TF2 Coaching Central is back with their sixth North American Newbie 6s Cup, a learning experience and friendly competition for people who are new to competitive 6v6.

Players with no to minimal competitive experience will sign up to be placed on a team of six, led by a coach who will teach the basics of how to play the 6v6 format and help you learn the maps. Teams have three weeks to learn and train together before facing off in a tournament with a prize pool of 18 keys for the winners and runners up. Their previous Newbie Cup events have successfully prepared many players and teams to continue competitive play in RGL, the biggest North American TF2 league.

Sign-ups are open now, and the deadline to apply to be placed on a team is Monday, December 11. Team and coach assignments will be made by Friday, December 15. Tournament matches will be the weekend of January 6-7, 2024.

Check out their Discord for more info. Whether you're looking to dip your toes in competitive TF2, a more experienced player looking to mentor newbies, or even a fresh install, feel free to join the community - all skill levels are welcome!

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:

Happy Smissmas 2023!

• All players who play TF2 during the event will receive a Stuffed Stocking as a gift! Stockings contain goodies for good little Mercenaries.
  
• Featuring 10 new community maps: Snowtower, Krampus, Haarp, Brew, Hacksaw, Turbine Center, Carrier, Galleria, Emerge, and Camber
  
• Added the Winter 2023 Cosmetic Case
  • Contains 23 new community-contributed items
    
  • The Festivizer can be found as a bonus drop when opening the case
• Added 3 new community-contributed taunts to the Mann Co. Store
  • Taunt: Cheers!
    
  • Taunt: Mourning Mercs
    
  • Taunt: Foul Play
• Added 31 new community-created Unusual effects
  • 17 new effects for Unusual hats
    
  • 14 new effects for Unusual taunts
• All cosmetic and taunt cases will grant Smissmas 2023 Unusual effects instead of their normal Unusual effects during the event. This does not include crates.
  
• Mann Co. Store winter sale!
  
• Smissmas runs through January 7th, 2024

General

• Fixed missing normal map and variables for Festivized weapons (community fix from Woshee)
  
• Fixed broken lighting for viewmodels in tight spaces (community fix from Stuffy360)
  
• Fixed missing BLU team skin for the B.A.S.E. Jumper
  
• Fixed Taunt: Roar O'War removing health after taunting with an honor bound melee weapon equipped
  
• Fixed not always hiding floating health bars when the player has the hide_enemy_health attribute
  
• Updated pl_corruption to fix trigger_teleports not enabling correctly
  
• Updated koth_sawmill_event to fix missing material
  
• Updated cp_gravelpit_snowy to improve performance
  
• Updated several maps to fix localization issues

TFConnect returns this snowy December 16th-17th!

Since 2018, TFConnect has raised over $80,000 for charities including this year’s cause, SpecialEffect. This charity has a profoundly positive impact on quality of life, confidence and rehabilitation of disabled gamers. TFConnect is back with a live, in-person event bringing all kinds of streamers, content creators and cosplayers together. There will be TF2 themed game-shows, Tabletop games, hot-sauce challenges, painting and gaming, and more giveaways than ever in the Smissmas spirit. Participating online are some big personalities, voice actors and content creators!

The event stream on December 16th-17th will start at 12pm CET (11am GMT / 6am ET), and will be live on the KritzKast channel!

You can join in on the giving as donations are open now on the TFConnect website. Be sure to enter the sweepstakes, too!

The event will be streamed live on KritzKast’s Twitch channel, and you can keep up to date with the team by following TFConnect and KritzKast on Twitter / X.

Important Links:

• Website
  
• Social Media

(Image credit: Alox)

The snow is falling, and holiday cheer is in the air. To celebrate the holiday season, Gray Gravel Co. has unleashed global robot hordes that are leaner, meaner, and probably also machiner than before. Get ready, because this party is going to be EXPLOSIVE!

Operation Firmware Frenzy is a new Mann vs. Machine charity event brought to you by Moonlight MvM featuring 4 advanced and 4 expert missions across 7 maps. Complete 5 missions to earn an in-game star medal! Event servers are available worldwide in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

If the expert missions are too easy for you, then test your mettle on the brand-new master difficulty mission. WHAT?! That’s right, Moonlight MvM has released a new highest difficulty for only the most daring. Assemble a team to see if you have what it takes to be the best.

If this impossible challenge didn’t shrink your heart, you can also donate to The American Heart Association to help treat and prevent heart disease around the world. Up to 4 in-game medals are up for grabs for donating $6, $12, $18, and $24 USD. Click here for more information on how to donate.

Interested in making your own custom MvM content? New submissions are already open for the next event! Check out the guide for MvM content creation or join the Moonlight MvM Discord for more information. All contributors will earn a special in-game creator medal!

