Team Fortress 2 Classic open beta halted at the last minute, and something secret is cooking behind the scenes: 'Valve has asked us to ███████'

Team Fortress 2 Classic Steam page art - greyscale and redacted — (Image credit: Eminoma)

Just over a week after announcing an October open beta for the Steam edition of Team Fortress 2 Classic, the throwback version of Valve's famed team-based shooter, developer Eminoma has an update: Never mind.

It turns out that an application on Steam can't be both a mod, which Team Fortress 2 Classic is, and a demo, which it was about to be, at the same time. You might think somebody would have flagged this ahead of time but, well, no.

But there is also the possibility that something may have to change—specifically, the name of the mod. The team explained:

"Valve has asked us to ███████, due to concerns that the ████ ████ ████████ █ ███████ is too ███████ ██ ████ ████████ ███████."We're inclined to agree.

"This sparked internal conversations, and encouraged us to start thinking ██████ █████ ███ █████ ███████, aiming to tie it into our ████████ ███ ███ ██████. We aren't flipping the script on ████ ███ ████ █████, but we want this to be a ███ ███, and we want our ████████ to ██████████ █████████ what we've been █████ and what's █████ █████."

The redactions are amusing but do make it tricky to decipher what exactly is going on. But Valve fan community LambdaGeneration (via PCGamesN) noticed a change to Source SDK documentation, which now declares that mods "should have a unique identity," and should not imply that they're created or endorsed by Valve. "This extends to all places where you talk about your mod, including its title. We may deny titles that imply a mod being an official prequel, sequel, or remake of a Valve title."

Few hours later, Valve has updated the Source SDK licensing (and Steamworks) documentation when publishing Community-Mods on Steam with a new section about what should and shouldn't be used in your mod's title like "Ricochet Classic" or "Ricochet: Source". pic.twitter.com/aX10MH7tF6October 7, 2025

That describes Team Fortress 2 Classic to a T, and so a name change could be in order. Also hinting at some sort of new identity are changes to graphics on the Team Fortress 2 Classic Steam page. What used to be this:

Team Fortress 2 Classic Steam page art — (Image credit: Eminoma)

Is now this:

So the good news is that this isn't a cease-and-desist situation, just a bit of an extra wait: Eminoma said you'll be hearing from them "sooner than you think." In the meantime, if you really want to play TF2 Classic right now, you can still do it the old-fashioned way at tf2classic.com.

TOPICS

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.