A request that this article title be changed to Deadlock (upcoming video game) is under discussion . Please do not move this article until the discussion is closed. |
Deadlock | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Valve |
Publisher(s) | Valve |
Engine | Source 2 |
Platform(s) | Windows |
Release | TBA |
Genre(s) | Third-person shooter, MOBA |
Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Deadlock is an upcoming team-based online multiplayer third-person shooter video game developed and published by Valve.
Since May 2024, Deadlock has been in early development playtesting. Players are encouraged to invite friends to test the game via Steam, but were initially told not to share details about the game publicly. In September 2024, the game reached a concurrent player count of over 170,000. [1]
Shortly after playtesting began, footage of Deadlock began to leak online and on August 12, 2024, a journalist was banned from the game's multiplayer servers after writing a preview for the technology site The Verge . [2] On August 23, 2024, Valve lifted rules on public conversation for Deadlock playtesters [3] and published a Steam store page with information about the game.
Deadlock is a 6v6 team-based third-person shooter combining elements of hero shooters, like Overwatch, and MOBAs, like Dota. [2] In each match, the 12 players control unique "heroes" who begin split across four "lanes" in a large map. To win, one team has to push their "troopers" (NPCs who fight with the players) down the lanes into the opposing team's stronghold and destroy their "patron" (a large supernatural entity helping the heroes and troopers). [2]
Players can unlock various skills and abilities for their hero, as well as use ziplines to navigate the arena. The game currently has 21 different heroes, each with unique weapons, stats, and abilities. The game takes place in an alternate version of New York City sometimes referred to as the Cursed Apple, which mixes elements of 1930s prohibition era storytelling and the occult. [4]
In October 2022, Valve filed a trademark for the name Neon Prime. [5] Neon Prime was reportedly helmed by IceFrog (the lead designer of Dota ), and would have been a MOBA with a sci-fi aesthetic. [6] Further details were reported in 2023, indicating that it would have been a team-based "third-person 'MOBA-lite'", in which players need to defeat a boss enemy at the opposing team's base. [7] A private playtest for Neon Prime reportedly started in 2023. [8]
In May 2024, footage of Deadlock was leaked. It was presumed to be the project formerly known as Neon Prime for its similar gameplay elements. [9] [10] A closed playtest on Steam, which allowed participants to invite others, started by August 2024. [2] Players also have access to a private Discord server to discuss the game and forums to read patch notes and provide feedback to the developers. [2] The game's aesthetic, mixing elements of fantasy with an early 1900s aesthetic, has been compared to BioShock Infinite . [9]
Valve formally announced Deadlock on August 23, 2024. Access to the game currently continues to be "friend invite only". A Steam page for the game was also released on the same date stating that the game is currently in "early development", with temporary art and "experimental gameplay." [11] [12] [13]
On August 12, Sean Hollister of The Verge published a full preview. [14] Hollister noted that since he had not signed nor verbally consented to any legally binding non-disclosure agreement, he was free to write about it, despite being shown a dialog box telling him not to share any information about the game with others. After the preview was published, Hollister was banned from the game's matchmaking. [2]
The article's publication was controversial within the gaming community. [14] [15] Riley MacLeod of Aftermath defended Hollister's reporting, saying that although ignoring Valve's request may have been impolite, Hollister was not legally nor professionally obligated to keep the details secret and had not violated journalistic ethics. [15] Megan Farokhmanesh of Wired speculated that the secretive release strategy was a deliberate publicity stunt by Valve to tempt players to leak the game, building hype around it. [14] Ted Litchfield of PC Gamer wrote that it was "hard not to be excited" for a new Valve game, saying he was "ready to jump in" on day one. [16]
Valve Corporation, also known as Valve Software, is an American video game developer, publisher, and digital distribution company headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. It is the developer of the software distribution platform Steam and the game franchises Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Portal, Day of Defeat, Team Fortress, Left 4 Dead and Dota.
