Valve - which has been reaping plenty of plaudits for The Orange Box (including our own PS3-based review) is splashing the cash this New Year.

It's decided that the California-based Turtle Rock Studios shouldn't be left alone to develop the forthcoming online horror romp, Left 4 Dead (not to be confused with Christian horror romp, Left Behind), so it's bought it outright.

Not only is Turtle Rock working on the 2008 release, it's also played a part in developing the ever-media controversial Counter-Strike.

Valve's charismatic leader, Gabe Newell is all cheerful as you'd expect - however, he's also apparently concerned about his local area development cycle, saying, "Given our expectations for Left 4 Dead and our long-standing relationships with members of the Turtle Rock team, this was an easy decision.

"It also gives us a base from which to expand our development activities in the Los Angeles area", well, that's good to know. There simply is not enough game development activity in that part of the world.