Oct 1

Team Fortress 2

An update to Team Fortress 2 has been released. The update will be applied automatically when you restart Team Fortress 2. The major changes include:

Scream Fortress XVIII has arrived!

Featuring 5 new community maps: HolyHell, Scarypass, Trainsawlaser, Medi-Evil, and Scaredy-Cat
Added the Haunted Hoard Case
- Contains 23 new community-created cosmetic items that make up the Haunted Hoard Collection
- Has a chance to give a taunt Unusualifier as a bonus item
Added 5 new community-contributed taunts to the Mann Co. Store
- Taunt: Hippocratic Hypocrite
- Taunt: Showrunner's Spirit
- Taunt: Barrel Roll
- Taunt: One-Eyed Punt!
- Taunt: Sear You Later
Added 21 new community-created Unusual effects
- 11 new effects for Unusual hats
- 10 new effects for Unusual taunts
All players who launch the game will receive a Soul Gargoyle if they don't already have one
- Grants access to Merasmissions and Halloween item transmutations
- Tracks Merasmissions completed and souls collected
All Halloween Contracts have been reset, allowing them to be completed again
Added new Contracts for this year's featured community maps
Completing a Halloween Contract will give players a classic Halloween item and the chance for a Haunted Hoard Case
Continue last year's event by collecting the souls of dead players for your Soul Gargoyle by killing enemies, doing map objectives, or collecting the Soul Gargoyles that spawn in the maps
All cosmetic and taunt Cases will grant Halloween 2026 Unusual effects instead of their normal Unusual effects during the event. This does not include Crates.
Join Halloween matches by using the Special Events category in Casual
Scream Fortress XVIII runs through November 7th, 2026

