BREAKING: Team Fortress 2 is now free to play "forever"

Industry trade website Develop-Online has revealed in an interview with Valve's Robin Walker that Team Fortress 2 is now permanently free to play, and will solely be supported by in-game item purchases.

TF2's switch to F2P was rumored and expected, but perhaps not this soon. Walker says that Valve had been exploring the idea since September 2010. "We've been toying with the idea of making Team Fortress free-to-play ever since the Mann-conomy update," Walker said. "The data we got back from that update leads us to believe that TF2 would be more successful as a completely free product." Read the rest of the interview with Walker at Develop-Online .

Prior to today, Team Fortress 2 was in the middle of a "free week." The game's Über Update should deploy later this evening.

Evan's a hardcore FPS enthusiast who joined PC Gamer in 2008. After an era spent publishing reviews, news, and cover features, he now oversees editorial operations for PC Gamer worldwide, including setting policy, training, and editing stories written by the wider team. His most-played FPSes are CS:GO, Team Fortress 2, Team Fortress Classic, Rainbow Six Siege, and Arma 2. His first multiplayer FPS was Quake 2, played on serial LAN in his uncle's basement, the ideal conditions for instilling a lifelong fondness for fragging. Evan also leads production of the PC Gaming Show, the annual E3 showcase event dedicated to PC gaming.