Team Fortress 2

"TF2" redirects here. For other uses, see TF2 (disambiguation).

Team Fortress 2
Promotional art depicting the nine playable classes
Developer(s)Valve
Publisher(s)Valve
Designer(s)
Composer(s)Mike Morasky
EngineSource
Platform(s)
Release
October 10, 2007
  • Windows, Xbox 360 (The Orange Box)
    • NA: October 10, 2007
    • EU: October 18, 2007
    • AU: October 25, 2007
  • PlayStation 3 (The Orange Box)
    • AU: November 22, 2007
    • EU: November 23, 2007
    • NA: December 11, 2007
  • macOS
    • WW: June 10, 2010
  • Linux
    • WW: February 14, 2013
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Team Fortress 2 (TF2) is a 2007 multiplayer first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation. It is the sequel to the 1996 Team Fortress mod for Quake and its 1999 remake, Team Fortress Classic. The game was released in October 2007 as part of The Orange Box for Microsoft Windows and the Xbox 360, and ported to the PlayStation 3 in December 2007.[1][2] It was released as a standalone game for Windows in April 2008, and updated to support macOS in June 2010 and Linux in February 2013. It is distributed online through Valve's digital retailer Steam, with Electronic Arts managing retail and console editions.

Players join one of two teams—RED (Reliable Excavation Demolition) and BLU (Builders League United)—and choose one of nine character classes to play as, with game modes including capture the flag and king of the hill. Development was led by John Cook and Robin Walker, the developers of the original Team Fortress mod. Team Fortress 2 was announced in 1998 under the name Team Fortress 2: Brotherhood of Arms. Initially, the game had more realistic, militaristic visuals and gameplay, but this changed over the protracted nine years of development. After Valve released no information for six years, Team Fortress 2 regularly featured in Wired News's annual vaporware list among other entries. Finally released on the Source game engine in 2007, Team Fortress 2 preserved much of the core class-based gameplay of its predecessors while featuring an overhauled, cartoon-like visual style influenced by the works of J. C. Leyendecker, Dean Cornwell, and Norman Rockwell, alongside an increased focus on the visual and verbal characterization of its playable classes and what the developers have described as a 1960s spy movie aesthetic.

Team Fortress 2 has received critical acclaim for its art direction, gameplay, humor, and use of character in a wholly multiplayer game,[3][4][5][6] and since its release has been referred to as one of the greatest video games ever created.[7][8][9] The game continues to receive official Valve server support as of 2024,[10] in addition to new content being released on a seasonal basis in the form of submissions made through the Steam Workshop. In June 2011, the game became free-to-play, with revenue derived from microtransactions for in-game cosmetics. A 'drop system' was also added and refined, allowing free-to-play users to periodically receive in-game equipment and items. Though the game has had an unofficial competitive scene since its release, both support for official competitive play through ranked matchmaking and an overhauled casual experience were added in July 2016.[11] From early 2020 to mid-2024, cheating bots overrunning official matchmaking servers led to fans holding several online protests, and eventually Valve adding new policies regarding game bans.[12]


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  1. ^ "Orange Box Goes Gold". Engadget. Joystiq. September 27, 2007. Archived from the original on July 9, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  2. ^ "The Orange Box". Metacritic. Archived from the original on December 5, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference GameSpot was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Onyett, Charles (October 9, 2007). "Team Fortress 2 Review". IGN. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved May 2, 2008.
  5. ^ Wong, Steven (October 12, 2007). "Team Fortress 2 Review". GameDaily. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007. Retrieved May 2, 2008.
  6. ^ Francis, Tom (October 10, 2007). "PC Review: Team Fortress 2". PC Gamer UK. ComputerAndVideoGames.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved May 2, 2008.
  7. ^ "The 500 best games of all time: 500-401". Polygon. November 27, 2017. Archived from the original on March 3, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  8. ^ West, Josh; Wald, Heather; Donnelly, Joe; Weber, Rachel (November 23, 2021). "The 50 best games of all time". gamesradar. Archived from the original on November 24, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  9. ^ "Top 100 Video Games of All Time". IGN. December 10, 2017. Archived from the original on December 10, 2017. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  10. ^ "Steam :: Team Fortress 2 :: Team Fortress 2 Update Released". store.steampowered.com. January 9, 2024. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  11. ^ "TF2 – Meet Your Match". Valve. July 6, 2016. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  12. ^ Walker, John (March 17, 2022). "Team Fortress 2 Players Beg Valve To Acknowledge The Game's Bot Problem". Kotaku. Archived from the original on June 22, 2022. Retrieved June 22, 2022.