General

Fixed ÜberCharge response rules not playing for Halloween items (community fix from robbilookatme)
Fixed missing lighting parameters for the Scottish Resistance materials (community fix from Lindon)
Fixed client crash related to missing HUDAutoAim element (community fix from flower)
Fixed TFBot crash related to moving control points (community fix from BetaM)
Fixed joining a new lobby while being revived locking up the camera (community fix from Vlad)
Fixed misplaced muzzle attachment for The AWPer Hand (community fix from dilbertron2)
Fixed the Pomson's kill icon bleeding into the Wrap Assassin's (community fix from Grampa Swood)
Fixed Spy disguising as a player without primary weapon (community fix from leemustache)
Fixed invalid Soul Gargoyle locations on Helltower (community fix from Kimmy)
Fixed bad computer_wall02b material (community fix from DiskIntegrity)
Added convars to control ready countdown (community fix from nemmy)
Fixed a bug where HUD item meters weren't always being cleared/loaded properly
Fixed cosmetics attached to ragdolls not cloaking with the ragdolls when killed with a weapon like Your Eternal Reward
Fixed crit boost material effect not working on several weapons
Added OnDropTeam1 and OnDropTeam2 outputs for item_teamflag
Fixed Summer 2024 Cosmetic Key and Summer 2024 Cosmetic Key backpack images
Updated style strings for the Chief Executor, Vested Investor's Vest, and Standing Offer
Updated The Hundekopf to fix a problem with the paint mask
Updated the Chief Executor
- Added style names
- Fixed style preview window orientation
- Added missing hat bodygroup to the third style
- Added style names for the Standing Offer and Vested Investors Vest
Updated the Handsome Ranger
- Updated UVs to prevent mipmapping with the paint region
- Increased the size of the cigarette in the "Off Duty" style
Updated the Long Shot
- Updated the textures to reduce the strength of the normal map & ambient occlusion
- Updated the backpack icon to reflect these change
Updated the Night Riders
- Updated the textures to reduce the strength of the normal map & ambient occlusion
- Updated the backpack icon to reflect these change
Updated The Lo-Fi Longwave logo to add a second style with the updated logo
Updated/Added some tournament medals
Updated the Standing Offer
- Fixed clipping issues
- Fixed a wrongly assigned UV
- Fixed paint texture issues
Updated the Vested Investor's Vest to fix some clippling issues
Updated Le Morne Uniforme to fix some LOD issues
Updated backpack images for Le Sapeur and Le Morne Uniforme
Updated Beaten and Bruised
- Optimized model exports, reducing file size
- Fixed location and rotation of the Style and Paint preview
- Improved head bandage geometry
- Reduced clipping with other cosmetics
- Reduced normal map compression artifacts on Pyro and Engineer's cracked lenses
- Updated textures, improving blue team texture variation
- Fixed Nightmare style selfillum not displaying as intended
- Updated backpack image
Updated Hard Hearing
- Optimized model exports, reducing file size
- Fixed location and rotation of the Style and Paint preview
- Reduced clipping with other cosmetics
- Fixed a gap above the brim on some classes
- Updated textures to better match class colors
- Adjusted phong values slightly
- Sniper now takes off his hat when melee taunting on the "Hearing Issue" style
Updated koth_sawmill_event to fix missing materials in the underworld
Updated ctf_2fort to fix inconsistent DX level setting for the grain_elevator01 prop (community fix from sonomahyenaz)
Updated cp_dustbowl to fix func_occluder problem in stage 3 (community fix from sonomahyenaz)
Updated cp_well to fix Engineers building in RED's forward spawn room (community fix from sonomahyenaz)
Updated pl_redwood
- Fixed visual stuttering on players using a zipline
- Fixed bug that would break client collision with certain entities
- Fixed zipline sounds being interrupted when the user fires their weapon
- Fixed some cases where ziplines would not take players in the desired direction
- Fixed the The Mantreads and The Thermal Thruster not dealing damage when landing on players after dismounting a zipline
- Dismounting a zipline while wielding The Winger now boosts jump height by 25%
- Reduced speed gained from dismounting a zipline shortly after shield charging
- Adjusted zipline dismount input to help prevent accidental early dismounts
Updated pd_mannsylvania
- Reduced duration of the Vampire Buff from 20 > 15 seconds
- Added a 5 second speed boost for players exiting Dracula's Castle
- Added additional player voice lines that can play upon exiting Dracula's Castle
- Removed some particle effects from the capture zone in Dracula's Castle for visual clarity
- Map now precaches audio on map load, this fixes a major stutter issue when entering Dracula's Castle for the first time (Thanks Aar!)
- Fixed players not being forced into melee in the ending sequence
- Fixed some issues with sound scripts calling sounds that don't exist
- Updated the texture on the resupply cabinets to help them stand out from the environment more
- Reduced the amount of edicts taken up by converting some dynamic objects into static ones
- Increased number of active pumpkin bombs on the map
- Lighting adjustments
- Minor visual tweaks
- Optimizations
Updated koth_demolition
- Replaced the health and ammo pack platforms with new ones made by Goobert
- Updated the control point to have a neutral version matching RED and BLU (thanks Goobert)
- Replaced the textures under the water to save file size
- Replaced the team logos and oil rig overlays with new ones
- Extended the space between the playable area and the invisible wall on the sea
- Removed a bit of brushwork on the crane to avoid players bonking against it when using the jump pad
- Moved the jump pad back a bit and gave it more strength
- Removed the last bits of func_nobuild on the crane platform
- Added two broken catwalks on the side of the crane platform
- Added a new broken catwalk behind both spawns alongside cover and a trimp spot
- Added a new shortcut on the radio towers connecting to the previously mentioned catwalk to give players another way out of spawn (Thanks ItJazzy for the suggestion)
- Added a set of catwalks hanging from the point platform under the point to add a new flank route for players (Thanks ItJazzy for the suggestion)
- Added a small health pack in the furnace rooms of each team
- Added decorative lights under the point
- Upgraded the health pack on the furnace room from medium to full
- Upgraded the health pack on the office building from small to medium
- Removed some ropes under the point
- Fixed some pipes fading too soon
- Fixed some weird collision near the spawns that messed with blast jumps
- Administrator now reacts when a player dies to the Evil Deer. Try at your own risk.
