Team Fortress 2 Update from October 2, 2026: “Wheeeez Fortress XVIII,” five new maps, and a zombie overhaul
On the night of October 2, Team Fortress 2 received a major update titled “The Fortress Scream XVIII.” The update added 5 community-created maps, 23 cosmetic items, 5 taunts, and 21 special effects. The developers also overhauled the Zombies mode and fixed bugs related to weapons, items, and maps. Check out our article for the full list of changes in Russian.
“Wheeeez Fortress XVIII”
New Maps
Five community-created maps have been added to the game:
- HolyHell;
- Scarypass;
- Trainsawlaser;
- Medi-Evil;
- Scaredy-Cat.
Halloween matches are available in the Special Events category in Free Play mode.
Cosmetic Items and Unique Effects
The Haunted Hoard Case has been added, featuring 23 new cosmetic items from the Haunted Hoard collection. Opening a case gives you a chance to receive an additional item—a taunt animator.
The update also includes 21 new special effects: 11 for headgear and 10 for taunts. During the event, cosmetic cases and taunt cases will drop 2026 Halloween effects instead of the usual set. This rule does not apply to chests.
New Taunts
Five community taunts have appeared in the Mann Co. Store:
- Hippocratic Hypocrite;
- Showrunner’s Spirit;
- Barrel Roll;
- One-Eyed Punt!;
- Sear You Later.
Contracts and Soul Collection
All Halloween contracts have been reset—you can complete them again. Separate quests have been added for new maps. Upon completing a contract, players receive a classic Halloween item and a chance to earn a Haunted Hoard case.
Players who do not yet have the Cursed Gargoyle will receive it when they launch the game. This item unlocks access to the Madness Missions and the transformation of Halloween items, and also tracks completed tasks and collected souls.
Souls can be collected by killing enemies, completing map objectives, and collecting Cursed Gargoyles that appear on the maps.
The “Wheeeez Fortress XVIII” event will run until November 7, 2026.
“Zombie Virus” Mode Overhaul
Changes have been made to the Atoll, Blazehattan, Devastation, Murky, Sanitarium, and Woods maps.
General Changes
- A player can no longer be the starting zombie for two consecutive rounds.
- Dying during round preparation now results in an immediate respawn.
- Players who are dead or in spectator mode when the round begins are considered infected.
- The “Parachutist” parachute can be deployed at any time during a round.
- The maximum ammo limit has been removed for the training rocket launcher and sticky bomb launcher.
Zombie Respawn
Zombies can now choose their respawn point. The left and right mouse buttons cycle through available points, and the jump button confirms the selection. If the player does not press anything, respawn occurs automatically after a short delay.
You can change your class while selecting a spawn point. The Ubercharge is no longer granted upon respawn.
Other Zombie Changes
- Upon death, zombies leave behind a small ammo box.
- If the zombie team’s numbers fall below the set starting number of infected, zombies deal mini-crits.
- Models, first- and third-person animations, and ability icons have been updated.
- Camera shaking during attacks has been removed.
- Lightning no longer appears and thunder no longer sounds upon respawn.
- Green trails and fog around zombies have been removed. After death, their bodies can now fall and move according to in-game physics.
Zombie Engineer
The Engineer has gained the Beacon ability. He throws a toolbox and sets up a beacon near which zombies can respawn.
The beacon becomes the default respawn point in the selection menu. Survivors can destroy it. Each Engineer can maintain only one active beacon.
Zombie Spy
The Spy has acquired the EMP Grenade, which previously belonged to the Engineer. Upon detonation, it temporarily disables structures and highlights them along with the survivors.
- The grenade no longer explodes instantly upon direct impact with a structure.
- The delay before detonation has been halved.
- The duration of the highlight and structure disablement has been reduced from 6.5 to 5.5 seconds.
- The illumination radius has been reduced from 1,000 to 900 in-game units.
- The radius of the electromagnetic effect has been reduced from 500 to 450 in-game units.
- Max Health has been reduced to 125.
- Melee damage has been reduced from 100% to 69% of the base value.
Zombie Incendiary
The new Sticky Spew ability allows you to pelt survivors with clumps of resin. A hit disorients the enemy and makes it difficult to use movement-based weapons.
- Fire resistance has been reduced from 100% to 70%.
