Now it’s finally official: Valve’s multiplayer shooter Deadlock has a Steam page. This was preceded by months of (inefficient) secrecy.
We can’t decide: Either Valve is a team of absolute marketing geniuses – or the Steam publisher and occasional video game developer no longer cares about anything.
The genius theory is supported by the fact that up to 64,000 people simultaneously were active in Valve’s new multiplayer shooter Deadlock – these are almost three times as many as the previous peak.
You remember Deadlock?
This is the game whose existence Valve refused to officially acknowledge for months – but now there is suddenly a Steam product page for Deadlock and a first video, which is however extremely short:
0:23
Rarely has a trailer been as meaningless as the one for Deadlock
Well, are you well informed now? Probably not, which is why we will tell you all known details to deadlock list.
How to play Deadlock
Valve’s new shooter is still “in early development and includes many temporary graphics, experimental gameplay, and a localization that is still in progress,” as Valve writes on the Steam page. Therefore, a loose NDA has been in effect so far: Anyone who helped test the game should not share anything with the public if possible.
This week, Valve informed its playtesters that they can freely report on their experiences in the game. However, access will remain limited; you will need an invitation from an active player to jump into online battles.
Friendly requests on Reddit are usually rewarded with an invitation by the community there. So if you want to play Deadlock now, all you need to do is enter your friend ID. You can find this by clicking on “Add Friend” in the Steam interface.
What we know about deadlock
In Valve’s new shooter, you control your character from a third-person perspective. Battles take place exclusively online against other people. You control one of 20 different heroes, each with four special abilities. The concept is borrowed from well-known hero shooters such as Overwatch, while the visuals are reminiscent of Team Fortress 2.
However, Valve is also making a big splash in the Moba genrewhich the inventor of Half-Life himself decisively shaped with Dota 2. There are four so-called lanes on the maps, i.e. corridors through which AI-controlled enemies (creeps) constantly stream. Gameplay can already be seen on YouTube, for example here:
Link to YouTube content
Twelve playersdivided into two groups, shoot the creeps, various mini-bosses and each other in Deadlock to collect souls. You can use these to buy useful items for your hero.
Once you’re leveled up, you can fend off the opposing team and destroy the Patron Energy Ball in the opponent’s base to win the match. Ziplines the rapid movement from one point on the map to another.
