Valve announces first major TF2 update in six years

Team Fortress 2 is getting an update after a six-year drought, and TF2 fans are rightfully going wild.

TF2 is Valve’s most overlooked game, but its influence on modern gaming can still be felt across genres. The original class-based team shooter, Team Fortress’ simple but deep gameplay and unique brand of humor have kept it alive for years without any additional content. However, on February 9, 2023, Valve finally broke its silence to announce a new update for the aging title. Here’s when TF2 players can expect the new update and why its announcement is such a big deal.

On February 9, the official Team Fortress 2 website published a new blog post titled “Attention, Steam Workshop Creators!”. In the post, Valve announces plans for a major TF2 update to come out sometime after early 2023. Valve describes the eventual update as “a full-on update-sized update — with items, maps, taunts, unusual effects, war paints and who knows what else?!”.

The blog post is also a call to arms for Steam Workshop creators. Valve sources new cosmetics for all of its major games through the Steam Workshop, where anyone can design and upload content that could eventually be added to the game. TF2 is famous for its intricately complex spread of cosmetics, and the 2023 update will likely add even more options. The final day for submitting TF2 content through the workshop will be May 1, 2023.

This post also heralds the end of nearly six years of no major updates for TF2, with the last massive content addition being the Jungle Inferno update from 2017. TF2 is sometimes called dead by modern gamers, but the title is technically the most popular it’s ever been. SteamCharts reports daily peaks of over 100,000, which is nearly double what the game had at its “peak” in 2015. Some dispute that the game’s player count is boosted by bots, but the new update could bring a solution to that problem too.

When will the new TF2 update come out in 2023?

Based on the May 1 cutoff date for submissions, the next major TF2 update should come out time in the summer of 2023.

May 1 gives content creators just under three months to submit existing designs or create brand-new hats and maps for the Workshop. Valve usually has to clean up or alter models before they’re added to the game as well as develop UI In addition, the content update promises a bunch of new game content, including new maps, weapons, and who knows what else. All of that will take time to create or polish, though TF2’s developers are likely already hard at work.

Considering that timeline, the next big Team Fortress 2 patch should come out sometime during the summer of this year. Late May is a possibility if Valve works fast, but June, July, and possibly August are more likely release months. Valve will probably not announce a release date ahead of its release. The company usually just drops major patches in players’ laps whenever it’s ready.

With more than five years since the last major update, TF2 fans are probably more than happy to wait.