Valve has officially announced a substantial update for Team Fortress 2, specifically targeting the popular Mann vs. Machine mode. In a recent blog post, the company emphasized the community’s role in this update, encouraging players to submit maps and missions that could contribute to the new content.

“Thirteen years ago, we launched Mann vs. Machine, a chilling cautionary tale where an artificial consciousness tried to take all our jobs. You didn’t know it back then, but that was actually a literary device called ‘speculative’ fiction, where writers (us) accurately predict the future (the present), but then hide it so as not to cause widespread panic,” Valve stated in its blog.

Mann vs. Machine first arrived in 2012 and has remained a favorite among players, allowing teams of up to six to battle waves of AI bots using characters from the game as they attempt to push a payload. Upgrades between rounds add strategic depth to the gameplay.

Valve mentioned that the last major update for TF2, Jungle Inferno, was released back in 2017. Since then, the game has continued to evolve with community-created content, leading to a resurgence of players, especially following a recent update that introduced a community map featuring a comical plump seal.

The upcoming updates for Mann vs. Machine are set to roll out in two parts, with the first expected to launch in late August and a second phase around Halloween. Valve is optimistic that the community will rally together once more as they embark on this journey to revitalize Team Fortress 2 with new, engaging content.