Team Fortress 2, the critically- and popularly-acclaimed team-based multiplayer FPS by Valve, is now free-to-play, with no strings attached.
Valve recently announced this at the end of its Uber Update, a week-long chain of patches which added to the already monumental amount of content in the game.
Players who have already purchased the game received a decorative proof-of-purchase hat, as well as a ‘premium account’ status. This grants players who bought the game - be it through retail or Steam stores, or who were gifted the game before it went free-to-play - increased backpack (item storage) space, access to all item blueprints (full crafting options), and the ability to give items to other players. Free-to-play players can upgrade to a premium account by making any purchase in TF2’s in-game store, but those who wish to receive a proof-of-purchase hat will have to find and buy a retail copy of the game.
In-depth details about what is offered to new players, how the update affects old players, and comparisons between free and premium accounts, can be found here: http://www.teamfortress.com/freetoplay/faq.php
Valve has supported Team Fortress 2 with massive updates over the course of its 4-year lifespan. Aside from new maps, gameplay modes, and bug fixes, the TF2 dev team has constantly surprised the community with game-changing content such as new weapons and equipment, decorative items, the Mann Co. Item store, special holiday events and more. TF2 is considered by many gamers to be one of the most officially supported games ever released, and some fear that this recent change to a free-to-play model marks the end of that constant loving.
There is also the belief that with the increase of players that will come after opening up TF2 as a free game, profits from the item store will continue to encourage Valve to create new content such as the latest Uber Update. Over the course of its 4 years as a constant top-placer in online FPS gaming, TF2 has gone through several periods of sale prices and free-to-play weekends (at one point, the game was offered for less than $3). To Valve, whose Steam distribution service is still the biggest one on the Internet, fresh accounts may be just as important as new sales. With every new player the free-to-play update brings in, even if these players never spend a peso on paid content, Valve has a new customer to send advertisements to, receive demographics information from, and entice into spending money on promos and sales.
Any way you cut it, Valve wins. And given the amount of sheer, unadulterated fun that can be had from this gem of a game, so can you.