The Team Fortress 2 Blog clarifies the Team Fortress 2 comic posted the other day, outlining plans for the "War update" for the class-based shooter. The new class update covers both the Demoman and Soldier, who will each get three new weapons in an update that also adds maps, achievements, and "surprises." The War update will also add a seventh weapon to one of those classes, but which is yet to be decided, hence the "healthy competition" mentioned in the comic. The weapon will be "awarded" to whichever of those two classes kills the other more often over the course of the week, which seems the opposite of helping game balance, but we're not professional game designers. The War hubpage has more on this, and will keep a running tally of the score in this bit of class warfare. A new automatic Team Fortress 2 patch is now available to facilitate the competition. The full details on the War update follow.

So: how is the War update different from our other class updates?

In many ways, it's not. Like any other class update, the War update will reveal three new weapons each for the Demoman and Soldier throughout the week, as well as some maps, achievements, and surprises, right up until the day of release, when everything we've been teasing goes live.

Where the War update differs from other class updates is that we've decided to mix things up a little with, as the Administrator would say, "a healthy competition." A secret, exclusive seventh weapon has also been developed by the TF2 team. In other words, either the Soldier or the Demo (but NOT both) is walking out of this update with one more weapon than the other. If you want your class to have it, you're going to have to fight for it. The more Demomen you kill as the Soldier class will help ensure the Soldier gets the weapon at the end of the week. The more Soldiers you kill as the Demo will help the Demo class get the exclusive seventh weapon. Check back daily to see how your class is doing at the War hubpage — this is also where you'll see links to all the leaked previews of the weapons, maps, and surprises releasing soon with this update.

What if some of you try to cheat to bump the numbers? We'll know. (Though we also know many of you won't be able to resist trying anyway.)

Alright, enough talk. Who'd you rather see get this exclusive new weapon? The Demoman? Or the Soldier? The War starts right now, so get out there and vote with your kills!