Looks like having to pacify angry protesters isn"t the only trouble Valve has run into after announcing Left 4 Dead 2 at E3 earlier this month. As it turns out, they also had to modify the cover art, after the ESRB deemed the original artwork too graphic.

While Valve"s good-humored blog post doesn"t actually acknowledge the real change, the difference in the image is in two of the fingers. While the original artwork of this now iconic hand had the ring and pinky fingers torn off like the thumb, the new image -- as you can see here -- simply has them bent back. Oddly, the ESRB seems to have decided the torn-off thumb can stay, just as it could in the artwork for the first Left 4 Dead. We can only imagine this is similar to how the MPAA only allows so many uses of the F-word in a PG-13 movie, and the ESRB official guidelines must now state something along the lines of "only one (1) torn-off appendage is allowable in a game"s cover art."

Regardless, Left 4 Dead 2 is set for release on November 17... whether every L4D fan likes it or not.