Deadlock: Valve finally admits it's making a new game after thousands have played and streamed it

Something to look forward to: Valve's upcoming multiplayer shooter has been an open secret for months. The developer remained weirdly secretive about the project as players leaked mountains of information and footage from it. Valve is now ready to admit that the game exists but hasn't given it the fanfare expected of a newly announced game.

An official Steam page has emerged for Valve's next game, the multiplayer shooter Deadlock. This is the company's first official acknowledgment of the project following months of leaks.

Social media posts and a preview article from The Verge paint a complete picture of Deadlock's gameplay details, but the official Steam page is extremely barebones. The description only contains a message explaining that the project remains in early development. Furthermore, the page banner contains no logo, and the only media available is a brief clip displaying a steampunk urban landscape and a single character.

Deadlock developers allowed public conversations about the game. You can freely share and discuss gameplay footages from now on.

"Nothing else is changing with our state of development. We are remaining invite-only and continue to be in an early development stage with lots of… pic.twitter.com/QnNtGP9PVo

– ‎Gabe Follower (@gabefollower) August 23, 2024

Access to Deadlock remains invite-only, but Valve has been distributing email invites for some time. According to SteamDB, concurrent player numbers exceeded 20,000 before Valve acknowledged the game's existence, and are now approaching 45,000.

Despite the company asking testers not to speak about Deadlock publicly, leaks have revealed it to be a six-versus-six PvP third-person shooter combining elements of MOBAs and hero shooters. The setting and art direction combine steampunk and fantasy elements.

Players control different characters with unique abilities to control a large map. AI-controlled characters are also involved, serving a function similar to Dota 2's creeps, and the new game incorporates tower defense elements. Players can quickly traverse the map using rails. Early leaks speculated that the mysterious Dota lead designer IceFrog is deeply involved in Deadlock's development.

Valve banned The Verge from participating in playtesting earlier this month after the outlet ran an article describing Deadlock as a mixture of Team Fortress 2, Overwatch, and Dota 2. However, the launch of the Steam page signals a change in the company's strategy.

Gabe Follower, a Twitter account that has consistently leaked information on Deadlock since the earliest rumblings about the game emerged, posted a screenshot of an internal chat confirming the shift.

Developers, streamers, and websites are now permitted to speak publicly about Deadlock, but much regarding the game remains subject to change. The post and Steam page state that the gameplay remains experimental and much of the art is temporary.

It remains unclear when Deadlock will progress to public availability or how much Valve might tweak the game during playtesting.