As Left 4 Dead 2 approaches its ten year anniversary, series fans continue to hope for news of a third installment. A fake game teaser broke the hearts of many fans who fell into the trap. Thankfully, a recent job posting may offer the best hint yet that Left 4 Dead 3 is indeed coming.

Turtle Rock Studios, the developer behind the original Left 4 Dead title, dropped a ton of open positions on their website. Many of them look very intriguing, but Senior Level Designer provides the most insight into the team’s next title. Italics are mine for emphasis.

Looking to work on a globally known game franchise? Join our exceptional development team as a Senior Level Designer on an unannounced AAA title. Do you love creating awesome level layouts and designing fun encounters? Do you enjoy watching people play through your levels and collaborating to make them even better? The job will require working closely with artists, engineers, and other designers to create awesome content.

The requirements also specify that the title is a first-person shooter. The full list of open jobs can be found here.

While this position looks to fit with the Left 4 Dead series, one major obstacle remains: Valve, not Turtle Rock, owns the franchise rights. As no announcement has come from Valve, we cannot say for certain that the open jobs relate to Left 4 Dead 3. The two companies have worked together for nearly two decades, though, making another team up more conceivable. Turtle Rock previously helped on Counter-Strike and Half-Life 2: Deathmatch, fanning excitement that the new title may be Half-Life 3. However, Left 4 Dead 3 remains the most likely candidate.

Turtle Rock’s relationship with Valve can best be described as complicated. Turtle Rock started as an independent developer in 2002 before Valve purchased the company. Valve renamed the company Valve South, but shut down the company following the release of Left 4 Dead in 2009. Turtle Rock reformed a year later and worked with Valve the Left 4 Dead 2 post-launch content. Their most recent title, Evolve, sparked plenty of intrigue but fell flat; the game’s servers will shut down on September 3rd. Valve and Turtle Rock have not collaborated since 2010.

Despite this on-again, off-again romance, we’re optimistic for another joint venture. Players crave zombie games now more than ever, and the money keeps flowing. Why not give the people what they want while earning a bit of coin to boot? It makes too much sense for Left 4 Dead 3 to not be in the cards.

Do you think we will finally see Left 4 Dead 3? If not, what do you think Turtle Rock Studios are up to? Let us know in the comments below, and follow DFTG on Twitter for more gaming updates!