Valve—the company behind Half-Life and Steam—is working on a new game likely named Deadlock. It’s probably a third-person team-based hero-shooter with MOBA and tower defense elements. And people are playing it right now via a closed and private beta. However, some of those same people have started leaking footage of the yet-unannounced game online and the reaction has been...mixed, to say the least.
We’ve known about Deadlock for years now, based on leaks and datamined information from other Valve games. The project was likely codenamed Citadel and was at one point known internally as Neon Prime. It likely started development some time in 2018, and has gone through a lot of changes according to previous leaks, though it was always an online team-based shooter with DOTA-like elements. At one point, it was reportedly going to be set in the Half-Life universe, but that seems to have changed, as shown in the recently leaked gameplay.
So what is Deadlock today? Well, based on gameplay and screenshots from the closed alpha test, Deadlock will be a hero-based online third-person shooter featuring maps with MOBA-like lanes, mobs to kill, and Bioshock Infinite-like rails that you can grind around to get to areas quickly.
In the alpha test footage that has leaked online, it seems the game currently has 19 characters, and all of them share a similar steampunk-meets-fantasy style, similar to the rest of the game’s vibes.
Kotaku has reached out to Valve about Deadlock.
It should be noted that this build of Deadlock is likely still early and the game will change in looks and gameplay as it gets closer to an official launch, the reaction to leaked gameplay and screenshots of Valve’s next big thing has been fairly muted, with most fans more confused than anything else.
The reaction to Valve’s next game hasn’t been great
While I’ve spotted some folks excited to see what Valve is working on next, the majority of online chatter around Deadlock is focused on how “late” this game feels. The hero shooter craze has mostly died out, and the demand for another one, with MOBA-elements no less, seems lacking. The game’s generic, IP-less style and world have also confused fans who have long wanted a new Half-Life or Portal game from Valve, but are instead getting something more akin to Valorant meets Overwatch.
According to details from Insider Gaming, people who have reportedly played Deadlock say that it plays very much like a MOBA, with creeps running around maps. Killing these weaker NPCs (possibly known as candles or candlemen) will reward players with a currency that can be used to upgrade their hero during that match. It’s also reported that a giant boss spawns in the middle of the map and can be killed for more upgrade currency.
I’m still excited about Valve making another game, but I’m not sure this is what I (and many others) wanted from the company famous for developing Half-Life 2 and Left 4 Dead. I’ve seen some people suggest that, in the end, this will work out. Valve is good at making games. And sure, that’s generally true, but keep in mind that when it comes to original, internally designed multiplayer games, well, Valve’s track record is far from great.
Yes, DOTA 2, CSGO, and TF2 are wonderful, but those are all games Valve inherited from outside developers and modders and then built upon and expanded. When it comes to wholly original online games, Valve has released stuff like Artifact (a now-dead card game), Ricochet (a bad HL1-era esport thing), DOTA Underlords (an Auto Chess clone that fizzled out after a few months), and Half-Life Deathmatch which... okay, that was alright.
But yeah, I’m not confident in Valve’s next game setting the world on fire, and the online reaction to it seems to back up those concerns. We’ll have to wait and see how Valve reacts to this feedback and how it affects (or doesn’t affect) Deadlock.
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