Good luck, and be fast, as this tour will end on January 2, 2024!

Important Links:

• Servers List
  
• Charity Info
  
• Steam Group
  
• Discord
  
• Content Creation Guide

An update has been released for Half-Life 2, Lost Coast, and the Episodes.

- Fixed a hang where NPC pathfinding could stall forever
- Fixed sprinting when using an external controller

(Image credit: Metalcloud)

Get ready to melt away the competition! The United Dodgeball League is starting its 2023 Winter Cup! There will be in-game medals for all participants, along with special in-game medals for the first, second and third place winners! The first place winners will also receive a bonus of 100 keys!

The 2023 Winter Cup will be held for two days in the EU region, December 16th - 17th. Everyone is welcome to participate, even if they're outside of the region!

Does your team have what it takes?! Sign-ups for the tournament can be found here. Team captains should also join the Discord server, where they'll receive instructions on when to play as well as who they'll be competing against.

For more information, check out https://dodgeball.tf!

Important Links:

• Discord
  
• Sign-ups

The leaves are falling, and it's time for the 2023 Jam Showcase! TF2Maps is showing off 90 of the most interesting, most mind-blowing creations made for this year's Jam! They received 556 entries, with 516 of those being eligible for medals, placing it comfortably in the exact middle of past Jams in terms of participation. In terms of donations, this year placed second with a grand total of $11,020.46 raised for Gamers Outreach Foundation!

For more information, check out the showcase thread on TF2Maps! You can also join the TF2Maps Discord and follow TF2Maps on Twitter!

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:

• Updated koth_sawmill_event
  • Fixed missing model and material
• Updated pd_farmageddon
  • Fixed instances where players can get stuck when leaving the cap zone (Thanks Lo-fi)
    
  • Added custom announcer lines for gargoyle spawn
• Updated zi_atoll
  • Significantly reduced strength of trigger_push in water
    
  • Adjusted trigger_push entities on trees
    
  • Improved clipping/collision on wood plank structures
    
  • Adjusted distribution of health and ammo pickups to make structures easier for RED to hold
    
  • Reduced file size of map

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:

• Added an extra HIDEHUD flag for vscript maps (HIDEHUD_TARGET_ID)
  
• Fixed using the extendfreeze client command to continue spectating enemy players after being killed
  
• Fixed Arena mode player count HUD layout problem (community fix from Funicular)
  
• Updated zi_atoll to sync the particles file with other the Zombie Infection maps
  
• Updated zi_woods
  • Added props to aid scouts in getting up to the roof on the boathouse
    
  • Added trigger_push entities to the tops of trees
    
  • Implemented an optimisation pass
• Updated koth_sawmill_event
  • Added spells to the Underworld Forest to encourage players to travel there
    
  • Added trigger_hurts to prevent spawn camping in the Underworld Forest
    
  • Added the Skeleton King to randomly spawn after cap
    
  • Added an additional Skeleton Consort for him as well
    
  • Reduced the amount of particles in the Underworld Harvest
    
  • Removed a custom texture since it wasn't needed
    
  • Minor clipping changes
    
  • Added an ammo pack to the cave
    
  • Removed a few pumpkin bombs since they hurt player movement too much
    
  • Added a loss-coverage program for Red team
    
  • Cleaned up some waste

(Image credit: SFM Render - Bishop, Compositing/Overlays - Father Hoovy Is Moist, Organization - IanTheAwsm)

Seasonalander has arrived for the Fall of 2023! This season will be raising funds for the British Red Cross, a global humanitarian organization whose work includes helping people in the UK and overseas when emergencies happen, preventing or easing human suffering around the world, supporting victims of modern slavery and trafficking, and protecting people in armed conflict. Seasonalander has set an initial goal of £1,000 with funds going directly towards immediate relief like food, support, equipment and shelter. More information on the British Red Cross can be found here!

Seasonalander is a Highlander-based 9v9 tournament that uses community-created maps based on the current season of the year, which is currently Fall/Autumn! This season will feature over 72 talented creators from across the Team Fortress 2 community in both North America and Europe in hopes of bringing the Team Fortress 2 community together for several various causes! Come see your favorites entertain by throwing hands and raising funds for those in need!

Help get the word out and be sure to tune in on the 21st and 22nd of October! European games will start at 3pm GMT / 10am EDT on both Saturday & Sunday. North American games will start at roughly 8pm GMT / 3pm EDT on both Saturday & Sunday.

Important Links:

• Donation Link (Tiltify)
  
• Twitch
  
• YouTube
  
• Twitter
  
• Steam Group