United Gaming Clans are starting up their Highlander, 6v6, and new 4v4 league for the 2014 season. The first week of matches starts January 20th for Highlander, January 22nd for 6's and January 24th for 4v4. UGC has divisions in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia/New Zealand. Players from any of these regions are encouraged to sign up and join the fun! Remember, February 2nd is the last day that teams can sign up. Visit the UGC website for more information.

Additionally, the UGC folks are trying a new experiment this season: Over the next several months they'll be organizing a community donation drive for competitive TF2 prize pools. If you're interested in contributing, visit their fundraiser page for more information.

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 the ability to change an item's style in the class loadout menu
• Fixed not being able to apply Killstreak Kits to the Sleeping Dogs promo items
• Fixed Killstreak sheens for the Gunslinger and the Heavy's Fists
• Fixed Killstreak counts being limited to 128 kills
• Fixed projectiles not drawing correctly in old .dem files
• Fixed not being able to gift wrap the Festive Sapper
• Fixed the Mann vs. Machine scoreboard not always displaying values correctly
• Fixed an exploit in Mann vs. Machine related to purchasing upgrades
• Fixed not being able to use the Festive Crusader's Crossbow in Medieval mode
• Fixed Medics seeing the incorrect string when trying to heal a target with the Escape Plan equipped
• Fixed Medigun healing beams staying on when the Medic dies while healing someone
• Fixed a problem that caused the Steam Holiday Sale 2013 promo items to be untradeable for some accounts
• Updated Strange Wranglers to track wrangled sentry kills
• Updated the Heart of Gold so name tags and description tags can be applied to it
• Updated the localization files
• Updated the Short Circuit
  • Damage lowered
  • Consumes 15 metal per projectile destroyed
  • Can no longer fire underwater
  • Fixed a bug with orphaned particles

Well, it's December again, assuming you adhere to the Gregorian Calendar, there's an etching of frost on the ol' window panes, unless you live somewhere temperate, and the lights are shining brightly on the ol' tree you may or may not have, depending on religious affiliation and stance on deforestation. That can only mean one thing: It's Smissmas, everybody! It's a holiday we invented that we'd love you to celebrate with us.

We're of course shipping the usual Smissmas celebrations, including new festive weapons, new winter-themed community cosmetics, and a great big sale in the Mann Co. Store. And starting this year, we're also giving everyone who plays during the event a Stocking Stuffer full of goodies. Click here for a full list of changes, fixes, and new content.

2013's been a great year for Team Fortress 2, and next year's looking to be even better. We've got some truly big surprises planned for 2014, and since nobody wants them delayed until 2015, we'd better get back to work.

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 2013!

• All Players who play TF2 during the event will receive a Gift-Stuffed Stocking! Stockings contain goodies for good little Mercenaries.
• Added community-contributed winter event items
• Added the Giftapult, which can be used to launch gift items to randomly-chosen online players
• Added Naughty and Nice winter keys to the Mann Co. Store
• Premium Players will receive a Secret Saxton to give to another player
• Item grants from previous events (including the Spirit of Giving and the Winter Holiday noise maker) have been re-enabled for all players, including those who deleted their earlier grants

Weapons

• Battalion's Backup
  • Added +20 max HP passive for the wearer
• Concheror
  • Added +2 health per second passive for the wearer
• Crit-a-Cola
  • Reduced consumption penalty from +25% extra damage to +10%
• Diamondback
  • Now also gains a critical attack on successful backstab kills
• Flying Guillotine
  • Alt-Attack now also throws the Guillotine when active
• Short Circuit
  • Attack sped up greatly
  • Ammunition cost has been lowered to 5 metal per attack
  • Players and Buildings are only targeted if in range and in front of attacking player
  • Improved visual effects
• Soda Popper
  • Hype no longer grants mini-crits
  • Added Hypemode which grants up to 5 extra air jumps when active
  • Hypemode is triggered by Alt-Attack when hype is full
• The Beggar's Bazooka has been updated to use the same taunt as The Direct Hit
• Professional Killstreak Mantreads, Splendid Screen and The Chargin' Targe now generate proper effects when on a killstreak. These effects do not stack if another killstreak effect weapon is active.

Cosmetics

• "Head" and "Misc" slots for player loadouts have been converted to Cosmetic slots. All items that were previously Head- or Misc-slot-specific can now be equipped in any Cosmetic slot.
• Unusual effect positioning can now be adjusted for all Cosmetic-slot items
• Unusual Circling Effects have been given a new origin
• Unusual effects for all Cosmetic-slot items are now visible in the loadout panel and character HUD
• Fixed the Wiki Cap clipping with the Demoman's head

Mann vs. Machine

• Fixed being able to inspect Blue-team bots
• Fixed the mission victory screen not always showing the correct information for each player
• Fixed some clipping issues with the stats in the scoreboard

