Team Fortress 2 (TF2) is a 2007 multiplayer first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation. It is the sequel to the 1996 Team Fortress mod for Quake and its 1999 remake, Team Fortress Classic. It was released in October 2007 as part of The Orange Box for Windows and the Xbox 360, and was ported to the PlayStation 3 in December 2007.[1][2] It was released as a standalone game for Windows in April 2008, and updated to support macOS in June 2010 and Linux in February 2013. It was made free-to-play in June 2011, and is distributed online through Valve's digital retailer, Steam.

Players join one of two teams—RED and BLU—and choose one of nine character classes to play as in game modes such as capture the flag and king of the hill. Its development was led by John Cook and Robin Walker, the developers of the original Team Fortress mod. Team Fortress 2 was announced in 1998 under the name Team Fortress 2: Brotherhood of Arms. Initially, it had more realistic, militaristic visuals and gameplay, but this changed over the protracted nine years of development. After Valve released no information for six years, Team Fortress 2 regularly featured in Wired News's annual vaporware list. Finally released on Valve's game engine, Source, in 2007, Team Fortress 2 preserved much of the core class-based gameplay of its predecessors while featuring an overhauled, cartoonish visual style influenced by the works of J. C. Leyendecker, Dean Cornwell, and Norman Rockwell, alongside an increased focus on the visual and verbal characterization of its playable classes and what the developers have described as a 1960s spy film aesthetic.

Team Fortress 2 has received critical acclaim for its art direction, gameplay, humor, and use of character in a wholly multiplayer game,[4][5][6][7] and since its release has been referred to as one of the greatest video games ever created.[8][9][10] It has gained a dedicated online following, with fan-works featuring the characters being mostly uploaded to YouTube, in addition to being annually showcased in Valve's Saxxy Awards film contest.[11][12] It is also considered the main forerunner to the now-highly popular hero shooter genre, having laid the groundwork for its formula and pioneered many of its staple features.[13]

It continues to receive official Valve server support as of 2025,[14] in addition to new content being released on a seasonal basis in the form of submissions made through the Steam Workshop. Since becoming free-to-play, its main source of revenue is microtransactions for in-game cosmetics. A "drop system" was also added and refined, allowing free-to-play users to periodically receive in-game equipment and items. Though it has had an unofficial competitive scene since its release, both support for official competitive play through ranked matchmaking and an overhauled casual experience were added in July 2016.[15] From early 2020 to mid-2024, cheating bots overrunning Valve's official matchmaking servers led to fans holding several online protests, and eventually Valve adding new policies regarding game bans.[16]

In most game modes, two teams, RED and BLU, compete for a combat-based objective.[5] Players can choose to play as one of nine character classes in these teams, each with its own unique strengths, weaknesses, and weapon sets (additional weapons can be obtained via periodic free item drops, achievements, crafting, unboxing, or direct purchase from the in-game store.). In order to accomplish objectives efficiently, a balance of these classes is required due to how these strengths and weaknesses interact with each other in a team-based environment. Random critical hits cause some weapons' base damages to occasionally triple.[17] Although the abilities of a number of classes changed from earlier Team Fortress incarnations, the basic elements of each class remained, those being one primary weapon, one secondary weapon, and one melee weapon.[18][19] The game was released with six official maps, although over one hundred maps have since been included in subsequent updates, including community-created maps.[20][21] When a player chooses a game-mode for the first time, an introductory video is played, showing how to complete its objectives. During matches, the Administrator,[22] voiced by Ellen McLain, announces the teams' current objectives over loudspeakers.[23] The player limit for one match is 16 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and was initially 24 on the Windows edition.[24] In 2008, the Windows edition was updated to include a server variable that allows for up to 32 players, and a 2023 update increased the server maximum to 100 players.[25][26]

Team Fortress 2 is the first of Valve's multiplayer games to provide detailed statistics for individual players, such as the total amount of time spent playing as each class, most points obtained, and most objectives completed in a single life. Persistent statistics tell the player how they are performing in relation to these statistics, such as if a player comes close to their record for the damage inflicted in a single round.[20] Team Fortress 2 also features numerous achievements for carrying out certain tasks, such as achieving a certain number of kills or completing a specific objective. Sets of class-specific achievements have been added in updates, which can award weapons to the player upon completion. This unlockable system has since been expanded into a random drop system, with which players can also obtain items simply by playing the game.[27]

Core game modes
Team Fortress 2 contains five core game modes.

