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Team Fortress 2 is getting review-bombed on Steam as players protest its massive bot problem.
The unthinkable has happened: recent reviews for Valve’s beloved first-person shooter Team Fortress 2 have sunk to ‘Mostly Negative’ on Steam. Players are currently review-bombing the game to protest its massive bot problem, in the hopes of finally getting Valve to do something about it. This is the #SaveTF2 movement’s latest move to free the game from bots, though it comes coupled with an online petition that has already racked up over 200,000 signatures.
#SaveTF2 movement leads to ‘Most Negative’ rating for Team Fortress 2
Recent reviews for Team Fortress 2 on Steam have now hit the dreaded ‘Mostly Negative’ rating, thanks to 26,568 recent negative reviews at the time of writing. This follows a recently revitalised #FIXTF2 online campaign, which consists of an online petition attached to a website, both of which call for Valve to put a stop to the game’s rampant bot problem.
The 17-year-old game has been plagued by bots that render the game unplayable for everyone else. While Valve has continued to support Team Fortress 2 with various events and tournaments, its occasional updates have failed to fix the game’s biggest problem. The #FIXTF2 petition, which now has more than 200,000 signatures, calls for Valve to prune Team Fortress 2’s bots and allow others to enjoy the beloved game at long last. The website reads:
For the past five years, Team Fortress 2 has become nearly unplayable. The game’s official servers have been overrun by hordes of cheating aimbots while Valve has remained steadfast in their refusal to adequately tackle the problem. This lack of developer interference has thrown the game into a state of turmoil with seemingly no end in sight. Despite being aware of the bot crisis, Valve has instead directed their focus towards other ventures, leaving TF2 with insufficient support in its grave time of need. From the outside, Valve appears to be more concerned with generating millions in revenue every month via in-game microtransactions, rather than maintaining a product that should work as expected.
The quote continues, “There’s no putting it lightly, Team Fortress 2 is in an unacceptable state, and Valve’s apathy in dealing with the issue is nothing short of appalling.” Players reviewing the game on Steam seem to agree with this sentiment, having bombarded its store page with negative reviews since the beginning of June. One review from user Brithwill reads, “It's time Valve does something about the bots. The game has been overrun with people willing to doxx, DDOS, and SWAT anyone who takes action against the problem.”
Valve has yet to comment on the issue.
