Highlights

  • The recent Team Fortress 2 update added 64-bit support for Windows and Linux, improving performance for most users.
  • Valve's beloved multiplayer FPS has a dedicated player base, but the bot problem still remains unaddressed.
  • Despite the lack of a sequel, the recent update shows Valve's commitment to supporting Team Fortress 2.

Team Fortress 2, the acclaimed multiplayer first-person shooter from software giant Valve, has received a major improvement thanks to a recent update. While the changelog for this latest update may not seem like much at first glance, one notable addition is likely to be considered a big deal by many Team Fortress 2 fans.

Despite being nearly 17 years old, Valve's beloved team-based multiplayer FPS boasts a surprisingly active playerbase to this day. Although it hasn't been supported with consistent major content updates for a long time, the passionate community surrounding Team Fortress 2 has kept the game alive for more than a decade. In recent months, though, Valve has shown a greater desire to support the game more frequently due to player demand. Back in early 2023, the company surprised fans by announcing a proper, "update-sized update" for Team Fortress 2. The update in question, which was released in July of last year, ignited a major resurgence for the multiplayer shooter, with the popular Steam game breaking its concurrent player count record 16 years after launch. Though the newest Team Fortress 2 update isn't nearly as massive as the one from July, it still includes a welcome change that's likely to catch the attention of many TF2 fans, especially those with lower-end PCs.

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In the patch notes for a Team Fortress 2 update released on April 18, Valve revealed that 64-bit support has been added to the Windows and Linux versions of the game. Previously, the legendary multiplayer FPS only ran on 32-bit clients and servers, which prevented it from taking full advantage of modern CPUs. With the inclusion of 64-bit support, players should now expect significant performance boosts across the board on most compatible PCs. Improved framerate and technical enhancements are of vital importance for a competitive multiplayer game like this one.

Though this recent update is likely to be received positively by most fans, it still doesn't address Team Fortress 2's major bot problem, which the game has greatly suffered from in recent years. Fans have called on Valve to do something regarding the rampant cheating and hacking going on within the game, and the company has yet to even make a public response concerning the matter. Given how big this issue has been, it's a wonder that the title has consistently managed to be one of the most played games on Steam since 2007.

In spite of the massive success the game has had, though, a sequel to Team Fortress 2 is nowhere in sight, like with most of Valve's big franchises. In the 2010s, Valve mostly shifted away from new game development to focus more on providing updates for some of its live service games and improving its massive PC storefront, Steam. This resulted in a number of its iconic franchises being largely neglected over the last decade or so. However, with Valve recently releasing a sequel of sorts to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, titled Counter Strike 2, perhaps there is hope for the company to release a successor to Team Fortress 2 as well someday.

Team Fortress 2 Update Patch Notes

  • Added 64-bit support for Windows/Linux client and servers

Should include performance improvements for most users

Raw input is now enabled by default

Bugs can be reported here: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Source-1-Games/issues

  • Fixed an exploit related to uploading invalid custom decals that would crash other clients
team fortress 2
Team Fortress 2

The sequel to the iconic Team Fortress has players choose from an array of character types, each with their own weapons and abilities. Players will battle against other players in various game modes.