Whether you missed out on Team Fortress 2 or own at least three different versions already (The Orange Box helps), this is still some exciting news. In a recent interview with Develop, Valve’s Robin Walker stated that TF2 was going to be available as a free-to-play title for PC and Mac owners. Later updates on Steam’s website confirmed all of this to be true.

“We’ve been toying with the idea of making Team Fortress free-to-play ever since the Mann-conomy update [in September 2010],” Said Walker during his interview. “The data we got back from that update leads us to believe that TF2 would be more successful as a completely free product.”

Walker also explained how additional data collected over the years–including one-hour Halloween sales that dropped the game’s price to $2.49–helped in making this decision. The entire game and its base content will remain free to download, but there will still be microtransactions in the form of in-game items. Though Valve believes this is a step in the right direction for Team Fortress 2 and its success, the company is still hesitant to attempt this with many other titles.

[Via: Develop]