Deadlock is an upcoming third-person shooter and multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game developed and published by Valve. The game features two teams of six players, with the goal being to destroy the enemy "patron", an effigy of an elder god hidden in New York. Initially known as Neon Prime, Deadlock was first leaked to the public in May 2024, and its Steam page was published in August. It has since remained an invite-only game, reaching a concurrent player count of over 170,000 in September 2024.
Gameplay screenshot of Deadlock during its closed playtest
Deadlock is a third-person shooter and MOBA game,[1] featuring two teams with six players who battle each other. In each match, the twelve players control characters who split across three lanes in a large map.[2][3] To win, one team has to advance their "troopers", a category of non-player characters (NPCs) who fight alongside players, towards the enemy "patron", a possessed effigy, by defeating the other's team troopers and players who respawn in waves. Before defeating the patron, a team has to take down "guardians" and "walkers", entities which are located on the lanes and protect the patron. Its style of gameplay has been described as a mix of Overwatch, Dota 2, and Team Fortress 2.[3]
Throughout the game, a player can heal and retreat to their base.[3] Additionally, they can unlock items which can be bought in a shop using "souls" as a currency, such as items which increase the player's damage output, defense, and healing. It features various movement mechanics, including sliding and double jumping, and players can also travel through the lanes via zip lines and fans.[2][3] Initially, there were 20 characters available to play,[3] but this has since increased to 38.[a]
The Street Brawl game mode features two teams of four players, with small changes to the gameplay, such as farming being disabled.[6]
Development
Deadlock is being developed by Valve in the Source 2 video game engine.[3] Its development allegedly started in 2018.[7] References to its internal codename Citadel were first discovered in the code for Dota 2 in 2019, and at the time was speculated to be an entry in the Half-Life series due to sharing its name with the final area of Half-Life 2.[8] In October 2022, Valve registered a trademark for Neon Prime, with video game journalists suggesting that it could be a new video game from the developer.[9][10]
Duncan Drummond, co-creator and designer of Risk of Rain 2, is a gameplay designer on Deadlock, and its movement systems and design choices have been noted as similar to the Risk of Rain sequel.[11]Dota 2 director IceFrog has also contributed, and was speculated by a data miner to also be Deadlock's lead.[12][13]
Further details were reported from the same data miner in 2023, who speculated that it was a Dota installment, and "a sci-fi-oriented third-person 'MOBA-lite' that looks like Overwatch mixed with Team Fortress 2 mixed with Dota 2". He added that there was an external playtest of the game during the same period.[14] In August 2024, an anonymous Valve developer shared early footage of Deadlock.[15]
Deadlock was leaked to the public in May 2024 by playtesters,[16][17] revealing that Neon Prime was its previous name and that it evolved from a sci-fi oriented to a fantasy/steampunk art style.[17] Gameplay details were also leaked, suggesting it as a third-person shooter taking place in a "modern steampunk European city".[17] A data miner revealed that there were hundreds of playtesters by this point.[7] In late May, Valve trademarked Deadlock.[18] Valve published the Steam page for the game in August 2024,[19] with it being invite-only.[3] Its description read that it was in early development "with lots of temporary art and experimental gameplay", and the page featured a teaser image and a short trailer.[19][20] Upon publishing the Steam page, developers removed the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) dialog box.[19] Before the its Steam page was published, Deadlock had a concurrent player count of 20,000.[3] By September 2024, it reached a peak concurrent player count of more than 170,000.[21]
Since Deadlock was officially announced in August 2024, Valve has worked on adding anti-cheat detection.[21] In February 2025, Valve published an update in which it lowered the number of lanes from four to three.[13] Later in May 2025, Valve published an update in which the shop and items saw changes.[22] In August, the game's visual style was overhauled and 6 new characters were added one by one through an in-game vote.[23][24] In January 2026, the Old Gods, New Blood update was released, adding vote for six new characters, two items, and the Street Brawl mode.[25][26]
Reception
Early development
While it was still internally known as Neon Prime, Oisin Kuhnke of VG247 described the map's looks as "sci-fi/cyberpunk, [...] futuristic, [and] Japan-inspired".[27]
Sean Hollister of The Verge published a full review of the game in its early development in August 2024. He noted that since he had not signed a NDA, he was open to review it, despite a dialog box telling him not to share any information about it with others. He was subsequently banned from playing the game.[3] Some readers responded negatively to the article's publication.[28][29]Wired's Megan Farokhmanesh speculated that the secretive release strategy was a deliberate publicity stunt to tempt players to leak the game, building hype around it.[28]Aftermath's Riley MacLeod 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.[29]
Writing for PC Gamer, Lincoln Carpenter described the main menu music as "straight out of a Tim Burton joint".[1] Ash Parrish of The Verge compared the map's looks to City 17 from Half-Life 2,[16] while Tyler Wilde of PC Gamer compared the game to BioShock Infinite.[30] Matt Cox of Eurogamer highlighted the map's looks, describing it as "alternative-world fantasy goth New York", adding that it "oozes personality".[2] Ted Litchfield, also of PC Gamer, wrote that it was "hard not to be excited" for a new Valve game and would play it on day one.[31] Justin Wagner of PC Gamer praised Valve's willingness to experiment with the game's core format and mechanics during the early development period, setting it apart from other live-service games.[32] Diego Nicolás Argüello of Kotaku noted that the game has developed a thriving fan community due to its charismatic roster of heroes and unique setting.[33]
Notes
↑In January 2025, it was reported that Deadlock had 26 characters.[4] In an August 2025 update, Valve added six more characters, increasing the number of characters to 32.[5] In a January 2026 update, six more characters were introduced.[6]
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