When solo developer Justin Jager of studio Extrude shipped the zombie survival game The Left Behind on July 27, 2026, on PC via Steam, the launch did not go as planned. The game was quickly met with a wave of user feedback that resulted in a 17% positive review score and the dreaded "Very Negative" Steam designation.

Quick Facts

  • Game: The Left Behind
  • Developer: Justin Jager (Extrude studio)
  • Platform: PC (Steam)
  • Release Date: July 27, 2026
  • Steam Review Score: 17% positive ("Very Negative")

What Players and Reviewers Disliked

The Steam user reviews for The Left Behind serve as a heavy takedown of the solo-developed title. Player complaints span a wide array of technical and design issues, including performance drops, clunky combat mechanics, awkward movement, graphical errors, connection problems, flawed AI translations, and confusing menus.

Perhaps most strikingly, players pointed out that the solo and co-op survival game lacked a basic save function, forcing users to start over entirely every time they booted up the game. Additionally, the game launched without a traditional map—a design choice Jager explained was intended to make physical, in-universe maps more valuable for exploration, though it ultimately failed to resonate with players.

Developer Response and Planned Updates

Acknowledging the critical consensus on Steam, Jager stated that he takes all the feedback and experience with him. He admitted that design choices regarding the save system stemmed from focusing too heavily on horde mode and permadeath features, which overshadowed the needs of the story mode.

To address the overwhelmingly negative feedback, Jager announced an incoming update scheduled to introduce important bug fixes, a proper map, miscellaneous improvements, and the heavily requested story progression save function. Reflecting on the launch in a Twitter post and Steam community discussions, Jager noted that releasing the title in Early Access may have been a better approach, and he is now focused on updating the game and communicating future milestones effectively to players.