Update: Oh yes! And maps!

"No one cares about Team Fortress 2 since it became all about hats," an unpleasant caricature I've created for rhetorical effect snorts. Well, someone must, as Valve has now paid over $10 million to folks who've created items for sale in the free-to-play shooter's store and to mappers from 'sticker' sales. Yes, that's after Valve's own cut too. Lots of money. And hats.

"Over the weekend we hit a new landmark, with over ten million dollars paid out to over 400 contributors and partners," Valve said in a blog post yesterday.

Almost $250,000 of that went to the sixty-odd community members who created all of the recent Robotic Boogaloo update--staggering considering it only just over three weeks ago.

Do note that the money didn't go purely to noble, dedicated fans toiling away by candlelight: the store also sells things created by (inherently evil) faceless corporate entities like Adult Swim, Bethesda and Weta. But still, ten million dollars! That's an awful lot of dollars.