How old is Team Fortress 2?

Team Fortress 2 has been around for a while now as a mainstay of PC gaming, with it setting the blueprint for the hero shooter that many modern games have followed to great success, but exactly how old is it?

TF2 released on PC and console and saw instant success, but the game recently broke the concurrent player record due to the Summer 2023 update after years of barebones support. So, check out the answer to the question - how old is Team Fortress 2?

Team Fortress 2 age

Team Fortress 2 is currently over 16 years old, with the game launching for PC and console as part of The Orange Box on October 10, 2007.

As TF2 passes its 16th birthday, there's still no sign of a sequel, but considering Valve has finally begun to support it again after years of infrequent updates, it's possible they are considering reviving the franchise. 

16 years is a long time ago, but the history of Team Fortress stretches even further back to the 1990s, beginning in a game that wasn't even developed by Valve.

Team Fortress began as a mod for the original Quake in 1996, quickly becoming a fan favourite in the multiplayer scene. 

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With the release of Half-Life in '98, and subsequently the Half-Life software development kit the following year, Valve hired the modders to recreate the game using its GoldSrc engine and promote the dev tools - birthing Team Fortress Classic. 

This original version was very similar mechanically to Team Fortress 2, with two teams facing off in multiplayer matches, where players can choose one of nine classes that have unique skills. 

It notably lacks the Normal Rockwell-inspired, cartoon aesthetic of TF2, featuring more modern (for the time) soldiers instead of heavily stylised and unique characters. 

After the success of TFC, Valve spent a long time coming up with ideas for a sequel. It initially planned for the game to have a modern war aesthetic with a Commander class who would issue orders similarly to a real-time strategy game. This version was subtitled Brotherhood of Arms and was first shown off with a trailer in 1999.

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It wasn't until 2006 that the version we know today was shown off at the EA Summer Showcase, with the game released the following year.

The rest is history, and 16 years later the influence TF2 had on the industry is still felt with titles like Overwatch and Apex Legends.

That's all for our explainer of how old Team Fortress 2 is, and now you know the franchise's storied history, from its early beginnings as a mod for Quake to its official 2007 release which rocked the gaming world.

For more game guides, stay on GGRecon. Alternatively, check out our 10 Games Like Overwatch 2 guide to see more titles influenced by Team Fortress 2.