<a href="http://steamcommunity.com/workshop/browse?appid=440"><img src="http://www.teamfortress.com/images/posts/halloween_2012t.jpg" width="440" height="233" border="0"></a>

It's a well-established fact that every Halloween, all the ghosts, goblins, Draculas, bigfoots, Frankensteins and Area 51 aliens leave their house at the cemetery to scare humans. But what would happen if you snuck down to the cemetery <i>before</i> Halloween? <b>You would die.</b> Of scaredness? No! <b>Of boredom.</b> That's because between now and October 31st, all the monsters are busy having meetings (about terror) and conducting focus groups (to test all the latest scaring techniques). Oh no! What's that chupacabra doing lurking in the shadows? (Answer: Reading a spreadsheet about blood.)

Scariness doesn't just <i>happen</i>, people. It's serious business. That's why we're giving you until October 1st to fill the Steam Workshop with <b>horrifying Halloween-themed cosmetic items.</b>

If you're not an item-making sort of person, you can still keep busy. Why not <a href="https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/browse?appid=440&p=1">visit the workshop</a> and rate other people's Halloween-themed items? Rating terrifying items will also help you build up your resistance to being scared before we unleash this year's Scream Fortress update. Other tips: Pay people to jump out and yell "Boo" at you. Have somebody paint ghosts on their car and then try to hit you with it. If you know an ugly person, why not ask them to try scaring you? Every little bit helps.

It's a well-established fact that every Halloween, all the ghosts, goblins, Draculas, bigfoots, Frankensteins and Area 51 aliens leave their house at the cemetery to scare humans. But what would happen if you snuck down to the cemetery before Halloween? You would die. Of scaredness? No! Of boredom. That's because between now and October 31st, all the monsters are busy having meetings (about terror) and conducting focus groups (to test all the latest scaring techniques). Oh no! What's that chupacabra doing lurking in the shadows? (Answer: Reading a spreadsheet about blood.)

Scariness doesn't just happen, people. It's serious business. That's why we're giving you until October 1st to fill the Steam Workshop with horrifying Halloween-themed cosmetic items.

If you're not an item-making sort of person, you can still keep busy. Why not visit the workshop and rate other people's Halloween-themed items? Rating terrifying items will also help you build up your resistance to being scared before we unleash this year's Scream Fortress update. Other tips: Pay people to jump out and yell "Boo" at you. Have somebody paint ghosts on their car and then try to hit you with it. If you know an ugly person, why not ask them to try scaring you? Every little bit helps.

Mann vs. Machine's been up and running for over a week now, and we've been hard at work since we launched to make the experience even better. We've upgraded our matchmaking system and given a huge boost to our server count, reducing the average wait for Mann Up Mode down to a minute or less, and Boot Camp to around two minutes. So you should be able to get in to play a lot faster, and get matched up with people a lot closer to you.

Also, guess whose birthday it is? Did you guess Team Fortress or Valve? Well, technically sure, both are sixteen years old today. But more importantly, today is the birthday of high-wattage Hollywood megastar Steve Guttenberg, who is probably 112 years old today, if we had to guess.

<img src="http://www.teamfortress.com/images/posts/guttenberg_bday.jpg" width="440" height="292" border="0">

In celebration of all of these birthdays, and birthdays in general, Birthday Mode is active in the game! Happy sweet sixteen, everybody! We're not going anywhere! Long term, we mean. Short term we <i>are</i> going somewhere, because Team Fortress is now old enough to drive, so we're gonna go Tokyo Drift over to the cake store.

Mann vs. Machine's been up and running for over a week now, and we've been hard at work since we launched to make the experience even better. We've upgraded our matchmaking system and given a huge boost to our server count, reducing the average wait for Mann Up Mode down to a minute or less, and Boot Camp to around two minutes. So you should be able to get in to play a lot faster, and get matched up with people a lot closer to you.

Also, guess whose birthday it is? Did you guess Team Fortress or Valve? Well, technically sure, both are sixteen years old today. But more importantly, today is the birthday of high-wattage Hollywood megastar Steve Guttenberg, who is probably 112 years old today, if we had to guess.



