Well, something has certainly happened that a few of you out there assumed would occur. Team Fortress 2 is now free to play forever. FOR EV ER. This news comes courtesy of PC Gamer's Evan Lahti in an article that is apparently pre-dated for tomorrow.
Even with the magnitude of this news, it should come as very little surprise to anybody that the game has finally gone this route.
Industry trade website Develop-Online has revealed in an interview with Valve’s Robin Walker that Team Fortress 2 is now permanently free to play, and will solely be supported by in-game item purchases.
TF2′s switch to F2P was rumored and expected, but perhaps not this soon. Walker says that Valve had been exploring the idea since September 2010. “We’ve been toying with the idea of making Team Fortress free-to-play ever since the Mann-conomy update,” Walker said. “The data we got back from that update leads us to believe that TF2 would be more successful as a completely free product.” Read the rest of the interview with Walker at Develop-Online.
Prior to today, Team Fortress 2 was in the middle of a “free week.” The game’s Über Update should deploy later this evening.
TF2′s switch to F2P was rumored and expected, but perhaps not this soon. Walker says that Valve had been exploring the idea since September 2010. “We’ve been toying with the idea of making Team Fortress free-to-play ever since the Mann-conomy update,” Walker said. “The data we got back from that update leads us to believe that TF2 would be more successful as a completely free product.” Read the rest of the interview with Walker at Develop-Online.
Prior to today, Team Fortress 2 was in the middle of a “free week.” The game’s Über Update should deploy later this evening.
Even with the magnitude of this news, it should come as very little surprise to anybody that the game has finally gone this route.
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