Well played, Valve

Valve's decision to turn Team Fortress 2 into a free to play game was met with much criticism from those who had purchased the game. I can understand their point of view: they paid for it and are now seeing an influx of new players who sometimes don't really care about the game or its community. This brings up problems like cheaters and trolls, which are less common when people actually have to pay for the game.

However, looking back at it, this is looking like one kick ass move by Valve. Team Fortress 2 is now the most played multiplayer FPS, grabbing the crown from the eternal Counter-Strike. Looking at the stats right now, there are around 62k people playing TF2 (and it peaked at near 78k), against almost 46k playing Counter-Strike (peaked at 52k) and around 39k playing Counter-Strike Source (peaked at 45k). And it's been like this for the whole week. Sure, a fair amount of those players will soon leave, but the game will still retain a fair player base. Before this change, TF2 was on the lower spots in the top 10 and now it's leading.

One of the gripes most experienced players have is in regards to how new players play. And I can totally understand that, after seeing my team go with 70% snipers in a payload match. But I've also seen teams with mostly F2P players doing a fairly good job, applying teamwork and coming up with new tactics. In the end, I think that the TF2 community ended up gaining from this, as the expanded player base renewed interest in the game (and, once it settles, it'll benefit it a lot more).

As for Valve, I'm sure the micropayment system is working fine and a lot better than just selling the game. The question to ask now is: which game will be next? Some have mentioned Left 4 Dead 2 and Counter-Strike, but I seriously doubt any of those two will become F2P. Day of Defeat, however, does seem a decent candidate - at least once Valve figures out where to use the micropayments system.