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Valve finally officially acknowledges the existence of the worst-kept secret in gaming: Deadlock


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From the Gabe Follower Xwitter account:

 

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Deadlock. Next Valve game. Previously known as Neon Prime, Citadel. Competitive third person hero-based shooter. 6 vs 6 battling on huge map with 4 lanes. Usable abilities and items. Tower defense mechanics. Fantasy setting mixed with steampunk. Magicians, weird creatures and robots. Fast travel using floating rails, similar to Bioshock Infinite.

 

Basically, fast-paced interesting ADHD gameplay. Combination of Dota 2, Team Fortress 2, Overwatch, Valorant, Smite, Orcs Must Die. Hero design pretty much inspired by Dota universe. Main map references modern steampunk European city (little bit like Half-Life).

 

Initially game had sci-fi elements inspired by Half-Life and Portal, but after bad feedback dev team decided to focus on fantasy.

 

 

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  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Rumor: Valve's next game is titled "Deadlock" - a 6v6 third-person "hero shooter" with a fantasy/steampunk aesthetic, update: screenshots(?) posted
  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Valve's next game is titled "Deadlock" - a 6v6 third-person "hero shooter" with a fantasy/steampunk aesthetic, update: screenshots from closed alpha test posted

 

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Over the last week stills and clips of a game called Deadlock, which is claimed to be the next big game from Valve, have been leaking online. The 6v6 hero shooter is either legit or an extremely good fake, and the latter's looking increasingly unlikely with the volume of material that's been released: today, there's more. PC Gamer has contacted Valve for comment but, so far, there's no response. 

 

In the absence of any official word, we can't say whether Deadlock really is Valve's next game, but what's undeniable is that there's a beta version out there and elements of it do look like a Valve game. The leaks began with screenshots and a description from X user Gabe Follower, who specialises in Valve data-mining: "6 vs 6 battling on huge maps with 4 lanes. Usable abilities and items. Tower defense mechanics. Fantasy setting mixed with steampunk. Magicians, weird creatures and robots. Fast travel using floating rails, similar to Bioshock Infinite."

 

This was followed by the leak of a Deadlock video by PlayerIGN on X (not affiliated with IGN), which pretty much lines up with that description. The rails are a notable feature of the maps, carrying players quickly between zones and allowing them to drop-down on fights and other players, while I can't alone in detecting the faintest hints of Team Fortress 2's Americana in the city designs.

 

The above was the start, but the floodgates have finally opened thanks to the message board 4chan, which has a series of threads devoted to Deadlock leaks, and an astonishing 94 individual video clips have been posted (it may well be more by the time of publication). These are all taken from the beta or in-game files (eg, tutorials) so, whatever Deadlock is, it definitely appears to be real and this is a leak on a huge scale for Valve. It's not quite up there with the theft of Half-Life 2's source code, but not far off.

 

 

 

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  • 2 months later...
WWW.THEGAMER.COM

Sadly, we are not one of the 16,000.

 

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So far we have no official information on Valve's purported upcoming hero shooter named Deadlock. Yet, somehow, 16,000 people are actively playing it as we write this article. More than half of those players have started playing within the last 24 hours, meaning the game is quickly getting into the hands of more and more players, presumably for some sort of alpha or beta test.

 

screenshot-2024-08-11-at-2-11-26-pm.png?

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  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Valve's next game is titled "Deadlock" - a 6v6 third-person "hero shooter" with a fantasy/steampunk aesthetic, update (08/12): nearly 17K concurrent players this past weekend
WWW.THEVERGE.COM

Curious what the Half-Life and Dota 2 maker’s been up to?

 


 

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So: what is Deadlock?
It’s a 6-on-6 shooter, like original Overwatch, where your team of heroes attempts to dominate a map by slowly wearing down the opposing team and pushing them back. But you’re also leading an army of NPC grunts down four different lanes to destroy the opposing team’s stationary defenses, a little like Dota 2 or other MOBA games.

 

There’s no downtime. It’s a constant war between your team’s Troopers (the grunts) and the enemy team’s Troopers, which keep respawning and advancing on enemy positions, wave after wave. But they can’t break through unless the human-powered heroes lend them a hand with powerful weapons, abilities, and upgrades.

