Possibly the biggest thing to happen in Team Fortress 2’s history since the game went free to play, was kicked off this afternoon. The line up for Mix-Up match 4 has been announced with three spaces for you to play too. We talk to event founder and manager, Ashkan Namousi about the ideas behind Mix-Up Match.

Way back in July 2010, Ashkan was a fresh faced public player, there were already a multitude of 6vs9 (Professionals verses pubbers) events and to him they all seemed the same. They appealed well to the players who were already involved in TF2 but didn’t bring any new excitement from outside. To remedy this he decided to try to for a Highlander event with more variety. In this match there would be two teams of nine players, each having three representatives of three types of players; the pros, the pubbers and the celebrities.

In the first Mix-up event he sort the volenteers from the creators of Team Fortress 2, Valve Software.

I talked to some comp veterans, but they were pessimistic. [They] said we wouldn’t be able to get valvers. – Ashkan (ETF2L admin)

But get them he did.

I used the ETF2L Highlander Community Challenge as a reason to do the show match. When I emailed Robin, I did it on behalf of the ETF2L admin staff (which I was not a part of at the time). So I just assumed that the ETF2L admins would take over the event but racio (etf2l head admin) just kept asking me what we should do next, what my ideas were, gave suggestions… – Ashkan

By the time the first match was done it was clear Ashkan was a natural at organisation. Since he already knew most of the HL team leaders racio fast tracked him through to admin level (the first to hold this post without having competed in 6v6) and gave him control of the HL scene at ETF2L.

Since then we’ve seen two further Mix-up matches. Each match strays further and further the initial bounderies of three groups of six. While the teams are still lead by pro players there has been more involement from community players. I played in Mix-up 2 and Tempest in Mix-up3. There have been some incredibly lucky pub players picked seemingly at random and a lot more celebrities.

Now we’re gearing up for Mix-up 4. There’s to be a few friends returning, in the form of Robin Walker, Notch, Freddy Wong and Yogscast.

PC gaming has reached a high of late, making consoles look like ancient relics an alien race left on earth millenia ago. My experiences of PC gaming today match those halcyon days of playing Quake in a computer lab against physicists, when console just meant comforting someone during a time of sorrow, which appropriately enough I’ll probably need after being owned in the upcoming KritzKast TF2MixUp Match – Simon Lane (The Yogscast)

These guys will be joined a who’s who line up of the coolest TF2 players on the planet including representatives from Bethesda, TwiT, PC Gamer, Sony Online Entertainment and YouTube.

Always happy to jump on TF2 and put my mediocre skills to the test! After all, There’s nothing like waking up in the morning to the smell of burnt spies. – CaptainSparklez (YouTuber)

Mix-Up match 4 has evolved far beyond its humble beginings. Not only are there far more celebrities lining up to take part this will be the first time the match will be used as a fund raiser for charity.

Starting from the second mix-up match, I had that in the back of my head. I wanted to do some good and give the event some higher purpose than “just for fun” or “for promoting highlander”. Seeing how many people watched the third match, and absolutely loved it and wanting to play themselves, made me see the potential the event had as a fundraiser. – Ashkan

When it came to choosing who would benefit one clear winner soon emerged.

Given Child’s Play’s close connection to the gaming community and what our event is about, they were already strong candidates. But their technical and legal flexibility put them in front. – Ashkan

In another first, three lucky donators to the charity will be picked to win a goodie bag of signed merch from Bethesda and Valve and a place in the match itself.

I really just hope they enjoy themselves and aren’t afraid of chatting with the players, now that they have the opportunity to. And if they’re new to TF2, I hope they stick to the game. – Ashkan

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Follow this story as it progresses around the world :

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