Valve is pushing out another update to Team Fortress 2, its 356th since it first shipped the game as part of The Orange Box in 2007. But there’s something special this time around — the new content, titled Robotic Boogaloo, is the first to be created entirely by fans. Polygon reports that the update will have 57 virtual items, mostly hats (naturally), and include a comic that connects it with the game’s expansive backstory.
In a blog post announcing the release, Valve said that just because it’s pushing out community-developed updates doesn’t mean that it will stop producing its own content for the game. “As far as we’re concerned, there’s plenty of room for both to happily co-exist,” says the company. According to community member Jake "The Heartsman" Harold, a total of 51 people chipped in to create the new content, and the revenues from sales of the $2.49 RoboCrate Keys needed to access it are going to be shared by everyone involved.
Team Fortress 2 is the second-most-played game on Steam, and odds are good that the keys will bring in a decent amount of cash. When we spoke with Valve's Gabe Newell in January, he noted that the Steam Workshop — its platform for creating and selling user-generated content — is driving real revenues. "We have people who are using the Steam Workshop who are making $500,000 per year building items for other customers," he said, adding that "we know of other game developers making more money building content for the Workshop than what they get in their day job." If you want to see what the community has been up to for yourself, the update to the free-to-play game is available now for Windows, OS X, and Linux.