Valve is finally ready to take the wraps off Deadlock, its not-so-secret multiplayer game that thousands of people have been playing for weeks.
Throughout August, Deadlock has slowly been gaining attention and player population via a system of invites, with existing playtesters able to invite their friends. As a result, it quietly amassed thousands of players, reaching over 18,000 concurrent players mid-August and climbing to a peak of over 44,000 players earlier this week.
However, despite the game being generally available to anyone who knew anyone else playing it, a splash screen at the start of the game asked players to “not share anything about the game with anyone.” Many players, naturally, ignored the relatively gentle and not-legally-binding warning, resulting in a number of videos popping up on YouTube showcasing gameplay and at least one media write-up in The Verge.
As a result, we’ve known for weeks now that Deadlock is a 6v6 third-person hero shooter with a bit of a MOBA twist, in that iot takes place across four lanes with aggressively respawning waves of troopers. It’s still in “early development,” Valve warns, “with lots of temporary art and experimental gameplay.” However, Valve has now officially lifted its request not to share information about the game and revealed its official store page.
Deadlock is still invite-only for now, but with it out in the open at last, it seems likely we’ll start seeing Valve actively discussing what Deadlock is, alongside critics and content creators, as well as a potential surge in new players. Maybe one of them will be able to explain what’s going on with the goofy dragon-person in a newsboy cap we keep seeing everywhere.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.