Fan-made Team Fortress 2 remake using the Source 2 engine shuts down for good after receiving a DMCA notice from Valve

GamesActionTeam Fortress 2Fan-made Team Fortress 2 remake using the Source 2 engine shuts down for good after receiving a DMCA notice from ValveWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Amper Software)

Team Fortress: Source 2 screenshot

Team Fortress: Source 2, an ambitious fan project aiming to rebuild the venerable Team Fortress 2 in the Source 2 engine, has reached the end of the road. Amper Software, the team behind the project, said on Twitter today that it’s been forced to pull the plug after receiving a DMCA takedown notice from Valve.

The rebuild was in an early state when we first looked at it in 2021, but even then it seemed promising. The team of more than 20 volunteers had shown off numerous character classes in action, including the Pyro, Scout, Sniper, Demoman, and Soldier, and completed work on a full map, Arena Well. Work had continued since then and based on this brief clip from June 2023, it was coming along very nicely.

Here’s part two of our Upward playtesting session from last month! We hope you enjoy watching our progress as much as we love making it.📺 Watch it now on YouTube! https://t.co/Q0hjNPbUqa pic.twitter.com/WqXRNa8o8GJune 8, 2023

But the project ran into trouble when Facepunch announced plans forsignificant changes to s&box(read it as “sandbox”), the Garry’s Mod spiritual successor that Team Fortress: Source 2 is built on. Facepunch said in its announcement that the overhaul “means that most of the games people have created in s&box thus far are unplayable,” and that is in fact what happened with TF:S2.

“These changes are for the better future of s&box as a whole and we support them, it’ll make things easier to work with in the long term, but that comes at a severe cost: all games currently made within s&box won’t work whenever said changes come into place,” the developerstweeted. “Which leads to the current state of our project and the motivation of the team as a whole. The team decided we will be holding off our efforts until s&box’s future gets clearer and more stable.

“This doesn’t mean the project is over, we are simply putting it on hold, anyone in the team and in the community is still free to contribute to the project if they want to and we will still be around.”

(Image credit: Amper Software (Twitter))

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals

“Sadly, this means this DMCA takedown is the nail in the coffin. We cannot bring it back and we’ve hit Valve’s attention, it seems like they definitely don’t want us to use their IP (which is totally fair and legal from them).”

That, then, is the end of it—except that there’s some small amount of doubt as to whether the takedown notice is legit. In response to Amper’s message, a handful of people includingGloomwooddeveloper Dillon Rogers said the Open Xray mod for Stalker was hit with a DMCA takedown request a few days ago, and it turned out to befake.

I don’t think that’s likely to be the case here and even if it is, it doesn’t guarantee new life for Team Fortress: Source 2: There’s every possibility the mod team was ready to move on to other things anyway, and this takedown just simplified the decision. But it would at least open the door to a comeback for a project that, up until last summer, was looking pretty great—and since Facepunch still hasn’t revealed how exactly it plans to approach the s&box overhaul, anything’s possible. I’ve reached out to Valve to inquire about the takedown and will update if I receive a reply.

TOPICSValve

TOPICS

More about actionAll Zenless Zone Zero 1.5 livestream codesAssassin’s Creed Shadows is delayed again ‘to better incorporate player feedback gathered over the past three months’LatestToday’s Wordle answer for Saturday, January 11See more latest►

More about actionAll Zenless Zone Zero 1.5 livestream codesAssassin’s Creed Shadows is delayed again ‘to better incorporate player feedback gathered over the past three months’

More about action

All Zenless Zone Zero 1.5 livestream codesAssassin’s Creed Shadows is delayed again ‘to better incorporate player feedback gathered over the past three months’

Zenless Zone Zero codes - Miyabi and section four

All Zenless Zone Zero 1.5 livestream codes

Image of Yasuke striking an enemy in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is delayed again ‘to better incorporate player feedback gathered over the past three months’

LatestToday’s Wordle answer for Saturday, January 11See more latest►

Latest

Today’s Wordle answer for Saturday, January 11

Wordle answers

Today’s Wordle answer for Saturday, January 11

See more latest►

Most PopularPiranha Games will lay off employees after Mechwarrior 5: Clans ‘performed below projections’Marvel Rivals’ latest update quietly killed the game’s burgeoning mod sceneSorry everyone, Minecraft 2 is cancelled, and it might be our faultTeam Fortress 2 just had the single biggest trade in its history, with ‘the absolute best hat you can get’ going for around $40KIs the new RTX 5070 really as fast as Nvidia’s previous flagship RTX 4090 GPU? Turns out the answer is yes. Kinda.Elden Ring: Nightreign is getting a closed network test, and I’m totally not fuming because PC players aren’t invited to the party, or anythingIf you’re a content creator and gamer looking for a CPU upgrade, this Ryzen 9 9900X deal will get you $90 offAMD is now reportedly making all-American Ryzen 9000 CPU dies at TSMC’s Arizona fabI tried a sim racing rig that generates ‘wind’ at CES 2025 and it’s claimed to help keep VR nausea at bayFinal Fantasy 14 communities panic as it turns out change to blacklisting, meant to help reduce stalking, also lets players use mods to track their altsTikTok’s time in the US may be ticking to a close as it makes a last stand in the Supreme Court, though Trump now says he ‘opposes banning’ it

Most Popular

Piranha Games will lay off employees after Mechwarrior 5: Clans ‘performed below projections’

Marvel Rivals’ latest update quietly killed the game’s burgeoning mod scene

Sorry everyone, Minecraft 2 is cancelled, and it might be our fault

Team Fortress 2 just had the single biggest trade in its history, with ‘the absolute best hat you can get’ going for around $40K

Is the new RTX 5070 really as fast as Nvidia’s previous flagship RTX 4090 GPU? Turns out the answer is yes. Kinda.

Elden Ring: Nightreign is getting a closed network test, and I’m totally not fuming because PC players aren’t invited to the party, or anything

If you’re a content creator and gamer looking for a CPU upgrade, this Ryzen 9 9900X deal will get you $90 off

AMD is now reportedly making all-American Ryzen 9000 CPU dies at TSMC’s Arizona fab

I tried a sim racing rig that generates ‘wind’ at CES 2025 and it’s claimed to help keep VR nausea at bay

Final Fantasy 14 communities panic as it turns out change to blacklisting, meant to help reduce stalking, also lets players use mods to track their alts

TikTok’s time in the US may be ticking to a close as it makes a last stand in the Supreme Court, though Trump now says he ‘opposes banning’ it

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

A bunch of the best Steam Deck accessories on a blue background.

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

Thank Goodness You’re Here review

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review

3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

4Ikea Utespelare desk review

Ikea Utespelare desk review

5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals#

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals