Team Fortress 2 update overhauls cp_holyhell's spell stalemate

The October 16, 2026 Team Fortress 2 update is live and applies automatically when players restart the game. It sends cp_holyhell back out with a new spell-driven answer to stalemates, while also reworking Zombie Pyro, Zombie Engineer's Beacon, and a batch of zombie-mode fixes.

• Spells are enabled and respawn permanently on the side of the team that loses middle. That can go both ways.
• The round timer is down to 5 minutes.
• After 5 minutes of any team capturing middle, instead of a stalemate, every spell becomes a rare variant and respawns extremely quickly. Capturing a point in that state returns spells to normal.
• Respawn wave times are lower.
• Gargoyles now spawn only near middle.
• The map gets optimization improvements, an improved RED-side art pass, and an improved middle-point art pass.
• The BLU-side skybox now renders for users with HDR enabled.

• Melee damage increased from 45 to 65.
• Sticky Spew applies a 20% movement slow; standing on puddles adds another 20%.
• Sticky Spew puddles are larger.
• Spewed Demoman shield movement slow changed from -60% to -70%.
• Humans covered in sticky spew are tinted purple instead of black.
• Zombie Pyro's death explosion now deals 50 damage, applies afterburn, and turns Zombie Pyro and victims to ash.

• Beacons inside tight spaces no longer instantly break; they place themselves in the closest valid location.
• Fixed thrown toolboxes appearing off-center.
• Thrown toolboxes now break upon touching all clip brushes if they can't find a nearby valid location.

• Zombie Sniper Spit cooldown changed from 9 seconds to 6 seconds.
• Fixed Zombie Heavy exploding into rock gibs when not holding a rock.
• Fixed the Homewrecker not being able to destroy EMP grenades.
• Updated the Zombie Demoman charge kill icon.
• Zombie melee impact sounds changed into fists instead of the sloppy wet Unarmed Combat.
• Fixed Zombie Spy dealing more damage than intended.
• Fixed queue events with some zombie abilities.
• Fixed Zombies sometimes moving slowly after casting an ability.

• Updated zi_atoll, zi_blazehattan, zi_devastation_final1, zi_murky, zi_sanitarium, and zi_woods.
• Fixed some maps not tracking play time correctly.
• Fixed the alpha channel for the updated Cozy Camper backpack image.
• Fixed player models being invisible in dx8.
• Fixed the tiling HUD icon for the Heal ability.
• Fixed the bad number display in the "Auto-spawn" text in the spawn picker.