Team Fortress 2's long-running bot issue hits a historical low as recent Steam reviews hit 'Mostly Negative' for the first time in its 17-year history

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The bot issue appears to originate from late 2023

Team Fortress
(Image credit: Valve)

For the first time ever, Team Fortress 2's recent Steam reviews have fallen to an average score of 'Mostly Negative' as players bemoan Valve for not 'fixing' the game.

It's been a long, 17-year road for Team Fortress 2, but the journey hasn't been without its hardships. Players are regularly made to wait even for the slightest update for the shooter from Valve, and now things have really taken a turn for the worse among the shooter's dedicated player base. 

The tweet below calls attention to recent Steam user reviews for Team Fortress 2, which have fallen to 'Mixed' for the first time in its 17-year run. It's only gotten worse since then, too, as - at the time of writing - Team Fortress 2 has an average user review of 'Mostly Negative,' which is even worse than before.

What are players railing against in Team Fortress 2? Valve's apparent inability to fix bots. "My favorite game, a game I wish I could recommend, but as of recent years have grown to slowly drifted away from it due to the Hacker Bots. At the moment the game is just unplayable," one recent review writes. 

"TF2 has become the most hideous hive of scum and villainy this side of the Source Engine, and that's not cool," writes another player. "I want to play the game properly again, dammit, not be trapped inside my spawnroom while aimbots stop anyone from playing the game. I want to enjoy the legendary one-of-a-kind experience, not be hampered at every step by cheats so obvious an infant could point it out."

According to Steam's reviews graph for the shooter, the outpouring of negative reviews first began just under a month ago in mid-May, but there wasn't an update from Valve around then that could have potentially opened the gates for bots and other cheaters to enter the game en masse.

As the Reddit post below illustrates, though, the bot problem in Team Fortress 2 dates back to December 2023. "Expect gun spies, engineers, scouts, and heavies," the post author writes, attempting to show others how to spot the new bots. The post doesn't blame anyone for giving up on Team Fortress 2 but writes that anyone can still help by using the 'SaveTF2' hashtag on Twitter to get Valve's attention.

UPDATED: NEW WAVE OF BOTS: Here's what you need to know! from r/tf2

A patch in mid-April was widely celebrated for introducing a frame rate boost for Team Fortress 2 players, while another minor patch just several days later fixed an issue where the shooter thought players were Half-Life icon Gordon Freeman. This should be a great time for Valve's shooter, but instead, it's being lambasted over Valve's typical hands-off approach to development and updates.

Check out our upcoming PC games guide for a look at other Steam games that you can sink your time into.

Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer
Freelance Writer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.