In December 2009, as part of the WAR! Update, Valve ran a competition between the Soldier and Demoman classes. The objective was to kill as many of the opposite class as possible, with reward going to the victor.

At the end of the 8 day event, it was revealed that the Soldier was the winner with over 100,000 more Demomen killed than Soldiers. As a result, the Gunboats were added to the game as a secondary item for the Soldier.

For years it was speculated what would have been added if the Demoman team won, until lead designer Robin Walker replied in an email: "It would have been the Gunboats. It was an item we'd tested with both, and seemed to work fine with either." -- Robin Walker