Team Fortress 2 got a big content update yesterday, July 12, and it’s got players flocking to the hero shooter in such numbers that a new concurrent player record has just been set for the game, 16 years after it first released.
The Summer 2023 update includes 14 new community maps, as well as a new batch of taunts and cosmetics. All of this is on top of some bug fixes and updates for server stability. The Summer event will run until September 15. The full patch notes are as follows:
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
Whether it’s the new maps or the new hats, Team Fortress 2 players are swarming to the game right now, as the shooter just hit a new peak player number on Steam in the wake of the update. In the past 24 hours, the game reached 253,997 players on the platform. Team Fortress 2 launched in 2007 and still has a dedicated community playing it, even if there has been a bit of a tug-of-war between them and Valve to see the game supported in recent years. Though Team Fortress is considered a precursor to the hero shooter craze and games like Overwatch, clearly the game still has legs, even as the shooter genre grows more and more crowded with each passing year.
