I first discovered Team Fortress 2 when I was in college and just getting back into PC gaming. All of my friends were playing it and I was over the Halo and Call Of Duty scene for awhile. Back then, the game wasn’t free and the community was made up of those who were serious about playing—it was an amazing experience. And now, Valve has announced the beta for the new competitive matchmaking feature of Team Fortress 2.
In a post on Steam, the TF2 team announced their plans for launching the Competitive Play beta, which will happen over a number of weeks—and it will happen slowly.
Our plan is to start small and increase participation as we go. For this initial phase of testing - which will begin in the next week or so - we'll be gradually granting random members from this group an in-game item called a Competitive Matchmaking Beta Pass. Once you've been granted a pass you will have ongoing access to the beta.
To further test the beta, the team will also be hosting announced and unannounced stress tests to see how the system handles. Whether you are randomly selected or given an invite, the team will be choosing based on a list of priorities:
Have either purchased a copy of Team Fortress 2 prior to June 23, 2011, or have made a purchase from the Mann Co. Store. (AKA premium accounts)
Have Steam Guard Mobile Authenticator enabled. (https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=8625-WRAH-9030 )
Have a phone number associated with your Steam account (https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=8625-WRAH-9030#addphone)
The competitive matchmaking feature of Team Fortress 2 will give the game a chance to break into the esports scene, giving players (some who have been dedicated players for years) the opportunity to compete.
If you would like to sign up for the TF2 competitive beta, you can view the post from Valve on Steam and join the competitive beta group. We’ll continue to update you as more information is released.
