Team Fortress 2 update released, bringing new maps, balance changes, and Summer keys
Team Fortress 2 has been updated with the previously teased huge housekeeping patch. Along with the continued and unstoppable flood of new Workshop items, this update also tweaks and rebalances weapons, and brings a round of fixes to smooth over the glitches and exploits found in older maps. They've even made changes to Hydro - proving, perhaps, that the Territorial Control game mode is only partially beyond redemption.
It's not all about tidying up, though. We also get two new community Control Point maps: Process and Standin. In addition, 60 new items (read: mostly hats) have made the jump from Workshop to game, using Valve's new community verification tool. This speeds up the process by applying a series of conditions to a proposed item, and awarding a gold star to those that pass the tests. Valve hope that it will increase the rate at which they can introduce new items to the game. Because what's a hat simulator without a steady flow of new headwear?
Finally they've unleashed "Summer Cooler Keys", the Crate opening summer variant that is further proof - if it were needed - that the Steam Summer Sale is imminently incoming. Like, almost certainly later today.
You can find the full changelist on the TF2 update post . If you're anything like me, you'll be straight there and Ctrl+F'ing for your favourite weapon in the hope that it's been left unchanged.
The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.