Team Fortress: Valve shut down fan projects for Source 2 and Portal 64

Team Fortress: Source 2, a project by fans aiming to bring Valve’s classic game to the Source 2 engine, has been officially discontinued. This decision comes after Valve issued a DMCA takedown request that led to the removal of the group’s GitHub repositories. The project’s demise follows a similar fate to Portal 64, which was canceled shortly after the release of its “First Slice” less than a week ago.

The project faced a significant setback with the DMCA takedown, described as the “nail in the coffin” in the official announcement. Even before Valve’s intervention, the project was already on shaky ground.

The announcement explained, “While we were internally discussing the project’s future recently, we had already decided to halt development. This was due to the current state of the code becoming unusable with s&box’s recent major engine changes, and our overall shift away from it.”

Unfortunately, the DMCA takedown acted as the final blow. The announcement acknowledged, “We cannot revive it, and Valve’s attention indicates they don’t want us to use their IP (which is entirely fair and legal on their part).”

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Expressing gratitude, the announcement concluded, “From the bottom of our hearts at Amper, it’s been an honor to grow this project with all of you and the incredible team behind it. We cannot thank you enough for your support and enthusiasm over the last 3 years. We’re grateful to have come this far.”

In the works since at least 2021, Team Fortress: Source 2 aimed to breathe new life into the classic Team Fortress 2 game by adapting it for s&box, considered the spiritual successor to Garry’s Mod. With Team Fortress 2 being 17 years old and grappling with bot-related issues, the Source 2 project aimed to rejuvenate Valve’s cherished shooter. The development team, consisting of over 20 volunteers, dedicated their efforts to porting assets from the original game and reconstructing Team Fortress 2’s mechanics.

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On a separate note, the closure of Portal 64 was attributed to its reliance on “Nintendo’s proprietary libraries,” as mentioned in an update on the project’s Patreon. Similar to Team Fortress: Source 2, Portal 64 aimed to revive Valve’s 2007 classic, but with a unique twist – on Nintendo 64 hardware. The developer celebrated the project’s progress with the release of its “First Slice” on January 5.