Looking at this article on RockPaperShotgun, it looks like there's some people thinking that a spy update might be coming soon, too.  If you look here, it looks like there was a spy earlier today behind the picture of the Razorback.  Some people even think that the dead spy on the ground will be some sort of decoy.  It'd certainly make sense if the spy's update was secretly released along with the sniper's, and I love playing the spy, so I'd be glad.  What do you guys think?

People have been saying the Spy will get an update since Valve mentioned they would be updating the classes. The medic got it first, then people said the Spy would get it second and it never did. My guess is the picture in the background is simply to emphasise that the Spy will get a shock, pun intended, for attempting to backstab the Sniper with this new shield item they will be getting.

And I highly doubt the Spy update would come out in secret. If any class needs to be updated next I'd say the Soldier or Demoman do.

EDIT - I may stand corrected if the second picture in that Steam topics OP is legitimate.

The fact that the spy is in the picture is to emphasize that the spy will be affected by the new item. However, some people seem to think that he is holding something in his hand and that the revolver on the ground is different. But new Spy items would have to be very clever for them to work. Because these Sniper ones are honestly pretty weak.

The emphasis of this is the decloaking spy that appeared on the update page for no more than a few minutes--not the one lying on the floor, dead. Could very well be Valve toying with the Steam Community, as they have been predicting the spy update to be a sort of "ninja" update that is completely unannounced since the start of these updates. Whether this image is a joke or a legitimate clue will remain to be unseen. Valve is great like this, and are completely unpredictable because of it.

I doubt they'll be releasing it quietly with the sniper update. It might be a clue to what the next update will be (similarly to how the new Payload Race coming in the Snipe update was hinted at in the background of one of the scout update pictures). Although it's probably just a photoshop.

The Spy already got his update as far as I'm concerned. That ability to use ammo containers to recharge the stealth meter made the spy much stronger, so I can't imagine this equipment being very useful.

I just want "Meet the Spy", and I'll be happy.

check this out http://www.teamfortress.com/spyupdate/english.htm looks like the sniper and spy update will be lanched together. if i'm reading it right.

The thing is the Spy had 4 items so they're still two more weapons to be revelaed. This was a great move by Valve though and I hope they do both updates simultaneously. That'll also stop the problem of everyone jumping on to one class after the update happens.

http://www.teamfortress.com/spyupdate/ suprise

The only bad thing about this update is going to be the fact that everyone's going to be playing spy. :\  It's gonna be pretty confusing for a while, but the two new watches look good.

I am just really curious about how the Dead Ringer will work effectively.  A lot of people turn off ragdolls, so the minute that someone sees a corpse (if it even loads with dead ringer) they will know what is up.  Also, what about systems like HLX stats?  If someone uses Dead Ringer to feign their death and the person they feigned against doesn't see +points for their death, won't that give them away?  Even so, I wonder if the Dead Ringer displays any kill information in the top-right (idk what that box is officially called, but the one that says X killed Y with Z)

Also, a few blog posts back, they said they were gonna release another update BEFORE the Sniper update... I wonder if we will see the Spy in that?  I am very doubtful (but still hopeful!).  I am sure they are just breaking it into 2 updates so that it isn't just 1 giant update that everyone has to wait in line for.

I think it'll be a lot better being crammed into one update.  Can you imagine a game full of snipers, or, when the spy update's released, a game full of spies?

That came out of completely fucking nowhere.

Wow this is awesome, I guess I should of thought maybe they would do 2 class updates in one when they said "The sniper update looks to be our biggest update yet!" and all they showed was about the same amount of content as every other update so far. I wonder what the last sniper weapon and 2 spy weapons will be....god its gonna drive me crazy!

These new items look awesome, I like the items that mix up how people play, I'm not yet convinced by the Dead Ringer as standard claoking sounds more useful.  Valve always manage to make this class updates amusing at the very least.  Servers will be full of Spies and Snipers for weeks tho... guess that gives me a chance to get some missing Pyro achievements

so when is it coming out guys!??!

It's coming out tomorrow, the 21st.

can't wait! THis looks insane! What are you guys going to jump onto first? I wonder what the servers will be like - a bunch of pyros on the pyro-update is one thing, but spies and snipers?