Valve plans to kick off the first round of beta testing for Team Fortress 2's competitive matchmaking mode within the next week or so, the company writes in an update on the game's Competitive Beta Steam Group. In the coming weeks, Valve promises to open up the new mode to select members of that group. Plus, it'll host limited-time stress tests with larger numbers of members.

"We know you'd all like to start testing now, and eventually we hope all of you will get a chance to play and share your thoughts," Valve writes. "But remember that all testing happens in stages and right now we're at stage one."