Valve Launches 15-Minute Team Fortress 2 Short, Teases New Update

Valve has released a number of highly entertaining animated shorts for Team Fortress 2 in the past, but its latest is by far the longest.

Entitled Expiration Date, the 15-minute short features the various characters from Valve's free-to-play shooter. This one doesn't center around any one character (or sandwich), as many of Valve's past videos have, but instead tells a story with the sort of humor we've come to expect from Valve and Team Fortress 2.

The new video was launched alongside the first details on the next update for Team Fortress 2, Love & War, which is what yesterday's countdown website was teasing. More details will be rolled out in the coming days, but for now we've gotten a look at a handful of new achievements and taunts that will soon be made available to players.

The update's page on the Team Fortress website adds some background: "When it comes to the full spectrum of expressing affection for your fellow humans, let's face it, it's a pretty thin gruel. We took to the streets and asked a wide sample of strangers to show us affection as a test, and by our final tally the only ways humanity has to tell someone they care are awkward hugs, backing away nervously and administering pepper-spray shots to the eyes."

That's where the new gestures, which includes doing the conga, square dancing, and playing rock-paper-scissors, come in. "And so, allow us to introduce a variety of new, vastly better expressions, so you can let your fellow mercs know they've earned a special place in the rusty gnarl of barbed wire you call a heart," the site continues.

A launch date for the new update has not yet been announced, but additional details are expected today.

Team Fortress 2 has evolved a great deal since its launch in 2007. It was initially packaged as part of The Orange Box and was subject to criticism from some fans of the original due to its use of cartoon-style graphics. However, it's proven to have a tremendous amount of staying power, no doubt thanks in part to Valve's continued support of it, particularly since it was converted into a free-to-play game.