Team Fortress 2 players gather over 140,000 petition signatures in the latest campaign against the ongoing aimbot menace

17 years after release, Team Fortress 2 still has a devoted fanbase—one that keeps the classic team shooter in the upper echelons of Steam's concurrent player rankings. And today, through an online petition for the #SaveTF2 campaign, over 140,000 members of that fanbase are declaring they've had enough.

TF2 has a long-standing bot problem. Official matchmade servers are rancid with bots, and they aren't just headshotting your team's Heavy with inhuman precision or flooding in-game chat with hate speech.

According to the #SaveTF2 site, they're also a vehicle for doxing and targeted harassment. «There should be a zero-tolerance policy relating to this kind of conduct,» the site says, «and Valve needs to be held accountable for persistently refusing to acknowledge it.»

This isn't #SaveTF2's first rodeo. The campaign emerged in 2022 to demand that Valve address TF2's long-neglected bot problem.

Valve responded to the ensuing wave of support and public outcry, implementing a series of anti-cheat fixes throughout the year that culminated in a biblical-scale purge of bot-hosting accounts. By July of 2023, TF2 was enjoying a renaissance, breaking its all-time record for concurrent players. But the renaissance would be short-lived.

Bots slowly reemerged, and without ongoing anti-cheat support to combat them, they've once again swamped TF2's official servers.

#SaveTF2's current petition campaign has a simple goal: better, consistently supported anti-cheat measures for TF2, and «an open line of communication» with Valve as to how the bots are being addressed. At time of writing, the #SaveTF2 site has collected more than 140,000 signatures through its automated petition form, each accompanied by an email sent to Valve with a copy of the petition. According to the site, it's currently sending an email every second.

The #SaveTF2 site also details a June 3 (that's today!) community operation for its public awareness campaign, asking TF2 players to share screenshots and video proof