While it may not represent a major performance improvement, Valve introduced an intriguing update to Team Fortress 2 recently: the Scout is now sporting the right pants.
In the patch notes from the recent update released on Thursday, there’s a noteworthy entry stating, “Fixed BLU Scout using the incorrect team color pants.” At first glance, this might not seem significant, but this issue has persisted for the Scout on the BLU team for an astonishing 17 years.
One user on X, previously known as Twitter, pointed out the change, expressing their surprise: “They altered a character design after 17 years! What!”
When examining the original pants worn by the BLU Scout, it’s easy to see that they were a similar brown shade to what the RED Scout wears. While it didn’t entirely shatter immersion, it did appear somewhat inaccurate. The new pants are now a grayer tone, coordinating better with his bright blue shirt.
THEY MADE BLU SCOUT’S PANTS BLUE
THEY CHANGED A CHARACTER DESIGN 17 YEARS LATER WHAT pic.twitter.com/WFPdYvwYzx
— heavy team fortres 2 (@heavyfortres) October 24, 2024
Interestingly, this change has sparked diverse opinions among the long-time fans of Team Fortress 2. Although the pants seem more accurate now, many of the cosmetic items released over the years for this free-to-play first-person shooter fail to blend with the new design, as noted by several users on platforms like Reddit.
YouTuber Shounic, who focuses on Team Fortress 2 content, highlighted the pants’ color discrepancy in a video that aired two years ago. He thoroughly examined every instance where the pants appeared gray or brown, revealing that Valve often mismatched colors even in non-game materials like comics and promotional videos. Shounic shared a follow-up video today discussing the alteration, emphasizing that the pants are currently only available on the default texture and possibly one or two other cosmetics. This leads to mismatches with outfits that still feature the older brown pants, creating a dissonant appearance. He dubbed this moment “the strangest day in TF2 history.”