Valve red tape sees long-running Team Fortress 2 Classic mod scrap Steam beta

It's hard to top Valve when it comes to its catalog of timeless, competitive multiplayer games. Dota 2 and Counter-Strike are of course the poster children, but Team Fortress 2 is still going extremely strong all these years later and benefitting from occasional updates, too. However, over time, classics like TF2 evolve - new mechanics, maps, and modes, balance changes, and even engine upgrades often mean that a game's original feel gets lost. Team Fortress 2 Classic is a long-running mod that aims to take things back to those early days of TF2, and it recently made its way to Steam. However, its upcoming open beta has been scrapped after coming across an unusual issue - Valve won't let something be a mod and a demo at the same time. This strange case may have also spawned a new problem for Team Fortress 2 Classic - it might have to rebrand.

The Team Fortress 2 Classic project has been in the works since 2014, but got up and running properly in 2020. As well as trying to recreate the feel and conditions of the game from its first few months, the team at Eminoma has also added some of its own innovations, such as a new class based on the Civilian that you could only control in VIP mode. It's been accessible as a standalone download for a while, but Eminoma recently confirmed plans to bring the mod to Steam before the end of 2025.

The next step towards doing that was meant to be an open beta, scheduled for this month. However, on October 6, Eminoma amended its most recent community update with the title "Nevermind," confirming that the beta had been canceled due to a strange reason.

"In the final stages of the review process, we were informed that an app on Steam cannot be both a mod and a demo at the same time," the post explains. "Unfortunately, this was not caught by anyone at Eminoma or at Valve until last Saturday, after initial reviews hadn't flagged it as an issue and gave us the mistaken belief that we were clear to ship."

While this unexpected setback is disappointing, Eminoma says it isn't too concerned. "We're still very much on track for full release, and are probably in a better spot than we would have been if we never attempted this in the first place," it says.

However, in tripping over some Valve red tape, another headache may have also been created. At the bottom of the post, in true Eminoma style, is a section that's heavily redacted, inferring that Valve has been in discussion with the modders over certain "concerns." Those concerns appear to focus on Team Fortress 2 Classic's name.

As was discovered by 'LambdaGeneration' on X, Steamworks documentation was very recently updated to include a stipulation that mods must clearly distinguish themselves from existing Valve projects. "Your mod should have a distinct identity, and should not suggest that it was created or endorsed by Valve," the updated guidance reads. "This extends to all places where you talk about your mod, including its title."

Using its often forgotten multiplayer game Ricochet as an example, Valve then lists what would be considered to be "bad titles," which include Ricochet 2, Ricochet: Source, and… Ricochet Classic. Yeah, that sounds to me like a name change is definitely on the cards for Team Fortress 2 Classic.

Eminoma says "you'll be hearing more from us sooner than you think," so a rebrand will probably be announced in the very near future. Whether it can also work with Valve to get around the issue surrounding the beta, however, remains to be seen.

Even though TF2 Classic isn't available on Steam yet, you can give it a spin by heading to its website here. Alternatively, check out some of our favorite FPS games and the best free Steam games to play while you wait for it to arrive.

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