Valve Finally Fixes BLU Scout’s Pants, 17 Years After Team Fortress 2 Came Out,

Valve has finally fixed a problem with Team Fortress 2 that’s been in the game since it launched 17 years ago.

Ever since the influential hero shooter came out on October 10, 2007, the Scout’s pants on the blue side were the wrong color. Now, among patch notes for a recently released Team Fortress 2 update, Valve buried the big news: Scout’s pants are now fixed.

Here’s the rather innocuous line from the patch notes:

• Fixed BLU Scout using the incorrect team color pants

In typical Valve fashion, it made the change without explanation or fanfare. No explanation for why it’s taken 17 years to change the color of Scout’s pants, and no reason for why it’s done so only now. Ever mysterious, Valve is.

It’s fair to say the reaction from the Team Fortress 2 community has been a mix of shock and excitement. “They changed a character design 17 years later! What!” X/Twitter user @heavyfortres asked.

THEY MADE BLU SCOUT’S PANTS BLUE

THEY CHANGED A CHARACTER DESIGN 17 YEARS LATER WHAT pic.twitter.com/WFPdYvwYzx— heavy team fortres 2 (@heavyfortres) October 24, 2024

“Honestly I can't believe they did it,” redditor KyleTheWalrus added. “BLU Scout had gray pants and blue belt loops for 17 years, and he has several cosmetics that require the gray pants color to work correctly.

“If they fixed anything, I was sure they would just make the belt loops gray because it's easier. But those crazy bastards took the hard route.

“Now we wait another 17 years for the rest of Scout's pants cosmetics to become the correct shade of blue. Hooray!”

Valve’s relationship with the Team Fortress 2 community has certainly had its ups and downs over the years. The game’s had an awful bot problem for some time, and exacerbated players often call for Valve to do more to clamp down. They’ve also asked for more support and content for Team Fortress 2 from Valve, which, some say, is more focused on its other, more popular games. Team Fortress 2 remains incredibly popular, though, and is among one of Steam’s most played games ahead of the likes of Warframe, Overwatch 2, and Destiny 2.

Last month, Team Fortress 2 players got creative in the fight against the shooter's rampant bot problem by turning a 340,000 signature strong petition into an actual book and delivering it to Valve headquarters.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.