Team Fortress 2, Valve’s 2007 smash hit multiplayer FPS, has hit a brand new concurrent player record, thanks to the launch of a major new content update. 16 years after it first released, it’s one of the most popular games on Steam – briefly hitting 253,225 concurrent players, per reporting from Steam via Wario64.
Players have seemingly returned in droves to check out the game’s new content, boosting player numbers and overall interest in this ongoing shooter. While Team Fortress 2 has maintained a dedicated fanbase over the last two decades, this is the most impressive player boost the game has ever seen.
Per a Valve update on Steam, interest has been driven by the inclusion of a number of new game features – including 14 community maps, and fresh cosmetics, taunts, Unusual effects, and other add-ons. A whole range of new improvements have also been introduced, including renewed stability, and bug fixes for various tools and in-game features.
Read: Valve confirms ban on Steam games with copyright-infringing AI artwork
After years of players fighting for upgrades and improvements to the game, it’s great to see a major expansion like this. With nearly two full decades under its belt, Team Fortress 2 is a game that could easily be forgotten, and sent into the sunset – but with a passionate fanbase and now ongoing support, it may yet defy expectations, and continue breaking records for years to come.
Here’s the full patch notes for the latest Team Fortress 2 update, courtesy of Valve.
Team Fortress 2: Summer 2023 Update – Patch Notes
An update to Team Fortress 2 has been released. The update will be applied automatically when you restart Team Fortress 2. The major changes include:
Summer 2023!
- Featuring 14 new community maps: Sharkbay, Rotunda, Phoenix, Cashworks, Venice, Reckoner, Sulfur, Hardwood, Pelican Peak, Selbyen, VSH Tiny Rock, VSH Distillery, VSH Skirmish, and VSH Nucleus
- Added the Summer 2023 Cosmetic Case
- Contains 25 new community-contributed items
- Added 6 new community-contributed taunts to the Mann Co. Store
- Taunt: Killer Joke
- Taunt: Star-Spangled Strategy
- Taunt: The Head Doctor
- Taunt: Tuefort Tango
- Taunt: The Road Rager
- Taunt: The Killer Signature
- Added 20 new community-created Unusual effects
- 12 new effects for Unusual hats
- 8 new effects for Unusual taunts
- Added the Summer 2023 War Paint Case
- Contains 10 new community-created War Paints that make-up the Summer 2023 Collection
- Has a chance to give a taunt Unusualifier as a bonus item
- All cosmetic and taunt cases will grant Summer 2023 Unusual effects instead of their normal Unusual effects during the Summer event. This does not include crates.
- The Summer event runs through September 15th, 2023
General
- Security and stability improvements
- Fixed the Mann vs. Machine upgrade panel closing after receiving a matchmaking party invite
- Fixed an exploit related to the ConTracker and being able to move/shoot while it’s deployed
- Fixed the Strange Count Transfer Tool not being able to transfer stats for Sandvich items
- Fixed the Engineer not being able to move for a short period of time after doing The High Five taunt
- Fixed missing No Headphones style for the Universal Translator
- Fixed Engineer teleporter audio that was referencing the dispenser by mistake in Spanish
- Fixed incorrect alpha channels for the Smissmas 2021/2022 Cosmetic Case models
- Fixed the Winter 2019 War Paint Case not being shown in the Mann Co. Store
- Updated/Added some tournament medals
- Updated pl_enclosure_final to fix localization issues
- Updated cp_gravelpit_snowy
- Boosted volume of snowman explosions
- Added occluders to C to improve performance
- Improved clipping
- Updated cp_steel
- Prop collision cleanup and improved player clipping
- Explosive splash bug collisions on stairs, props, etc., around the map
- Spawn point issues (collision, prop blocking, clipping, etc.)
- Fix Pyro door exploit on A
- Fix choke and spam issues into Blu & Red spawns
- Fix Pixel walk collision issues
- Fixing ceiling clipping and stuck spots including exploits
- Clean up geometry in spawns, the spawn locations and their exits
- Fix roof readability issues, with sticky and rocket jumping
- Fix rare double death bug when falling into pit
- Fix Cliff stuck spots and ledges in E pit
- Removed head glitch tele spawn on A-B connector
- Fix rare overtime cap bug
- Fix Red team getting stuck in spawn door to A
- Updated cp_mossrock
- Fixed numerous perch points
- Fixed players being able to get under Blu spawn
- Fixed a location where a teleporter could be build out of the map
- Fixed collision on rock near final point so it is more accurate to the visuals
- Fixed lots of small visual bugs
- Fixed some small exploits
- Improved optimisation
