The Team Fortress 2 summer update that Valve promised back in February has arrived. As promised, it's a big one, with new maps, cosmetics, taunts, and unusual effects. But instead of thanking Valve, let's thank the members of the TF2 community who actually created these things.

All in all, Valve has pulled off a masterstroke: getting credit for another gorgeous update to a 16-year-old game, but doing no work to make it happen; someone at Valve had to collate this and make sure it didn't violate any policies or copyright laws, and the only way to do that is to make sure that the game is still in the same format as it was when it was released. They certainly had to. But the actual work to make it happen is someone else's problem. It's just like in the Mann catalog. Catalog

Anyway, wherever it came from, here's the update: 14 new community-made maps (Sharkbay, Rotunda, Phoenix, Cashworks, Venice, Reckoner, Sulfur, Hardwood, Pelican Peak, Selbyen, VSH Tiny Rock, VSH Distillery, VSH Skirmish, and VSH Nucleus) and 25 new community-made cosmetic items available in the Summer 2023 cosmetic case.

There are also 6 new taunts available in the Mann Co. store and 20 new Unusual effects (8 on taunts and 12 on hats). During the Summer 2020 event, all cosmetics and taunt cases will have the usual normal effects instead of instead of (kind of contradictory, isn't it?).

Somehow, Valve has found many other things to fix and improve in Team Fortress 2. This must be a real group effort.

The Team Fortress 2 Summer 2023 update is available now, and the summer event will run through September 15. The full patch notes are as follows.