Meet the Pyro, “Something Brand New” Coming to TF2 in 2012

Valve has quite the year planned for Team Fortress 2, their popular class-based, free-to-play shooter. They've outlined some of the planned updates in a new post on the game's official blog.

The biggest news by far? The long awaited conclusion to the "Meet the Team" series of promotional shorts, featuring the voiceless, genderless enigma that is the Pyro. Will we finally get to see what's beneath that lumpy asbestos suit? Will we finally learn if he/she/it is a boy/girl/robot? Probably not, but if Valve can make meeting a sandwich entertaining, I'm sure they've got something special in store for their most mysterious character.

Also teased was a new, top secret feature for the game. Though details are scarce, the team will confirm that it's not a hat, map, or an "ungodly hat-map hybrid". A new game mode, perhaps? The oft-rumored tenth class? Only time will tell.

In addition, Valve has announced that the Saxxy Awards, designed to honor the very best in TF2 filmmaking, will be making a return sometime in 2012.