Deadlock

ShooterStrategyMOBA

Deadlock is an upcoming multiplayer game from Valve in early development.

PC (Microsoft Windows)

DeadlockValveHero Shooter

Deadlock's New Hero Violet Is a Map-Manipulating Painter Breaking Records

Valve has dropped a brand-new hero into its invite-only hero shooter MOBA Deadlock, and she's already turning heads across the gaming community. Violet is a painter-themed character whose kit revolves around manipulating the battlefield itself, using quick brush strokes to alter terrain and unleash powerful movement tech. PCGamesN describes her as a "map-manipulating menace," and early impressions suggest Valve has once again found a creative niche that few other games have explored at this scale.

Oct 18, 2026

DeadlockValveSteam

Deadlock Surpasses TF2's All-Time Peak as Chess Hero Solomon Arrives

Valve's hero shooter MOBA Deadlock has hit a landmark milestone, surpassing Team Fortress 2's all-time concurrent player count peak on Steam, and the timing could not be more fitting. The record was broken alongside the introduction of Solomon, a chess-wielding new hero who commands the battlefield by turning his own teammates into pawns. The unorthodox design makes Solomon arguably Deadlock's riskiest hero yet, but the gamble appears to be paying off in a big way, drawing massive new interest to the game's ongoing closed beta.

Oct 11, 2026

DeadlockValveNew Hero

Deadlock's Rat King Is Here, and He's Everything the Community Asked For

After more than a year of community jokes and fan requests, Valve has finally added the Rat King to Deadlock as a fully playable hero. The monstrous new character arrived as part of the game's latest patch, and early reception from players has been overwhelmingly positive. It's a rare case of a developer directly answering a long-running community meme with an actual, fully realized addition to the roster.

Oct 4, 2026

DeadlockValveGame Updates

Deadlock's Next Major Update Pushed to Late September, Valve Confirms

Fans of Valve's hero shooter Deadlock hoping for an imminent big update will need to wait a little longer. Valve developer "Yoshi" confirmed over the weekend that the next major update has been pushed to late September, citing playtesting that has "taken longer than expected." The announcement came as a reality check for a community that had been buzzing with anticipation, expecting a significant content drop to arrive sooner.

Aug 30, 2026

DeadlockBalance UpdatePatch Notes

Deadlock's Latest Update Zeroes In on Celeste With Early Game and Ult Nerfs

Valve has rolled out a tightly scoped Deadlock balance update focused almost entirely on reining in Celeste, one of the game's most disruptive heroes in teamfight scenarios. The patch targets her early game power, trimming back the advantages she brings in the laning phase that have allowed her to snowball into a near-unstoppable force before most matches even hit their midpoint. The adjustments signal that Valve is paying close attention to hero-specific dominance rather than issuing sweeping balance changes across the board.

Aug 24, 2026

DeadlockValveRanked Mode

Deadlock Ranked Season 1 Launches with Matchmaking Overhaul

Valve's hero shooter Deadlock has officially kicked off its first ranked season, bringing with it a significant overhaul to the game's matchmaking systems. The update introduces a tiered approach to competitive play, requiring players to first put in time in a newly introduced "standard mode" before they can earn the right to jump into full ranked competition. This lower-stakes mode acts as a proving ground, letting players demonstrate competence and familiarity with the game before the ranked queue opens up to them.

Aug 1, 2026