After months of pretending its worst-kept secret didn’t exist, Valve revealed Deadlock to the world late Friday night. The official announcement came with Valve’s approval of public discussion, meaning streamers, fan sites, and social media conversations could finally publicly reference the third-person shooter MOBA’s closed alpha test. Now that it’s no longer a thoughtcrime to say the name, notable Deadlock players are telling us what they think – and many of them believe Valve is planning another hit.
As for streamers, Deadlock already has the support of big-name developers. Michael “Shroud” Grzsesiek, currently the tenth most followed streamer on Twitch according to Socialblade, has been streaming Deadlock daily since its official reveal. “This game is going to easily – and I mean easily – take off,” Shroud said in a Twitch clip. Elsewhere, Shroud raved about Deadlock’s mechanical depth, calling it “probably the best third-person shooter I’ve ever played.”
Sean “Day(9)” Plott, who you may have seen hosting our PC Gaming Show, says he quietly fell in love with Deadlock while playing it back when it was still a big topic. “I can finally say publicly that it’s currently my favorite game,” tweeted Day(9) after Valve lifted the restriction on Deadlock discussions, “and I don’t like shooters in general because I’m terrible at them.” Esports players are also showing a lot of interest, like former Dota 2 International champion Dendi, who has spent over a dozen hours on Deadlock streams since Friday.
Valve has lifted the communication restrictions on Deadlock. I can finally say publicly that it’s my favorite game at the moment. And I don’t like shooters in general because I’m terrible at them. Will be streaming everything next week. @sacriel, you want to queue?23 August 2024
Like any hero game, Deadlock will be judged in history by one criterion only: the abundance of its fanart. And after Valve approved public discussion of Deadlock, fanartists wasted no time sharing their works to celebrate their new favorite characters.
The deadlock goblin is making me more brain-dead, it’s happening again pic.twitter.com/NIJ2caguze25 August 2024
Another highlight of many fan conversations is Deadlock’s in-game chat, which shows players messages coming from their respective character portrait, as if Deadlock’s charismatic heroes had started communicating directly via shitpost.
I really like Deadlock’s chat feature pic.twitter.com/wh6Ivdmhji25 August 2024
Deadlock even hosted its first cash-based tournament over the weekend. Yesterday, eight teams competed in the Downtown Showdown, a community-run tournament with a $1,500 prize pool, all for a game that’s still in early, invite-only testing.
Deadlock may be laying the groundwork for a vibrant fanbase, but only Valve knows how many years we’ll have to wait until the full release. If you want to try the MOBA for yourself until then, here’s our guide on how to take part in the Deadlock playtest.