Team Fortress 2 has today broken its concurrent player count record peaking at 253,997 players just two hours ago.
Team Fortress 2 New Player Count Record
This new record set today on SteamDB at 253,997 players breaks the previous record that was set back in December 2022 of 167,951. This is a huge achievement, especially after 16 years since the game’s original release and once again proves that when Valve does make games, they make really good games. Valve’s other FPS title CS:GO is the other evidence of Valve’s expertise which hit 1.8M players two months ago.
Why The Sudden Surge In Players?
I don’t personally follow TF2 and have only played a few times but I have heard that its update’s are rare but as it turns out yesterday was one of those rare days. A new update was posted yesterday for Summer 2023 is the likely candidate for this surge in players as it has introduced 14 new community maps as well as a large variety of new cosmetics, taunts and effects and the Summer 2023 case. Having no knowledge of this being good, i visited the comments section which was a major mistake. Generally it seems like the TF2 community isn’t happy with this update and are dissapointed that there are no new weapons, balance changes and some bugs that haven’t been fixed. Reading the comments makes me a bit confused as to what has brought the player count up but there is an explanation for that. More often than not, people who are happy with game updates are less likely to voice their opinions which leaves a bit of a negative bias.
Either way, clearly most of the community is happy if this update has brought a new concurrent player count so well done to Valve. You can read the full patch notes below.
TF2 Summer 2023 Update Full Patch Notes
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