Steam is a video game digital distribution service and storefront managed by Valve Corporation. It was launched as a software client in September 2003 to provide game updates automatically for Valve's games and expanded to distributing third-party titles in late 2005. Steam offers various features, like game server matchmaking with Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC) measures, social networking, and game streaming services. Steam client's functionality include game update automation, cloud storage for game progress, and community features such as direct messaging, in-game overlay and a virtual collectable marketplace.
A playtest is the process by which a game designer tests a new game for bugs and design flaws before releasing it to market. Playtests can be run "open", "closed", "beta", or otherwise, and are very common with board games, collectible card games, puzzle hunts, role-playing games, and video games, for which they have become an established part of the quality control process. An individual involved in testing a game is referred to as a playtester.
Defense of the Ancients (DotA) is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) mod for the video game Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (2002) and its expansion, The Frozen Throne (2003). The objective of the game is for each team to destroy their opponents' Ancient, a heavily guarded structure at the opposing corner of the map. Players use powerful units known as heroes, and are assisted by allied teammates and AI-controlled fighters. As in role-playing games, players level up their heroes and use gold to buy equipment during the game.
Dota 2 is a 2013 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game by Valve. The game is a sequel to Defense of the Ancients (DotA), a community-created mod for Blizzard Entertainment's Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. Dota 2 is played in matches between two teams of five players, with each team occupying and defending their own separate base on the map. Each of the ten players independently controls a character known as a hero that has unique abilities and differing styles of play. During a match, players collect experience points (XP) and items for their heroes to defeat the opposing team's heroes in player versus player (PvP) combat. A team wins by being the first to destroy the other team's Ancient, a large durable structure located in the center of each base.
Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of players compete against each other on a predefined battlefield. Each player controls a single character with a set of distinctive abilities that improve over the course of a game and which contribute to the team's overall strategy. The typical objective is for each team to destroy their opponents' main structure, located at the opposite corner of the battlefield. In some MOBA games, the objective can be defeating every player on the enemy team. Players are assisted by computer-controlled units that periodically spawn in groups and march forward along set paths toward their enemy's base, which is heavily guarded by defensive structures. This type of multiplayer online video games originated as a subgenre of real-time strategy, though MOBA players usually do not construct buildings or units. The genre is seen as a fusion of real-time strategy, role-playing and action games.
The International (TI) is an annual esports world championship for the five-on-five video game Dota 2. Produced by the game's developer Valve, the International is the final event of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) and consists of 20 teams: 12 based on final results from the DPC; six from North America, South America, Southeast Asia, China, Eastern Europe, and Western Europe regional leagues; and two from last-chance qualifiers. The International was first held in Germany at the 2011 Gamescom to promote the game's release. It was then held in Seattle, where Valve is headquartered, until it began to be hosted internationally again starting with The International 2018 in Vancouver.
Strife was a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game developed by S2 Games. This is S2 Games' second MOBA game aimed to a more casual player base than Heroes of Newerth, most notably incorporating various gameplay elements that focus on heavily reducing player toxicity and introducing persistent mechanics outside of the arena, including Pets and Crafting. The game uses an engine called Kodiak which is based on the Heroes of Newerth with some improvements on lighting and physics.
SteamOS is a Linux distribution developed by Valve. It incorporates Valve's popular namesake Steam video game storefront and is the primary operating system for the Steam Deck, Valve's portable gaming device, as well as Valve's earlier Steam Machines. SteamOS is open source with some closed source components.
Vainglory is a free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game, developed and published by Super Evil Megacorp for iOS, Android and PC. As many games in its genre, Vainglory's gameplay focuses on player versus player battles, with players split into two teams of three or five with the ultimate goal of destroying the opposing team's base. The game was released for iOS on November 16, 2014, after being soft-launched for over half a year, with the Android version being released on July 2, 2015. A Mac and Microsoft Windows version of the game was released in July 2018. Through cross-platform play, players on all four platforms can play together simultaneously.
