In a recent interview between Develop-Online and Valve’s Robin Walker, it was announced that TF2 (Team Fortress 2) is now becoming permanently free to play! It’s only financial support will be through in-game item purchases.

Although it’s switch to FTP was speculated, we never imagined it so soon. Walker announced that they had been exploring the possibility since late Q4 2010, and the data proved that TF2 would be much more successful as a free product. TF2 is already in the middle of it’s free week, but now we can rejoice that this awesome game is forever lurking in our steam account and we can always log in for some quick frags.

What does this mean for those that have been playing TF2 since the start? Well, unfortunately we won’t be getting a refund, but Valve is also planning on adding additional servers to maintain stability with the large boom in the audience expected with this change. Becoming an FTP may be the best move for TF2 with the dated graphics engine it runs on. With other free games that rival it’s visuals this is a move that you can expect Valve to make with most of it’s older titles. Considering all the n00bs that usually flock to FTP games, we can expect that the ENTIRE ENEMY TEAM IS BABIES.

Adam Kharakov

Adam “kharakov” Kharat is part nerd, part geek, and full awesome. With deadly writing skills and the sleeping habits of a jackrabbit, late night gaming sessions are all but mandatory.