Team Fortress Leak found in Dota 2 Update

Last year, Valve dataminers discovered references to a new project labeled only “TF.” Given the initials, it's widely believed to be a new Team Fortress project – although whether it's a sequel or a Source 2 port of TF2 remains unclear.

There hasn't been much information about the game in recent months, likely due to the shifting timelines surrounding the upcoming Steam Machine launch. Valve specialist Tyler McVicker even speculated that the game “may have been shelved temporarily” as development on HLX – widely believed to be Half-Life 3 – ramps up. But a new string was just found in a Dota 2 update, indicating that development is underway.

“The mention of Project TF appeared in the context of composites near CS2, which most likely means that it will be used for skins,” explained the reputed leaker and dataminer Gabe Follower.

Don't worry too much about the Source 2 jargon – Gabe Follower refers to the highly sophisticated asset pipeline that serves as the framework for Counter-Strike 2's cosmetics. With that in mind, as seen in the post below, the appearance of “tf” along with “csgo” indicates that Valve is building a similar live service ecosystem for this new Team Fortress game.

From Project TF to Half-Life 3

Otherwise, we still don't know much about Project TF, or how far along in development the game is. At least it doesn't seem to have been shelved, but it happening in the future is still a possibility, as Valve's lax attitude and high quality standards mean that games are often canceled or pushed aside as teams move on to new ideas. However, it's worth bearing in mind that all of Valve's recent releases have been similarly leaked: Alyx first appeared as 'HLVR', while Deadlock was revealed by dataminers under the codenames Neon Prime and Citadel, when it was still intended as a Half-Life spin-off.

Dataminers haven't just found references to Project TF in this update either. Gabe Follower also spotted another “HLX” mention, confirming his claim from earlier this week that Half-Life 3 had not been canceled. Several leakers claimed last year that the sequel would be announced in November, but for some reason those plans changed. Given the trail of canceled Half-Life 3 and Episode Three games left in Valve's wake, some worried that the lack of a reveal meant “HLX” had fallen to the same fate. But between Gabe Follower and McVicker's assurances, and the new string found in this Dota 2 update, there seems to be some wrangling behind the scenes.