It’s been five years since Valve announced a new game. Well, the time is apparently nearing, as Valve has started sending invitations for Deadlock. This new hero shooter, similar to Overwatch, Dota 2, and Team Fortress 2, has been played by nearly 20,000 people, including Sean Hollister from The Verge. According to him, no NDA or contracts were made, and no verbal agreements were made, which made him leak the details about it.
Hollister received an invite to play Deadlock on Steam, where according to him it is claimed that the game is made by Valve, displaying Valve’s copyrighted logo when it launches. He also revealed that the game’s directories contain Valve legal notices, and numerous text files reference Valve. It feels like a Valve game, though Valve did not respond to requests for comment, but it seems legit.
Deadlock is a 6-on-6 shooter, like Overwatch, where your team attempts to dominate a map by wearing down the opposing team and pushing them back. You’re also leading an army of NPC grunts down four lanes to destroy the opposing team’s defenses, like Dota 2 or other MOBA games. There’s no downtime, it’s a constant war between your team’s Troopers and the enemy’s Troopers. They keep respawning and advancing, but they can’t break through unless the human-powered heroes lend a hand with weapons, abilities, and upgrades.
Matches get deadlier as heroes unlock abilities and buy skills, giving more damage per second, life steal, shielding, and more. Every character has melee attacks and you can parry an incoming attack to stun the opponent. There are ways to dodge bullets and traverse the map: slide, dash, air dash, dash jump, double jump, and mantle up to ledges. Each of the four lanes has an aerial tramway for free rides into the fray. You can find Hollister playing the game against bots, in the video below:
According to Hollister, this early development build has 20 different heroes, which might mean that Valve is nearing its completion. Apparently, the game is accessible to anyone with an invite, allowing them to share it with Steam friends. This reminds me of the Dota 2 invitation system back in the days, and we do believe that we might get more invites coming soon. As Hollister said, despite the lack of an official announcement, the game feels ready for broader testing. However, having his account banned from matchmaking after trying the game with friends suggests Valve is closely monitoring this release.
Valve’s unconventional approach and the community’s excitement show promise for Deadlock, and players are eager to explore its potential.
