Team Fortress 2 Smissmas 2023: Maps, Cosmetics and Patch Notes Breakdown

Team Fortress 2 has been mixing holiday cheer with high explosives since the very first Smissmas, and the tradition keeps going strong. The 2023 edition leans into that same recipe: more festive maps, more cosmetics, and a few quality of life fixes that veterans have been quietly asking about for years.

Event window and what to expect

Smissmas 2023 runs from December 7, 2023 through January 7, 2024. During that month, every player who logs in receives a Stuffed Stocking, which contains assorted gifts intended for well-behaved Mercenaries. Behavior is, of course, entirely subjective in a game built around flamethrowers.

On top of the freebies, the entire cosmetic and taunt case rotation switches over. Any case opened during the event will roll Smissmas 2023 Unusual effects instead of the standard pool. Crates are not affected, so if you were planning to break open a stack of those, expect the usual results.

Ten new community maps

The headline addition is a batch of ten community-built maps spanning several game modes. The lineup includes:

• Snowtower (King of the Hill)
• Galleria (Player Destruction)
• Turbine Center (Capture the Flag)
• Krampus, Haarp, Brew, Hacksaw, Carrier, Emerge and Camber

Expect snowy reskins, themed props and the kind of cluttered sightlines that only community mappers seem brave enough to ship.

Cosmetics, taunts and Unusual effects

The Winter 2023 Cosmetic Case brings 23 new community-contributed items, including the Bonk Beanie for the Scout, the Lazy Lounger for the Demoman and the Frigid Fashion for the Medic. A Festivizer can also drop as a bonus when opening the case, which is a nice touch for anyone who likes their weapons strung with lights.

Three new taunts arrive in the Mann Co. Store:

• Taunt: Cheers!
• Taunt: Mourning Mercs
• Taunt: Foul Play

Alongside those, 31 new Unusual effects were added: 17 for hats and 14 for taunts. The Mann Co. Store winter sale also runs through the event, so cosmetic prices drop while you decide whether yet another holiday hat is really necessary.

Fixes and improvements

This patch is unusually generous on the bug-fix front. The notable changes include:

• Restored the missing normal map and variables for Festivized weapons (community fix from Woshee).
• Fixed broken viewmodel lighting in tight spaces (community fix from Stuffy360).
• Added the missing BLU team skin for the B.A.S.E. Jumper.
• Fixed Taunt: Roar O'War stripping health after taunting with an honor-bound melee weapon equipped.
• Corrected floating enemy health bars not always hiding when the `hide_enemy_health` attribute was active.
• Updated `pl_corruption` so trigger_teleports enable properly.
• Updated `koth_sawmill_event` to restore a missing material.
• Improved performance on `cp_gravelpit_snowy`.
• Patched localization issues across several maps.

Full patch notes

Valve published the complete changelog on the official TF2 announcements page. It is worth a read if you want the exact wording or plan to hunt down every minor tweak.

For server admins, the takeaway is simple: refresh map cycles to include the new community maps, double-check any custom plugins against the Road O'War fix, and brace for higher player counts while the event runs.