It"s been quite a wait since the last Team Fortress 2 class update. We"re quickly approaching three months since the Sniper/Spy update was rolled out in mid-May and finally Valve has begun the reveal of the next update. But unlike the previous several major updates, this one won"t include additions to any of the individual classes. Some fans might complain, but remember -- the last update included updates to two classes simultaneously.

We don"t have the full details yet, as Valve likes to reveal the entire contents of their updates over the course of a week. So far we know this next update, dubbed the Classless Update, will introduce a new community-made Arena map called Offblast that takes place atop a missile silo hidden in a mountain. Along with the new map is a selection of 18 new hats to find, collect, and horde for yourself. A hilarious "history of hats" can be found in today"s unveiling, and also worth checking out for a chuckle are these three hidden images from the update.

There"s certainly going to be more to this update, but we knew that unlockable hats would eventually play some role in the game. Assuming the Classless Update follows a similar timetable to previous updates, you can expect it to go live sometime next week. Look for more details over the next few days.