Overwatch was a 2016 team-based online multiplayer first-person shooter video game by Blizzard Entertainment. The game was first released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in May 2016 and Nintendo Switch in October 2019, with cross-platform play supported across all platforms. Described as a "hero shooter", Overwatch assigned players into two teams of six, with each player selecting from a large roster of characters, known as "heroes", with unique abilities. Teams worked to complete map-specific objectives within a limited period of time. Blizzard added new characters, maps, and game modes post-release, all free of charge, with the only additional cost to players being optional loot boxes to purchase cosmetic items.
Source 2 is a video game engine developed by Valve. The engine was announced in 2015 as the successor to the original Source engine, with the first game to use it, Dota 2, being ported from Source that same year. Other Valve games such as Artifact, Dota Underlords, Half-Life: Alyx, Counter-Strike 2, and Deadlock have been produced with the engine.
Artifact is a 2018 digital collectible card game developed and published by Valve for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It focuses on online player-versus-player battles and is based on the universe of Dota 2, a multiplayer online battle arena game by Valve. Artifact was designed by Magic: The Gathering creator Richard Garfield.
The Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) was the professional league used in Dota 2, a competitive five-on-five video game. Active between 2017 and 2023, the DPC was organized by the game's developer, Valve and consisted of seasonal "Major" tournaments and Regional Leagues from North America, South America, Southeast Asia, China, Eastern Europe, and Western Europe. Points were earned by the top six teams playing in the upper division of a Regional League as well as those finishing in the top eight of a Major. The top 12 teams with the most points at the season's conclusion earned invites to The International, the premier tournament for Dota 2. The DPC was introduced in 2017 as a replacement for the Dota Major Championship series (2015–2016), which was criticized due to Valve's non-transparent process for sending out International invites. The DPC ended following the 2023 season.
The International 2018 (TI8) was the eighth iteration of The International, an annual Dota 2 world championship esports tournament. Hosted by Valve, the game's developer, TI8 followed a year-long series of tournaments awarding qualifying points, known as the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC), with the top eight ranking teams being directly invited to the tournament. In addition, ten more teams earned invites through qualifiers that were held in June 2018, with the group stage and main event played at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver in August. The best-of-five grand finals took place between OG and PSG.LGD, with OG winning the series 3–2. Their victory was considered a Cinderella and underdog success story, as they had come from the open qualifiers and were not favored to win throughout the competition.
The International 2019 (TI9) was the ninth iteration of The International, an annual Dota 2 world championship esports tournament. Hosted by Valve, the game's developer, the tournament followed a year-long series of awarding qualifying points, known as the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC), with the top 12 ranking teams being directly invited to the tournament, which took place in August 2019 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai. In addition, six more teams earned invites through regional qualifiers played in July 2019. The grand finals took place between Team Liquid and OG, who had respectively won the International's 2017 and 2018 events. There, OG defeated Team Liquid 3–1 in the best-of-five series to become the first-ever repeat champion of an International.
Dota is a series of strategy video games. The series began in 2003 with the release of Defense of the Ancients (DotA), a fan-developed multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) custom map for the video game Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and its expansion, The Frozen Throne. The original map features gameplay centered around two teams of up to five players who assume control of individual characters called "heroes", which must coordinate to destroy the enemy's central base structure called an "Ancient", to win the game. Ownership and development of DotA were passed on multiple times since its initial release until Valve hired the map's lead designer IceFrog and after a legal dispute with Blizzard Entertainment, the developer of Warcraft III, brokered a deal that allowed Valve to inherit the trademark to the Dota name.
The International 2021, also known as The International 10 (TI10), was the tenth iteration of The International, an annual Dota 2 world championship esports tournament. Hosted by Valve, the game's developer, the tournament followed a year-long series of tournaments awarding qualifying points, known as the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC), with the top 12 ranking teams being directly invited to the tournament. In addition, six more teams earned invites through regional qualifiers held earlier in 2021. The tournament took place in Bucharest, Romania, with the main event held behind closed doors at the Arena Națională due to restrictions on gatherings in the city.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link)