Should Valve revive Team Fortress 2 to finally make its mark in esports?

Valve’s Team Fortress 2 was one of the most played free-to-play first-person shooters on PC, until it wasn’t. When the game launched in 2007 as part of the ‘Orange Box’ compilation, consisting of Half Life 2, Episode One and Two, and Portal, the game was a surprise hit with players, offering different ways to play matches with the nine character classes, all wrapped in a comic-style aesthetic.

Despite its early success, the game faded into the background in recent years, with Valve instead focusing on its more successful esports games, such as Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2. Although the developer says it’s committed to supporting Team Fortress 2, bugs, bots, and more still remain. But there’s a lot of potential for the game in esports, despite its low player count in 2025. With this in mind, we make the case for why Team Fortress 2 deserves a comeback to make its mark in the esports scene, much like it did in the first-person-shooter category back in 2007.

Team Fortress 2 is a game developed by Valve, released in 2007 as part of the ‘Orange Box’ bundle, which included Half Life 2, Episode One and Two, and Portal. The game was in development since 1999, as a sequel to a mod called Team Fortress. After several restarts, the team at Valve eventually decided on a comic-inspired look.

Players can choose one of two teams: RED or BLU, and take control of one of nine character classes available. This includes a Medic, Demoman, Engineer, Pyro, Heavy, Sniper, Spy, Scout, and Soldier, all with different strengths, weaknesses, and abilities. There are also multiple game modes, such as Attack/Defend, Capture the Flag, Control Points, and more. Valve has extended the game since its 2007 release with maps, modes, and items that players have traded, but support faded over time, with the developer focusing on its other games, such as Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2.

Back in 2007, Valve wasn’t known for developing a free-to-play first-person shooter — it was Half-Life, Counter-Strike, and its storefront, Steam. The developer has always been known for trying something new, and with the debut of the Orange Box, Team Fortress 2 attempted something different in its genre. Its comic-style appearance and gameplay offered something that other first-person shooters didn’t. In an era of Gears of War, Unreal Tournament 3, and other games where everything had a grey colour scheme and a focus on realism, Team Fortress 2 offered the total opposite.

The game managed to carve out a niche, and with Valve supporting the game through patches, new maps, modes, and tradable items, the community only grew over the years. In 2015, Team Fortress 2 gained a competitive mode called ‘Meet Your Match’ to capitalise on the growing esports community of the game. It was around this time that the game began to appear at plenty of esports events, with prize pools and more being offered. However, with Valve focusing on other games more suited to esports, Team Fortress 2 began to be left by the wayside. So much so that in 2025, it’s barely being supported by Valve, with players abandoning the game.

Team Fortress 2 was already a big player in the esports scene, but it’s simply been lost in the sea of other games that were essentially built for the category to cater to players and viewers in this modern age. If you go to sites like teamfortress.tv or the Team Fortress 2 section on Twitch, the viewing numbers are in the hundreds or less, a far cry from the thousands just a decade ago.

Valve has not given the game the support it needed in recent years, with bots taking over a bunch of matches, ruining the fun for players. Team Fortress 2 hasn’t been abandoned; it’s simply on life support, but there’s still a lot of potential for it to work well in esports. For example, the game has always been fast-paced, with many ways to play thanks to its nine character classes. Valve should showcase this through dedicated esports events, much like how the DOTA 2 Dreamleague and many popular Counter-Strike 2 esports events are held worldwide. There’s no dedicated Team Fortress 2 league that Valve supports, nor are there any dedicated broadcasting events that showcase it, much like how Riot Games does with League of Legends. Its opening ceremonies are a highlight, and considering Valve has two games that are some of the most popular esports games, there could be an opportunity for the developer to do something similar, where it holds an event that includes Dota 2, Counter-Strike 2, and Team Fortress 2. 

As past events have shown, the League of Legends Championship has been great in contributing to London’s economy in the past; there’s no reason why Valve can’t contribute the same, or more, if it decides to hold a dedicated event. With potential Team Fortress 2 leagues, these can host dedicated modes that can showcase how certain character classes work, setting them apart from how Counter-Strike 2 matches are shown on broadcasting platforms like Twitch and YouTube.

As it stands, it’s unlikely that Team Fortress 2 could be resurrected for esports in its current form, mainly due to the technical issues that remain in the game, like bots, longstanding bugs, and more. But we can’t help but feel that Valve risks squandering the goodwill the game has left, considering how it launched in 2007 and was supported in the intervening years.

Team Fortress 2 is somewhat of a dilemma for Valve. It’s one of the most successful first-person shooters of its time, and an example of how it went against the grain in 2007 amid a sea of bland, ultra-serious shooters. Yet in 2025, it’s been left by the wayside while Valve’s other games soar in countless esports events worldwide.

But one can’t help but feel that there’s a real opportunity for Valve to showcase Team Fortress 2 as another jewel in its esports crown. Its gameplay and graphic style are unique from anything else in the first-person-shooter category, and with the right support, like an esports event, the game could soar again, not just as a modern classic, but as a serious contender in the esports scene.