The Left Behind, a zombie survival game from solo developer Justin Jager and studio Extrude, launched on July 27 and quickly fell to a 17% positive review score on Steam. The game currently carries Steam’s “Very Negative” rating.
Jager addressed the response in an official Steam post, apologizing for the state of the release and acknowledging that the game did not deliver the survival experience players expected. Reviews have pointed to performance trouble, awkward movement, clumsy combat, graphical problems, connection issues, confusing menus, and unreliable AI translations.
The developer said the next update will include important bug fixes, a proper map, other improvements, and a way to save story progression. That last addition addresses one of the most unusual complaints about the game. Although The Left Behind supports solo and co-op play, it currently has no save function, meaning players must start over when they return to the game.
Why The Left Behind launched without saves
Jager explained in an X post that the missing map was a deliberate choice. He wanted physical maps within the game world to matter more, but admitted that the decision did not work well for players.
I've made some design choices that in hindsight were not the best choice. The map for example: there is a map but it's a physical one, like you see at busstations for example. I made that choice out of an exploration viewpoint. But if players can't find it (1/..)
— The Left Behind (@Game_LeftBehind) July 28, 2026
He also said he focused too heavily on the horde mode when planning the save system. That mode did not need saving in his view, but the story mode does. The game’s permadeath feature also still requires a save system to work properly.
In a Steam discussion response, Jager said releasing the game in early access would have been the better choice. He now plans to update the game and communicate its development more clearly so players know when changes are coming.
The update has no announced release date, so players will have to wait for more information from Extrude before the fixes and save feature arrive.
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The Left Behind
Developed by Trudex
