Valve’s Deadlock, a 6v6 hero shooter that blends MOBA mechanics with third-person action, is currently in an invite-only development phase. Despite Valve officially maintaining that the game is not yet released, it has seen significant activity on Steam, with daily concurrent player counts reaching 75,000 and an all-time peak exceeding 171,000 users.

Current Development Status

As of August 2026, Deadlock remains in early development. While the game features 38 playable heroes and a functional 6v6 loop, Valve continues to iterate on core systems. For example, the studio previously overhauled the map layout in February 2025, reducing the number of lanes from four to three to improve gameplay flow.

The game is set in an alternative-history version of New York called The Cursed Apple, focusing on a conflict between two deities, The Hidden King and The Archmother. Players compete to destroy the opposing side's godly effigy while managing minions and lanes, similar to titles like Dota 2 or League of Legends.

Gameplay Mechanics

Deadlock differentiates itself from traditional top-down MOBAs by utilizing a third-person perspective with movement mechanics like slide-tech, wall jumping, and ziplines. Key gameplay features include:

  • Soul Collection: Players earn 'souls' by defeating minions or opposing players. Unlike traditional last-hitting, players must shoot an orb that appears upon a minion's death to secure currency.
  • Hero Progression: Souls are used to purchase stat-boosting items at shops and upgrade character-specific skills.
  • Street Brawl: A 4v4, best-of-five casual mode designed to help players learn hero kits and mechanics without the complexity of the standard lane-pushing format.

How to Access the Game

Valve has not yet opened Deadlock to the general public. Currently, access is restricted to a friend-invite system. If you wish to play, you must have an existing playtester on your Steam friends list invite you directly in-game. Alternatively, community-led initiatives, such as dedicated threads on the Deadlock subreddit, are currently used by the player base to coordinate invites.

Development Team

Development is led by a team at Valve including figures known as 'Yoshi' and 'Icefrog,' the latter of whom is noted for his long-term work on Dota 2. The team also includes Duncan Drummond and Paul Morse, the co-founders of Hopoo Games, the studio behind Risk of Rain.