Updated zi_atoll, zi_blazehattan, zi_devastation_final1, zi_murky, zi_sanitarium, and zi_woods
- General Changes
  - Players can no longer be selected as a starting Zombie two rounds in a row
  - Dying during setup now respawns you instantly
  - Players who are dead or spectating when the round begins now considered infected
  - The B.A.S.E Jumper can now be deployed at any point in the round
  - Jumper weapons no longer have decreased max ammo
- Zombie Changes
  - New Feature: Zombie Spawn Picker
    - On respawn, Zombies will be able to manually choose which spawn point to spawn at
      - Pressing your left and right mouse inputs will cycle through all spawn points
      - Pressing your jump input will spawn you at your current spawn point
    - If no inputs are pressed, you will automatically respawn after a short time
  - Zombies are no longer ÜberCharged when respawning
  - Zombies can change class while picking a spawn point
- Zombies now drop a small ammo pack
- Zombies now receive Mini-Crits when the Zombie team is below the starting infection quota
- Updated Zombie viewmodel animations and removed view punch when attacking
- Updated Zombie playermodels and third person animations (thanks Coolchao Zhao!)
- Updated Zombie ability icons with polished art (thanks TheLazerSofa!)
- Respawning Zombies no longer play lightning visuals and thunder sounds
- Zombies no longer leave a trail of green footsteps, no longer emit green fog, and can now ragdoll
- Updated Zombie Engineer
  - Zombie Engineer has a new "Beacon" ability
    - Throw a toolbox to erect a beacon that Zombies can respawn at
    - Beacons are the default spawn point for Zombies in the new Spawn Picker feature
    - Beacons can be destroyed by Survivors
    - Each Zombie Engineer can only have one beacon active at a time
- Updated Zombie Spy
  - Zombie Spy has been given Zombie Engineer's old "EMP Grenade"
    - Like before, the EMP grenade will temporarily disable buildings around it after detonation
    - EMP Grenade blast highlights Survivors and buildings like the previous "Reveal" ability
    - No longer instantly detonates when directly hitting a building
    - Now takes half as long to detonate
    - Reveal and EMP duration changed from 6.5s to 5.5s
    - Reveal range changed from 1000HU to 900HU
    - EMP range changed from 500HU to 450HU
  - Max Health lowered to 125
  - Melee damage changed from 100% to 69%
- Updated Zombie Pyro
  - Zombie Pyro has a new "Sticky Spew" ability
    - Spew balls of tar at Survivors, coating them in disorienting liquid that hinders their movement-based weapons
  - No longer drops a medium health kit on death
  - Fire resistance changed from 100% to 70%
  - No longer ignites players on hit or deals bonus damage to burning Survivors
- Updated Zombie Heavy
  - Zombie Heavy has a new "Rock Hurl" ability
    - Grab a chunk of concrete from the ground, lift it, and heave it at Survivors
    - Survivors in the radius of the concrete get knocked back and take damage
    - Survivors directly hit by the concrete get stunned and take additional damage
    - Buildings hit by concrete are temporarily disabled
  - Added loud footsteps
  - Knockback resistance changed from 100% to 85%
  - Damage vs buildings changed from 120 to 90
  - No longer drops a medium health kit on death
- Updated Zombie Sniper
  - Spit can now settle on slopes, staircases, and rooftops
- Updated Zombie Demoman
  - Explosive Charge's channel period has full aim control
- Updated Zombie Soldier
  - Pouncing Zombie Soldiers now play a whistling falling sound
- Bug Fixes
  - Fixed Zombies sometimes being immune to headshots
  - Fixed a bug where Zombie Sniper's Spit would not create a puddle on impact with a building
  - Fixed Zombie Heavy's attack damaging through Bonk! Atomic Punch and ÜberCharge
  - Fixed Zombie Medic leaving dispensers behind when changing class, spectating or disconnecting
  - Fixed Survivors sometimes starting with no ammo or metal
  - Fixed "game_text" entities leaking when a player disconnects or changes class mid-respawn
  - Fixed the starting Zombie quota being able to select a spectator or a dead survivor
Updated zi_atoll (additional changes)
- Removed a zombie spawn beneath the cliff shack
- Returned full ammo pack in the turbine room
- Removed Uber effect from spawning zombies
Updated zi_blazehattan (additional changes)
- Reworked lighting and updated the visuals across the map
- Reworked zombie spawns to create safer zones for Survivors
- Reworked the grinder building and the evacuation center
- Removed fence in cargo crate pile to allow for more rotations
- Added more pickups across the map
- Cleaned up collisions
- Fixed Survivor respawn wave time being too long
- Reduced round timer from 210s to 180s
- Removed little nobuild zones from on top of various crates and barrels
- Optimization pass
Updated zi_devastation_final1 (additional changes)
- Added Zombie access to the surface above the parking garage, allowing them to drop down onto higher floors
- Simplified and clarified Zombie spawns
- Added Survivor access to third floor vents corridor
- Removed nobuild triggers from third floor cars
- Brightened dark corners
- Lowered the water in the parking lot bottom floor
Updated zi_murky (additional changes)
- The previously condemned Mudpuppy clearance tunnels are now opened
- Mudpuppy spawn points have been removed and moved to the docks
- Reduced some pickup spawns
- Decreased fog and lightened ambient lighting for improved visibility
- Lowered volume of soundscape effects
- Cleaned, fixed, added, and decluttered collisions around the map
- Merged props to improve performance
- Updated water visuals and removed expensive reflection effects
- Adjusted pumpkin bomb spawns
Updated zi_sanitarium (additional changes)
- Removed outside ladder access to the roof. You'll have to take the stairs.
- Removed Uber effect from spawning zombies
- Removed access to sloped roof adjacent to the sanitarium rooftop
- Removed a wooden barrier near the upstairs bathroom
- Removed some wooden plank walkways connecting several balconies
- Fixed being able to attack through window frames
- Fixed bad clipping and stuck spots around wooden scaffolding
- Shortened Far Z clip plane for optimization
- Added "Ding" noise when the elevator arrives at its location
Updated zi_woods (additional changes)
- Updated Zombie spawn zones
- Reworked the boathouse roof
- Terraformed cliffs around the lake
- Added access to raised terrain platforms
- Added health and ammo platform in the wooded pathway to the docks
- Added clipping to tall rock spires
- Brightened some dark spots of the forest
- Made the airboat easier to jump over and into
- Increased round timer from 120s to 160s
- Optimization pass