- Attacks no longer set survivors on fire or deal bonus damage to burning targets.
- Medkit (Medium) is no longer dropped upon death.
Zombie Machine Gunner
The Machine Gunner has gained the Rock Hurl ability: he picks up a piece of concrete and throws it at survivors.
Enemies in the impact area take damage and are knocked back. A direct hit additionally stuns the target and deals increased damage. Structures hit by the concrete are temporarily disabled.
- Loud footstep sounds have been added.
- Knockback resistance has been reduced from 100% to 85%.
- Damage to structures has been reduced from 120 to 90.
- Med kits no longer drop upon death.
Other Classes
- The Zombie Sniper’s spit can now leave puddles on slopes, stairs, and roofs.
- The Zombie Demolitionist can freely aim while charging the “Explosive Dash” ability.
- The Zombie Soldier’s jump is now accompanied by a whistling sound as he falls.
Mode Fixes
- Fixed instances where zombies were immune to headshots.
- The Sniper’s spit now creates a puddle when it hits a structure.
- The Machine Gunner’s attack no longer deals damage through the “Bonk! Atomic Blast” shield and the Ubercharge.
- The Medic no longer leaves medkits behind after changing classes, switching to spectator mode, or being knocked out.
- Survivors no longer start a round without ammo or metal.
- Fixed a leak of on-screen text objects when a player disconnects or changes classes during respawn.
- Fixed an issue where spectators and dead survivors were selected as starting zombies.
Map Changes
Redwood
- Fixed visual glitches where players would jerk while on ziplines, as well as collision errors and instances of movement in the wrong direction.
- Shooting no longer interrupts the zipline sound.
- “Human Flock” and “Thermal Thrust” now deal damage when landing on an enemy after disembarking from a zipline.
- Dismounting a zipline while wielding the “Winged” pistol now increases jump height by 25%.
- Reduced the speed boost when dismounting shortly after dashing with a shield.
- Adjusted the controls to reduce the number of accidental early dismounts.
Mannsylvania
- The duration of the vampire buff has been reduced from 20 to 15 seconds.
- Upon exiting Dracula’s Castle, the player gains a speed boost for five seconds. New voice lines have been added for this moment.
- Removed some of the effects in the capture zone inside the castle to improve visibility.
- Sounds now load in advance, which eliminates significant lag when first entering the castle.
- Fixed an issue where the game would force a switch to a melee weapon during the final scene.
- Fixed references to missing sound files.
- Supply lockers are now more visible.
- The number of active pumpkin bombs has been increased.
- Updated lighting and visuals; optimization implemented.
Demolition
Additional bypass routes have been added to the map: walkways near the crane, behind the team spawn points, and under the central platform. A passage through the radio towers has been added, providing another exit from the respawn zone.
- The jump pad has been moved back, and its thrust has been increased.
- Obstacles that players would collide with when jumping toward the crane have been removed.
- Remaining building restrictions have been removed from the crane platform.
- Cover and a spot for a shield jump have been added.
- Small first-aid kits have been added to the furnace rooms.
- The existing medium first-aid kit in the furnace room has been replaced with a large one, and the small one in the office building has been replaced with a medium one.
- Updated supply platforms, the checkpoint, team logos, and the oil rig’s design.
- Fixed collisions near spawn points that prevented explosive jumps.
- The administrator now reacts when a player is killed by an Evil Deer.
Atoll
- The zombie spawn point under the hut on the cliff has been removed.
- The large ammo crate has been returned to the turbine room.
- Removed the Uber Charge effect when zombies spawn.
Blazehattan
- Round duration has been reduced from 210 to 180 seconds.
- Zombie spawn points have been reworked to create safer zones for survivors.
- Fixed an issue where survivors had to wait too long for the respawn wave.
- Updated lighting, visuals, the building with the shredder, and the evacuation center.
- Removed the fence near the stack of shipping containers and added supplies.
- Fixed collision issues and removed minor restrictions on building on top of crates and barrels.
- Optimization has been performed.
Devastation
- Zombies now have access to the area above the parking lot, from which they can jump down to the upper floors.
- Zombie spawn points have been reworked.
- Survivors now have access to the ventilation corridor on the third floor.
- Building restrictions have been removed from the cars on the third floor.
- Dark corners have been illuminated, and the water level on the lower level of the parking garage has been lowered.
