Valve is currently developing a new PvP shooter that has not been officially announced yet. Nevertheless, thousands of players are already playing it on Steam.
What kind of shooter is this? Valve is already working on a new game called Deadlock. A few months ago, there were first leaks about Deadlock on social media – even gameplay videos were shared.
Valve itself has not announced Deadlock yet. There is no release date, trailer, screenshots, or official gameplay videos. Nonetheless, Deadlock already has 16,900 simultaneous players on Steam (via SteamDB).
Why does Deadlock have so many players? Screenshots circulating on X.com suggest a test of the shooter. These screenshots give the impression that some Steam users have received an invitation to test Deadlock.
On this test build, nearly 17,000 players were online simultaneously on the evening of August 11th.
Hero Shooter Meets MOBA
What kind of shooter will Deadlock be? According to the leaks, Deadlock will be a hero shooter played from a third-person perspective. Each team will compete with 5 players against each other. Each player controls a hero with their own weapon and four different abilities. This somewhat resembles Overwatch.
The leaked gameplay also suggests that Deadlock might have similarities with a MOBA like DOTA 2 or League of Legends. It seems there are lanes where heroes move, along with a “Tower Defense” part.
On social media, some players are already dubbing Deadlock as a “MOBA shooter”.
Deadlock could definitely develop a competitive scene including e-sports events. Valve has gained a lot of experience with DOTA 2 and Counter-Strike 2. The structure of the shooter definitely gives the impression that it is designed for e-sports.
If you are currently looking for new games, feel free to check out our list of the best shooters. You will find titles from various subgenres, depending on what you like: The 25 Best Shooters 2024 – These PvP and PvE games impress with their gameplay