Jul 22

Steam Wishlists now support Categories, and more

Steam News

With so many amazing games on Steam, players are wishlisting more and more titles. Existing options like ranking and filtering are great, but players have asked for even more ways to manage their Steam wishlists. Today we're adding categorization as well as improved search and sharing to the wishlist. Read the full post below for the details, then try out all the new tools on your own wishlist.

Categories added to wishlist

First and foremost is the ability to create and assign custom categories to games on your wishlist. You might want to create a custom category for games you saw featured in a cool event, games best played with a controller, or even games you have in mind for someone else.

Adding custom categories is quick and easy...
Filter to a category by simply clicking on the category name at the top of your wishlist or next to the My Categories area of each game
Quickly add to your frequent categories from the "On Wishlist" dropdown on store pages
Customize wishlist notifications to only be sent for certain categories

Other improvements

We've improved the search experience on the wishlist page and enabled autocomplete for faster results
We now highlight when a game on your wishlist has a demo available. You can also be notified when a demo is released for a game in your wishlist.
Microtrailers are now shown when hovering each games capsule image
Navigating to/from your wishlist in a browser, mobile, Steam Client, or Steam OS does a better job of bringing you back to what you were looking at
Plus we've made some tweaks to the wishlist page to improve contrast and legibility

Sharing your wishlist

You can already share a link to your wishlist, now you can share a link to a specific category on your wishlist, or even a filtered view of your wishlist.

Clicking on the share button at the top of your wishlist gives you a unique URL to share with friends and family. People with the link can view the shared list even if your wishlist is set to private. Links can be revoked at any time.
This sharing link will only show the games in the your current filtered view. For example: you might want to share 'My Birthday List' with your family. From that shared link, your family can gift games directly to you, even if they don't have a Steam account...

More gifting improvements...

As we hinted at above, we suspect one common new category for wishlists will be games you want to buy for a friend or family member. With that in mind, we paired this wishlist change with a big update to gift purchasing on Steam. Check out all the gift improvements here!

Jul 22

Gifting made easier

Steam News

Steam gifts are a popular way to send copies of games and digital gift cards to friends and family. Today we’re shipping some great new features that improve the gifting experience, making it easier to send both digital gift cards and games. These features pair nicely with the Wishlist categories and other improvements that are also now available.

Guest checkout

In 2024, we added guest checkout, which lets a family member or friend make a gift purchase without needing to create a Steam account. This feature was limited to digital gift cards and hardware purchases at the time.

Now guest checkout can be used to buy any game on Steam.

You can send a wishlist share link to a friend or family member and they can purchase gifts directly from that list without needing a Steam account themselves. If a guest wants to send a gift as a surprise they can send it to any email address instead.

Gift to email

Don't know your nephew's Steam account? No problem, both digital gift cards and games can now be sent directly to email recipients. And don't worry if your nephew's email address is the same one they use for their Steam account. The email will include a link to let them sign in to their account and accept the gift.

Please note that any gift email not accepted within 30 days will be automatically refunded, so they cannot be scheduled for future delivery. The recipient of the gift must also live in the same country as the purchaser.

Cross-region gifting

Buying a gift for a friend in a higher-priced region? In the past, digital gift cards were the solution for gifting, but that required you to know the full price of the game in your friend's region.

Now you can gift games directly to your friend. Steam will match the increased price in your friend's region at checkout. Your friend needs to be on your Steam friends list to send this type of gift.

Direct from wishlist

Sending a friend or family member a link to your wishlist is a great way to help them choose a great gift for your birthday or holiday. We have made a number of share link improvements, including:

You can now send a digital gift card or gift a game directly from someone's wishlist
You no longer need to be friends on Steam to send gifts
You can create a shared wishlist link that is filtered to specific games
When a friend or family member clicks on your shared wishlist link, if they choose to gift you a game, the gift recipient in the cart will be pre-populated with your information.
And remember from above, your friend or family member can checkout as a guest, without needing to create a Steam account

More wishlist improvements...

That wraps it up for today's gift related updates. Check out our Steam Wishlist announcement to learn about wishlist categories and other improvements that are now available.