 

Nor can humans easily break through without their NPC army — or at least, that’s what I saw in my first match. To take down the flame-headed, energy spewing Guardians or hulking Walkers that block your passage, it takes at least a somewhat coordinated effort by one human and their little autonomous friends. Each match culminates in an all-hands-on-deck fight against the enemy’s Patron, a gigantic floating orb with arms and death rays.

 

When I say “coordinated,” I’m not talking about aiming. This isn’t a Valorant or Apex Legends-like game where snappy aim is key. It feels like Overwatch, or maybe even more so Team Fortress 2 in its floaty, wear-down-their-health gameplay. You can tank, heal, and retreat even if a tremendous amount of enemy fire is coming your way.

 

Each match does get deadlier and deadlier as you unlock your heroes’ abilities and buy skills, many of which give you more damage per second. Others provide life steal, shielding, and more. Every character also has strong and light melee attacks, and you can parry an incoming melee attack to stun your opponent.

 

 

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I did like Super Monday Night Combat, but this game continues to sound like it's probably not for me. Seems like a good chance it finds an audience.

 

I find it kind of funny that people in the comments of that verge article and on reddit are flaming Sean Hollister for posting about a "secret game" from Valve after they sent out invites to tens of thousands of people without an NDA stronger than please. It's clearly newsworthy.

 

It's also odd that Valve won't talk about it yet. Seems like it's pretty far along and it's far from secret at this point. Were they really just in love with the idea of a "stealth drop" or something?

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Valve finally officially reveals the worst-kept secret in gaming: Deadlock

 

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Valve has very much done a Valve again. The Seattle-based videogame chocolate factory has never been one for the expected and has released its latest game, Deadlock, in an unprecedented fashion: by acting like it didn't exist even as it invited thousands of people to play it Now, its existence is official. But you still gots to be invited.

 

Deadlock first appeared on Steam on 28 April, 2024, and from May to June built slowly to have around 2,000 average concurrent players per day. At sometime in early August the number of players begins to explode, with the game peaking at 45,000 concurrent players on Sunday August 15. As I write there are 33,000 people playing Deadlock.

 

The numbers went up because Valve gave players the keys. Any Deadlock player can recommend others on their Steam friends list for access, and most seem to be let right in. At which point they can then recommend others. For all this is a game that's supposedly secret, and that its players weren't supposed to talk about until just over an hour ago, Deadlock's initial distribution method is word-of-mouth. 

 

The genius element of this was the social side. By giving players the ability to invite other players, Valve made access its own little currency, complete with that omerta-like plea of silence. One of the richest companies in gaming has spent $0 and everyone interested in the scene has heard about this 'unreleased' game, seen the 'leaks', and many are banding together to get in. Hell the game has a subreddit.

 

Then, on a quiet Friday when everyone was winding down, Valve finally acknowledged the game existed, replaced the "don't talk" sign with one saying "all feedback welcome", and gave the thing a Steam page where, of course, you can wishlist it.

 

 

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  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Valve finally officially acknowledges the existence of the worst-kept secret in gaming: Deadlock
51 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

 

Woo Hoo!

 

Thank you so very much @Moa:twothumbsup:


NP, just sent invites to basically everyone on my friends list. If anyone else wants one feel free to DM me for my steam friend code. 

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1 hour ago, Chadatog said:

Any chance I could get an invite from someone.  @Commissar SFLUFAN I just tried Moa but they are out of town and I think you are on my friends list.

 

25 minutes ago, thedarkstark said:

seconded. If anyone has the capability of inviting I would be most grateful 

 

Just sent invites to both of you!

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Not sure where it goes in the desktop app, but check your Steam mobile app or your email for a link @Chadatog @thedarkstark

 

Ok someone explain me the appeal of MOBAs. I have about 2 hours total ever playing them with most of that being in the Deadlock tutorial. Why is there so much crap to buy, and doesn't that basically lead to an asymmetry of not knowing the threat level of the enemy? At least, until you spend hundreds of hours memorizing and testing every combination of heroes and upgrades...

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