Attack/Defend (A/D) is a timed game mode in which the BLU team's goal is to capture RED's control points. The number of control points varies between maps, and the points must be captured by the BLU team, usually in sequence. To capture a control point, a player must stand on it for a certain amount of time, with more players increasing the speed it is being captured at. RED, who cannot capture points, must prevent BLU from capturing all the control points before the time-limit expires. Once a point is captured, the time-limit will be extended by several minutes.[28]
Capture the Flag (CTF) is a mode in which RED and BLU must steal the opposing team's flag (an intelligence briefcase) and prevent their own intelligence from being stolen. When the intelligence is dropped by the carrier, it will stay on the ground for 1 minute before returning to its original location if it is not picked up again. A team's intelligence can be carried only by the opposing team. The first team to capture the enemy's intelligence three times wins.[29]
Control Points (CP) is a timed game mode where there are several control points placed around the map, with three (3CP) or five (5CP) control points in total depending on the map. The game will start off with only the middle control point being available for capture, with the other control points split equally among both teams. Once this middle control point is captured, a team can begin capturing the enemy team's points in respective order. The time limit is extended on the capture of a control point by either team. For a team to win, they must capture all the control points within the time limit.[28]
King of the Hill (KOTH) is a timed game mode that contains a single control point at the middle of the map that can be captured by both RED and BLU. Should the opposing team capture the point from the team that had it before, their timer will stop and the opposing team's timer will begin or resume. The point can be recaptured by each team as many times as is possible. The first team to control the point for 180 seconds (not necessarily continuous) wins.[30]
Payload (PL) is a timed game mode where BLU must push an explosive cart along a track, while RED must prevent the cart from reaching their base. To push the cart, at least one BLU player must be in range of the cart.

Team Fortress 2 is played competitively through multiple leagues. While formalized competitive gameplay is very different from normal Team Fortress 2, it offers an environment with a much higher level of teamwork than in public servers. Most teams use voice chat to communicate, and use a combination of strategy, communication, and mechanical skill to win against other teams. Community-run competitive leagues also tend to feature restrictions such as item bans and class limits. These leagues are often supported by Valve via in-game medals (which are submitted via the Steam Workshop) and announcements on the official blog.[48][49][50] The previous North American league, ESEA, supported a paid Team Fortress 2 league, with $42,000 in prizes for the top teams in 2017.[51][52][53] However, due to the relative lack of players in its TF2 leagues, ESEA announced its intent to shut down the TF2 leagues on April 17, 2019.[54] As of May 2025, the popular leagues include RGL and UGC for North America, ETF2L for Europe, AsiaFortress for East Asia and SEA, and OzFortress for Oceania.[55][56][57][58][59]

In April 2015, Valve announced that a dedicated competitive mode would be added to Team Fortress 2, utilizing skill-based matchmaking;[60] closed beta testing began in the following year.[61] The competitive mode was added in the "Meet Your Match" update, released on July 7, 2016.[62] Ranked matches are played six-vs-six, with players ranked in thirteen ranks based on win/losses and an assessment of their skills.[63] Ranked matchmaking will balance players based on their ranks and rating. A similar matchmaking approach has been added for casual games for matches of 12-vs-12 players, but uses a hidden value. In order to join competitive matchmaking, players must have associated their Steam account with the Steam Guard Mobile Authenticator, as well as having a Team Fortress 2 "premium account", which is unlocked by either having bought the game before it went free-to-play or by having made an in-game item purchase since.[64]