Murky
- The previously closed Mudpuppy tunnels have been opened.
- Spawn points from this area have been moved to the docks.
- The quantity of certain supplies has been reduced.
- Fog has been reduced, ambient lighting has been brightened, and background sound volume has been lowered.
- Fixed collisions and optimized water objects and effects.
- Pumpkin bomb spawn points have been adjusted.
Sanitarium
- Access to the roof via the exterior staircase has been removed—you must now use the interior staircases.
- The passage to the adjacent sloped roof has been closed.
- The wooden barrier near the upstairs bathroom and part of the walkways between the balconies have been removed.
- Fixed a bug that allowed players to attack through window frames.
- Fixed spots where players could get stuck near the wooden scaffolding.
- The draw distance has been reduced for optimization.
- Added a sound effect for when the elevator arrives.
- Removed the “uber-charge” effect when zombies spawn.
Woods
- Round duration has been increased from 120 to 160 seconds.
- Zombie spawn zones, the boat shed roof, and the rocks around the lake have been updated.
- Access to elevated areas has been opened.
- A platform with a first-aid kit and ammunition has been added to the forest trail leading to the docks.
- Collisions near the tall cliffs have been adjusted.
- Dark areas of the forest have been illuminated.
- It’s now easier to jump over the airboat and climb into it.
- Optimizations have been made.
Other maps
- On Sawmill Event, missing materials in the otherworldly area have been restored.
- On 2Fort, the display settings for the grain silo object have been fixed for different DirectX levels.
- On Dustbowl, a bug with the system for hiding invisible objects in the third stage has been fixed.
- On Well, the ability to build structures in the Red team’s forward respawn room has been disabled.
- On Helltower, incorrect spawn locations for the Cursed Gargoyle have been fixed.
General Fixes
Gameplay and Interface
- Fixed the playback of Ubercharge voice lines when using Halloween items.
- Fixed a client crash caused by a missing HUDAutoAim element and a bot crash related to moving control points.
- Moving to a new lobby during respawn no longer locks the camera.
- Fixed bugs where the Spy would disguise himself as a player without a primary weapon.
- Item indicators in the interface now clear and reload correctly.
- Cosmetic items on the bodies of fallen players now disappear along with the body when killed by weapons such as “Eternal Rest.”
- Restored the critical boost visual effect on several weapon types.
- Fixed the muzzle point position on the “Elephant Slayer” and the overlap of the “Pomson 6,000” kill icon with the “Wrapper Killer” icon.
- Restored missing lighting parameters for “Scottish Resistance” materials.
- Added readiness countdown and flag reset event settings for map creators.
Cosmetic Items
- The style names for the “Executive,” “Entrepreneur’s Shorts,” and “Committed Shareholder” items have been updated.
- For “Executive,” the preview orientation has been fixed, and a missing headgear model element for the third style has been added.
- The “Psi-Leader” has had its paint mask fixed.
- For “Handsome Gangster,” the texture unwrap has been adjusted, and the cigarette has been enlarged in the “Vacation” style.
- For “Gambler” and “Night Rider,” the relief and shading effects have been softened, and the icons in the backpack have been updated.
- A second style with an updated logo has been added for “Substandard Wave.”
- For “Entrepreneur’s Pants” and “Committed Shareholder,” model intersections have been fixed. For “Entrepreneur’s Pants,” unwrapping and coloring errors have also been fixed.
- Detail levels have been corrected for “Lyo Unylyo.” The images of “Lyo Saboteur” and “Lyo Unylyo” in the backpack have been updated.
- For the “Bruises and Scrapes” and “Earplugs” items, the model file sizes have been reduced, the preview has been fixed, and collisions with other items have been reduced.
- For the “Bruises and Scrapes” item, the bandage, textures, and Nightmare style glow have been refined.
- For “Earplugs,” gaps on certain classes have been fixed, and colors have been adjusted. The Sniper now removes his hat when taunting with a melee weapon in the “Earplug” style.
- The images for the 2024 Summer Cosmetic Collection key have been corrected.
- Tournament medals have been added and updated.
The previous major Team Fortress 2 update was released in July 2026. Valve added six community maps, 24 cosmetic items, four taunts, 12 special effects, and 10 war paints. The Summer Event ended on September 15.
Photo: Valve.
