Left 4 Dead, Valve and Turtle Rock’s upcoming survival horror zombie shooter, was originally set to launch on November 4 but has been pushed back by a few weeks. Though fans will be disappointed, the delay is a small one, with the game now expected to hit the U.S. on November 18 followed by a European release on November 21.

News came from Valve’s marketing chief Doug Lombardi, who pointed out that Valve delayed the launch for “fine tuning” and not because of the crowded fall season which will see popular titles such as Fallout 3 and Gears of War 2 debut. Left 4 Dead is based on the Source engine that powers Half-Life 2 and should hit both the PC and the Xbox 360 on launch day. Check out a short preview of the game here.