"The Seal Update" Smashes Player Records In Team Fortress 2
The community content based summer update for Team Fortress 2 has been so much of a hit that it has broken the game's personal records! Player numbers have spiked to an all-time high of 253,997 just four days ago as of writing this. There are many quality additions within the update but the star of the update is a cute and adorably plump seal. You’ll find this blubbery new addition on one of the 14 new maps called, Selbyen, which was created by mapmakers Rhamkin, Zythe. The seal itself was modeled by FGD5, textured by Blaholtzen, and animated by Nanoco1000. The seal first appears at the beginning of the match flopping out of a van after a voice says, “Release the Seals!” and starts galumphing in a straight line towards the ocean. (I tried to figure out if there is a scientific word for the way a seal moves… there is not. But in my search, I learned what galumphing is, and it’s pretty perfect.) The seal remains unaffected by explosives, ballistics, and general chaos inside the map and seems content to leisurely flop towards the ocean, completely unbothered. It can, however, be sped up by players feeding it mackerel that is collected around the map! The seal does not have an official name, but it has been called Selby, Silvia, and… Clubsy. Whichever name you prefer, there is no arguing that the community has gone wild for the little buddy. There are countless posts, fan art, and even videos of players having a peaceful moment to just dance in a truce around the little buddy as it makes its way across the map.
Although this summer update has been informally dubbed the “Seal Update” there are still plenty of other things within the update that players have been happy with. A new warpaint case, new cosmetics, bug fixes, taunts, unusual effects, and those 14 previously mentioned maps also include VSH (Versus Saxton Hale) mode (although that has been extremely buggy these should iron out with a few fixes.) Team Fortress 2 has been out since 2007, it’s nice to see a community still so passionate and involved!
What do you think about the update? What's your favorite name for the seal? Let me know in the comments!
