After years of abandonment, Team Fortress 2 fans rejoice over a patch that grants 25% extra FPS

A Team Fortress 2 player uses a machine gun against foes — (Image credit: Valve)

This is not a drill: Team Fortress 2 has received a brand new update in 2024, and fans are ecstatic, despite the patch notes themselves being very brief.

At long last, the update has "added 64-bit support for Windows/Linux client and server," which "should include performance improvements for most users." Upgrading from 32-bit means that Team Fortress 2 will be able to handle more memory, essentially meaning it'll be able to run better and with a higher frame rate. One fan on Twitter estimates that players will see a frame rate boost of "around 18-25%," and plenty have already reported major improvements while playing.

team fortress 2 has been updated to 64-bit! - TF2 will receive significant FPS boost around 18-25%. More than when CS:GO and GMOD got ported.- first major changes to TF2 Valve themselves have made since 2017- easier for valve 🤞 and modders to work on the gamekinda huge pic.twitter.com/ihYecyJgOtApril 18, 2024

"I'm hitting a stable 250-350FPS whilst my CPU and GPU are both under 20% load, this is genuinely very impressive holy shit," one player writes.

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"I'm averaging just under 300FPS in a casual match, in 4K, without using config tricks, that was unheard of until tonight wtf," says another.

It's not all good news though, as Mac users who've updated their macOS to 2019's 10.15 Catalina or beyond still won't be able to play. Apple ended support for 32-bit applications at that point, and so until the game gets updated to 64-bit there too, players who updated their OS will be stuck. As such, the decision to leave Mac out of the updated platforms is sure to be disappointing for some.

Otherwise though, the mood is very positive within the fanbase. As veteran fans will know, TF2 has had a notable lack of major updates since 2017's Jungle Inferno Update. There was an enormous drought from that point on, although it's worth noting that we did get the big Summer 2023 Update last July, too.

Even in this latest patch's case, it's debatable whether you can call it a 'major update' as no new content has been added, although the marked impact on performance seems significant enough in itself. Regardless, many are just thrilled to see TF2 get some positive changes, and are in agreement that "we're so back."

For more games you can play without spending a penny, be sure to dive into our list of the top 25 best free-to-play games.

I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.