Pacific Rift demo? Well, Sony has heard you, as they have made available a new demo for the racing sequel that offers both single and multiplayer modes.

The demo features the Razorback track, chosen by the veterans from the game’s forums as their favorite from the 16 tracks included in the game. You will be able to race alone or against the AI, or challenge your friend in 2-player split-screen. There are three different race classes – bike, buggy and monster truck – all of which are available in the demo.

The PS3-exclusive racer is now available in stores.

Shacknews reports that developer Threewave Software is working on the multiplayer component for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Ghostbusters. The single-player portion is being developed by Terminal Reality.

The company, however, did not offer any further details on the multiplayer modes. It can be noted that the game was originally slated to include a cooperative mode as well as standard multiplayer modes. The site reports that Atari is planning to reveal the modes at an event next month.

Following up on its cryptic announcement last week, Valve has released a few details on the Survival Pack DLC for Left 4 Dead.

The new Survival mode will let “up to four players set records for the longest time surviving hordes of zombies on over 12 maps,” according to this GameTrailers TV video. It wasn’t specified whether those maps will be all-new or the current ones.

The pack will also include Versus Mode versions of the Dead Air and Death Toll campaigns. It is set for release this spring.

Ubisoft has announced that the upcoming patch for Far Cry 2 will introduce a new “hardcore” multiplayer setting to the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the shooter.

"The hardcore mode has been designed as an answer to a community request," wrote Ubisoft community developer Atmon on the game’s official forums. "Some players were seeking and expecting a more realistic experience."

Other changes in the patch include a new damage model with increased damage for all weapons, rebalanced weapons, spawning time being tweaked, and more.

No release date for the patch was given.

A new patch is now online for Crysis Wars, the multiplayer portion of Crysis Warhead, updating it to v1.2.

The patch can be downloaded from Rapidshare – it’s a direct download link courtesy of us. You can find patch notes for the new version here, which outlines balance changes, bug fixes and other things included in the update.