In celebration of all of these birthdays, and birthdays in general, Birthday Mode is active in the game! Happy sweet sixteen, everybody! We're not going anywhere! Long term, we mean. Short term we are going somewhere, because Team Fortress is now old enough to drive, so we're gonna go Tokyo Drift over to the cake store.

<a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/730/">Counter-Strike: Global Offensive</a> is now available on Steam!

CS:GO expands on the classic team-based action gameplay that Counter-Strike pioneered. Featuring an arsenal of over 45 weapons, loads of maps, new game modes, new visuals, leaderboards, and over 165 Steam Achievements.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is now available on Steam!

CS:GO expands on the classic team-based action gameplay that Counter-Strike pioneered. Featuring an arsenal of over 45 weapons, loads of maps, new game modes, new visuals, leaderboards, and over 165 Steam Achievements.

<a href="http://iseries.multiplay.co.uk/i46/tournaments/event/team-fortress-2" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.teamfortress.com/images/posts/insomnia_festival.jpg" width="440" height="244" border="0"></a>

<p>The <a href="http://iseries.multiplay.co.uk/">Multiplay Insomnia Gaming Festival</a> in Telford, England is UK's biggest LAN tournament, and unquestionably one of the <a href="http://iseries.multiplay.co.uk/i46/tournaments/event/team-fortress-2">highest profile TF2 competitions in the world</a>. One thing it <i>didn't</i> have until recently, though, was any American representation. E-sports broadcaster <a href="http://www.extelevision.com/">eXTV</a> has been spearheading a fundraiser to get our boys in the fight, and the TF2 community has responded, <a href="http://extv.chipin.com/i46-multiplay-north-american-contingent">donating the money</a> for airfare, PCs, and accommodations to get <a href="http://www.teamfortress.tv/articles/view/43">America's top TF2 players</a> to the 6v6 tournament.

We couldn't be happier to hear this, firstly because it once again proves that TF2's got the most generous community in gaming history, and secondly because <b>U! S! A! U! S! A!</b> Actually, there might be some Canadians on the team. <b>Close! E! Nough! Close! E! Nough!</b>

The Multiplay Insomnia Gaming Festival in Telford, England is UK's biggest LAN tournament, and unquestionably one of the highest profile TF2 competitions in the world. One thing it didn't have until recently, though, was any American representation. E-sports broadcaster eXTV has been spearheading a fundraiser to get our boys in the fight, and the TF2 community has responded, donating the money for airfare, PCs, and accommodations to get America's top TF2 players to the 6v6 tournament.

We couldn't be happier to hear this, firstly because it once again proves that TF2's got the most generous community in gaming history, and secondly because U! S! A! U! S! A! Actually, there might be some Canadians on the team. Close! E! Nough! Close! E! Nough!

<a href="http://www.teamfortress.com/saxxyawards2012/"><img src="http://www.teamfortress.com/images/posts/saxxy2012.jpg" width="440" height="360" border="0"></a>

If you watched last night’s <a href="http://www.gametrailers.com/full-episodes/ncis3o/gt-tv-valve">GT.TV special about Valve</a>, you already know that we’re holding the second annual Saxxy Awards this fall. What you don’t know is that we’ve decided to make the Saxxy’s a lot more like an illegal underground martial-arts bloodsport. That’s right: This year <i>there are no rules.</i> There are, however, a whole bunch of brutal laws, traditions, commandments and decrees, plus some rules, which we’ve assembled in a handy bullet-pointed list on the <a href="http://www.teamfortress.com/saxxyawards2012/">official Saxxy website</a>. Kumite!

If you watched last night’s GT.TV special about Valve, you already know that we’re holding the second annual Saxxy Awards this fall. What you don’t know is that we’ve decided to make the Saxxy’s a lot more like an illegal underground martial-arts bloodsport. That’s right: This year there are no rules. There are, however, a whole bunch of brutal laws, traditions, commandments and decrees, plus some rules, which we’ve assembled in a handy bullet-pointed list on the official Saxxy website. Kumite!