Valve ensures Team Fortress 2’s immortality with major changes

Valve has made some sweeping changes to its legendary multiplayer shooter, Team Fortress 2. After years of modding, it has unlocked the gate entirely, allowing budding developers to create entirely new games based on its code.

An update to Source SDK, the piece of software that drives Valve’s game, will now unlock the toolset used to develop TF2. This includes things like the client and server code.

Custom versions of TF2 aren’t a new concept. Open Fortress, a throwback mod that plays closer to Quake, requires external downloads and versions of TF2 to operate. Efforts to restore the game back to its early days in 2007 have also popped up over the years.

This update will now make it far easier for these projects to come together. Modders will also be able to publish on Steam, Valve’s storefront. This, as the blog points out, should also allow users to have access to their TF2 inventory for customization purposes.

However, the company does request that these be built for non-commercial reasons. Valve has granted permission before to use their intellectual property to be sold, like the Half-Life 1 Source remake, Black Mesa.

The update comes as Team Fortress 2 (TF2) will turn 18 this year. Originally launched as an individual paid game or part of The Orange Box, TF2 was pivoted to become a free-to-play game in 2011.

However, since the game’s peak days, it has languished as Valve moved onto more profitable ventures. In 2024, after years of being plagued by bots ruining the game, the company managed to curtail its bot problem.

TF2 has remained popular throughout its years, despite Valve’s focus being drawn away. Its unique art style, classic style class-based multiplayer, and dedicated community have ensured that even through all the trouble, hasn’t died as most multiplayer games tend to do. All this does is ensure its longevity going forward.

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