The modders have renamed their project so that the 18-year-old game can continue to offer an authentic experience.
The former name of the mod, Team Fortress 2 Classic, was a bit misleading. It suggested a version of Team Fortress 2 without cosmetic elements and with the recognizable silhouettes and basic weapons of the early days. While this is true, the mod is also a reimagining of Team Fortress 2 with additional content and ideas discarded during early development.
There is an escort mode in which civilian classes can be played, as well as four-team modes, springboards, and new weapons, such as the nail gun, dynamite pack, and tranquilizer gun. However, that’s not the reason for the name change. They wanted a new name that would allow them to keep the TF2C abbreviation, so choosing one was surprisingly difficult. Now that they’ve decided on Team Fortress 2 Classified, they have another announcement: a delay. TF2C was previously scheduled for release in 2025, but has now been postponed to January 30.
“A few months ago, Valve requested that we rename our mod because Team Fortress 2 Classic was too similar to their Team Fortress Classic. We learned that various mods had recently used the word ‘classic’ in a way that made them look like official Valve products. As a result, Valve put a new policy in place in September. It quickly became apparent that no other word embodied what we set out to do better than ‘classic.’ Despite disagreements over what ‘classic’ means, it has historically been a great way for us to set a standard for our mod’s design and maintain coherency between development eras.
There are a few reasons for this delay. First, we want a few more weeks for polishing and extensive testing. Second, and more importantly, the Steamworks review process is beyond our control. Communication can be slow and inconsistent, so we need to pad our timeline to avoid last-minute delays. We want this game out as much as you do, but we only have one chance to make a first impression, and we need to do it right. Besides, ‘it wouldn’t be an authentic Team Fortress 2 experience without a bit of Valve time'”, the modders wrote.
So, Team Fortress 2 Classified is still nearly two months away.