General

• Fixed an exploit where players could move around while using a taunt to attack enemies
• Fixed an exploit related to the Rocket Jumper and the Soldier's grenade taunt
• Fixed killstreaks attained via healing not being considered for round-end win panel
• Fixed the killstreak hud indicator position in minmode
• Fixed Taunt Kills strange scores not incrementing properly for the Strange Scorch Shot
• Fixed strange scores on cosmetic items sometimes failing to increment
• Fixed gift-wrapped items not showing their interior item to the wrapping player in some conditions
• Fixed Steam Sale items granted from Snow Globe crafting not being listable on the Steam Community Market
• Improved bot navigation in cp_gorge
• Improved bot navigation in pl_upward
• Updated several materials to fix issues caused by mat_picmip
• Updated the backpack to filter to automatically filter for valid items when using a tool

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 new promo items
• Updated the localization files

Asiafortress.com's AFCMASH
December 21st-22nd
A "Mashed Potatoes" Competitive 6's Event that mixes TF2 veterans with amateurs.
Sign up here

MEFortress.com's Ultiduo (2v2) Tournament
December 27th-28th
Soldier and Medic Pairs battle on a special King of the Hill map that tests both teamwork and strategy.
Sign up here

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 Crate #75, Crate #76, and Crate #77 to the drop list
• Removed Crate #57, Crate #59 and Crate #71 from the drop list
• Added new Strange parts that can be applied to Strange cosmetic items
• Fixed a client crash related to the Mann vs. Machine mission victory panel
• Fixed players being able to level-up some Strange items when playing on servers with only bots
• Fixed some cases where Halloween spell effects on items would not appear when they were supposed to
• Fixed robot Engineer head not looking correct for the Botkiller Sniper Rifle Mk.II
• Fixed killstreak notices being stuck on the screen when the map is changing levels
• Fixed Team Shine killstreak sheen effect not displaying properly for the Blue team
• Updated several backpack images to fix issues caused by mat_picmip
• Updated Killstreak Kits to work on Festive and Botkiller variants of target weapons
• Updated pl_upward
  • Fixed players getting stuck in the initial Red spawn room after control point 2 is capped
  • Improved bot navigation
• Updated cp_gorge
  • Improved bot navigation
• Updated Mann vs. Machine
  • Fixed players who join in the middle of a mission not receiving the Upgrade Refund credit if it has been earned by the team
  • Fixed Romevision hats conflicting with gatebot hats in Mannhattan
  • Fixed an exploit that allowed purchasing upgrades for weapons other than what they were intended for
  • Updated mvm_rottenburg
    • Fixed a bug where the bomb could get stuck out of reach in the corner near the cap
    • Fixed a bug where bots could be instantly killed by being pushed into the tank tunnel once opened
    • Fixed a bug where money could get stuck in the tank barricade when it was rebuilt, preventing collection
  • Updated mvm_mannhattan
    • Rebalanced Empire Escalation
    • Fixed credits not always being collected when they fall into the grinder
    • Fixed a bug that allowed the gates to be captured out of order
    • Fixed a lighting bug related to lower graphics settings that cause the map to be too dark

We've been busy these last few months, trying to settle a longstanding debate as to what "bimonthly" actually means. Some members of the team are convinced it means "once every two months." Others maintain even trying to define it would ruin the enchanting mystery of reading. Anyway, three months later we're no closer to an answer. However, we are close to releasing the second issue of Team Fortress Comics, this time as a tri-monthly publication. How close? It's here.

When we last left our gripping ongoing tale, Saxton Hale had lost Mann Co. to the scheming Gray Mann and disappeared to parts unknown. The TF2 mercs, now out of jobs, had scattered to the winds until six months later, when Miss Pauling started reassembling the team under orders from an in-hiding Administrator. With Demo, Soldier and Pyro on board, our team heads to Teufort to rescue Spy and Scout from the hangman's noose. Find out what happens next in Part Two, titled "Unhappy Returns".

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:

• Fixed missing backpack material for the Australium Force-a-Nature
• Fixed the Killstreak counts for the Mantreads, Chargin' Targe, and Splendid Screen
• Fixed the Killstreak sheen effect not working on the Mantreads
• Fixed the Ping column in the Scoreboard getting clipped in 4:3 resolutions
• Fixed the Mann vs. Machine return-to-lobby timer not updating properly after a mission has been completed
• Updated the Killstreak Fabricator's description to include the sheen and the Killstreaker effect for its output

You voted. We counted the votes. More accurately, we watched while a computer programmed to count votes counted all the votes. Then, just when we were thinking it had been a while, and maybe the computer was broken, bam. It spit out a card with the 2013 Saxxy nominees punched into it. Then it spit out confetti. Then it self-destructed from all the pageantry. Then you know what, there were about thirty-seven more things that happened, but we're looking at them now and most of them involve us trying to fix the vote-counting computer, so let's skip to the part where the nominees are live, at sourcefilmmaker.com, for your viewing pleasure!

We've also posted a list of this year's Honorable Mentions, so give them a look too! Or, if you don't feel like reading, why not wait for the honorable mentioning robot to come to your town and read them to you as part of his cross-country Honor Mentioning tour? Nevermind, he just broke trying to open the door.