Fact check: In late May 2024, the "#fixtf2" community movement began due to the dissatisfaction with Valve's response the #savetf2 protest, and was a significantly more organized and pressured protest. In addition to the hashtag, the movement's organizers set up a petition (ending with over 343,000 signatures) with the plan to send it directly to Valve's HQ in person, as well as organized a boycott of the in-game Steam marketplace, and the game was reviewbombed on Steam with negative reviews containing the hashtags. Valve made no public mention towards this movement, but in late June, a mass of bot, bot hosts, and cheater accounts were banned en masse, most of which were direct account bans (not automated bans done by Valve Anti-Cheat), and Valve updated the game's Steam support page to clarify that all bans are permanent and non-negotiable, strongly suggesting that they had indeed taken action towards directly correcting the bot epidemic, though the long-term effectiveness of this movement is still to be determined.

1. Summary of the results

The original statement is largely accurate in its description of the #FixTF2 movement and its outcomes. Multiple sources confirm that:

• The movement began in late May 2024 ^[1]
• A petition was created, though there are discrepancies in the reported signature count: some sources report over 150,000 signatures ^[2], while others align with the original statement's claim of over 340,000 signatures ^[3]
• Valve did take concrete action in late June through mass bans of bot accounts and bot hosts ^[4]
• The company updated its Steam support page to emphasize permanent, non-negotiable bans ^{[5] [4]}

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original statement lacks several important contextual elements:

• The broader historical context of the bot crisis that led to these events is not fully explained ^[3]
• The statement doesn't mention that Valve's response included a "no leniency" policy, which represents a significant shift in their enforcement approach ^[4]
• While the statement mentions review bombing and marketplace boycotts, none of the sources explicitly confirm these specific tactics, making these claims unverifiable with the provided sources

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

There are a few areas where the statement may contain bias or inaccuracies:

• The signature count discrepancy between sources (150,000 vs. 343,000) suggests potential inflation or different counting methods ^{[2] [3]}
• The statement's characterization of Valve's response as making "no public mention" while still taking action might oversimplify the company's response strategy
• The statement's suggestion that the bans were "strongly suggesting" Valve's response to the movement may be inferring causation where only correlation is proven - none of the sources explicitly confirm that the bans were a direct result of the #FixTF2 movement

It's worth noting that various stakeholders had different interests in this situation:

• The TF2 community sought to protect their gaming experience
• Valve had to balance community demands with resource allocation and long-term platform integrity
• Bot creators and hosts were likely motivated by various factors, including potential financial gain from disrupting the game's economy