Valve Is Apparently Making 'Team Fortress 3', Set to Release Sometime This Century
In today's "I'll Fucking Believe It When I See It" news, Valve is apparently remembering it owns Team Fortress.
I know, I know. A "3" from Valve. My eyes are rolling so hard they might fall out. We're all one step away from "confirming" Knack 3 at this point.
But the rumors are swirling again, and this time they have a bit more substance than just pure, uncut hopium. Credible Valve insider Tyler McVicker is now "straight up confident" that Valve is moving forward with Team Fortress 3 production. And he's got receipts... sort of.
The 'Decal' That Broke the Silence
This isn't just a random "my uncle works at Valve" post. This is datamined evidence.
According to the report, Valve has been adding new features to the Source 2 engine specifically for a project codenamed... 'TF'. This is a big deal, as Valve is notoriously consistent with its codenames for projects like Deadlock.
So what's the revolutionary new feature? A decal system overhaul.
No, really. The theory is that this new system would allow Valve to easily bring over old TF2 assets, probably as placeholders, to use in Team Fortress 3. It's not a screenshot, but it's the most concrete "they're actually doing something" evidence we've had in a long, long time.
Now for the Bad News
Okay, deep breath. Even if all of this is 100% true... the game is "at least half a decade away".
That's five years. Minimum. It's reportedly just entering full production now.
There is one small, weird upside. Valve seems to be into this new Deadlock strategy of just letting the game leak and pushing a playable build way before the official launch. McVicker claims they might do this again, maybe giving us something to play in... what, two or three years?
Don't Sell Your Hats Yet
Look, let's all be adults here. We've been hurt before.
Team Fortress 2 still has a massive, loyal community that Valve has mostly ignored, and this could all turn out to be a "major back-end update" that we never even see. Valve is also juggling Deadlock and the eternal ghost of Half-Life 3.
But for the first time in forever, there's a technical reason to be hopeful. A project codenamed 'TF' exists, and they're building tools for it. I'll take it.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go put myself into a cryogenic freezer until 2030. It's the only sane response.