Valve Teases, Releases 'Meaningful' Team Fortress 2 Friend and Mercenaries Patch (Updated)

Update: The Team Fortress 2 blog has now been updated with the phrase "Friendship ends in one day," with an accompanying comic suggesting that whatever this brings, it involves the Red Demoman and Blu Soldier.

"We've got something coming, but it's not a new game mode," Valve's Robin Walker further teased Kotaku. "The key to understanding the new sound files is to figure out who's hearing them in-game, and who isn't."

Original: Following reports that the latest update to Team Fortress 2 PC brought with new Announcer quips mentioning friends, mercenaries and betrayal, developer Valve tells Shacknews they are already being used in-game for something "meaningful."

"So far, we haven't seen anyone on the various forums out there who's figured it out," Valve's Robin Walker told us, noting "there's something about the way they're used in-game that's meaningful."

Whatever the new functionality is, it's already in the game, as Walker added that "user reports of hearing [the new sound bites] in-game are also legit."

Some of the new quips, as made popular by YouTube's dudeguy707.

Those quips include: "Friendship ends in 10 seconds," "Betrayal will not be tolerated," "You can not hide anything from us, mercenaries," "It's me or him and I pay your salary, so make your choice," "Friendships are in direct contravention of mercenary conduct as delineated in your contracts, and on a personal note, I am very, very disappointed."

As for what else the latest update delivered, the patch notes are below: