Development History

1:00 Deadlock grew out of Valve projects reported under the codenames "Citadel" and "Neon Prime", leaked in May 2024 during a closed playtest, and was officially revealed by Valve on Aug 23, 2024, when it opened a Steam page and let playtesters talk about it (PC Gamer, Aug 23, 2024). Since then Valve has developed it in the open as an invite-only playtest, patching dozens of times, redesigning the map from four lanes to three, rebuilding the shop, replacing the Patrons, adding ranked seasons and growing the roster from 21 heroes to 44. It has never marketed the game in the usual way: PC Gamer notes its "lack of things like marketing", and no trade-show appearance is on record (PC Gamer, 2026). Valve's own account of where development stands is its note of Sep 29, 2026, which still calls the game "unfinished".

Quick facts

Sources: CGMagazine, May 2024; Valve forums: Changelog, read Oct 26, 2026; PCGamesN, Aug 9, 2026; Steam, read Oct 26, 2026.

Codenames and leaks

Deadlock's roots are in earlier Valve projects reported under the codenames "Citadel" (2021) and "Neon Prime" (2022), described as a MOBA with sci-fi elements; a May 2024 report by the Valve watcher Gabe Follower tied them to Deadlock (CGMagazine, May 2024). PCGamesN describes the game as "built from the ashes of a previous Valve experiment called Neon Prime" (PCGamesN, Aug 9, 2026). Valve itself has never discussed either codename.

The closed playtest was already running in spring 2024. Valve's forum, where it posts patch notes, opens with a "Changelog Feedback Process" thread dated Apr 18, 2024, and its first public patch thread is the "05-03-2024 Update" of May 3, 2024, followed by patches on May 10, 13, 16, 19, 23, 24 and 30 (Valve forums, read Oct 26, 2026). SteamDB's player chart for the app begins on May 25, 2024, with 710 players at that day's peak.

Leaked gameplay and screenshots of a six-versus-six "Dota-inspired" Valve hero shooter spread in May 2024 (TheFPSReview, May 22, 2024), and Valve reportedly filed a trademark application for the name "Deadlock" on May 30, 2024 (CGMagazine). Playtesters were told not to talk about the game, yet by August there were "hundreds of gameplay videos in the wild" and a peak of over 44,000 players (PC Gamer, Aug 23, 2024). Game World Observer counted 16,947 concurrent players on Aug 12, 2024, near Steam's top 100, for a game Valve had not acknowledged.

The reveal, Aug 23, 2024

Valve acknowledged Deadlock on Aug 23, 2024 with a Steam store page and lifted the gag rule. Yoshi wrote: "We are lifting the rules for public conversation about Deadlock to allow for things like streaming, community websites, and discussions", and added that the game was "remaining invite-only" in "an early development stage with lots of temporary art and experimental gameplay" (Valve forums, Aug 23, 2024). The first store page had a teaser video and low-resolution key art and could not even be wishlisted (PC Gamer).

2:03 The reveal turned a quiet playtest into one of Steam's biggest games within days. Inviting a friend became a button in the game's menu instead of a form (PC Gamer), wall jumping arrived in late August (GamingOnLinux, Aug 30, 2024), and on Sep 2, 2024 the game peaked at 171,490 players, a record it held for two years. At the time the map had four lanes.

The people who speak for Deadlock

Valve says little about who makes Deadlock. Its most public voice is a developer known only as "Yoshi", who posts the patch notes on Valve's forum and Discord (PCGamesN, Aug 9, 2026). PCGamesN reports that the team includes Duncan Drummond and Paul Morse, co-founders of Hopoo Games, the studio behind Risk of Rain. IceFrog, the designer of Dota 2, is widely reported to work on Deadlock, but Valve has never named his role.

2024: two-week patches and Hero Labs

6:33 Through late 2024 Valve shipped a major patch about every two weeks. The Sep 26, 2024 update added the hero Mirage, Custom Match, South Africa servers, Italian, and the first anti-cheat, which let players turn a detected cheater into a frog for the rest of the match (Engadget, Sep 27, 2024). The Oct 10, 2024 update added a first, experimental ranked mode with 11 medals and limited hours.

Hero Labs opened on Oct 24, 2024 in Valve's first Steam news post for the game: "a new experimental hero matchmaking mode that adds six new in-progress heroes", with placeholder models and names. Trapper joined on Nov 7 and Raven on Dec 6, 2024. The Nov 21, 2024 update merged ranked and normal play into one matchmaker with regional leaderboards, and the Winter Visual Update of Dec 17, 2024 covered the city in snow as "our last patch for the year".

2025: bigger, slower updates

On Jan 8, 2025 Yoshi announced that "major patches will no longer be on a fixed schedule. These patches will be larger than before, albeit a little bit more spaced out" (GamingOnLinux, Jan 8, 2025). Nine days later four Hero Labs heroes joined normal matchmaking: Holliday, Vyper, Calico and The Magnificent Sinclair, with Valve calling roster growth "one of our major goals in 2025" (Valve, Jan 17, 2025). Two of them had appeared in Hero Labs under temporary names, and outlets matched their kits.

2:32 The Map Rework Update of Feb 25, 2025 redesigned the map "around being 3 lanes rather than 4"; PCGamesN reports that Valve found four lanes "spread teams too thin". It also added Explore Map, DLSS, FSR3 and a 64 Hz tick rate. The Shop Rework Update of May 8, 2025 rebuilt the shop with many new items, universal item slots and new art for every item icon, and redesigned both bases.

Six New Heroes on Aug 18, 2025 introduced voting: Mina, Billy, The Doorman, Paige, Drifter and Victor arrived one every other day, in an order players chose with "nearly 6 million votes". The same update replaced the menu with the Hideout and paused Hero Labs; Valve said it "may revisit some of the hero labs heroes", and none has returned. The Nov 21, 2025 update reworked trooper souls, raised starting souls to 600 and set item slots at 9 plus 3 Flex Slots.

2026: Patrons, ranked and the city

Old Gods, New Blood on Jan 22, 2026 brought "Overhauled Patrons and bases, six new heroes, a fast-paced game mode 'Street Brawl'" and a new postgame screen; it was the first Valve patch with its own web page (PC Gamer). Rem, Graves, Silver, Venator, Celeste and Apollo followed by vote until Feb 12, 2026, from 60,776,963 votes.

Three Gameplay Updates followed, on Mar 6, Apr 30 and May 22, 2026, reshaping objectives and items. From late May Valve posted frequent "Minor Update" notes on Steam; one on Jun 30, 2026 split the old Soul Urn into the Unstable Rift and a separate Urn run. The Matchmaking Update of Jul 30, 2026 created separate Standard and Ranked queues with seasons and new ranks.

10:35 City Never Sleeps on Sep 29, 2026 was "a massive visual update to the map and neutrals, six new heroes, HUD updates, numerous quality-of-life additions, accessibility options, and more". It renamed the lanes, added four Districts and the Haunts, and released Rat King, Baba, Solomon, Deadman Danny, Violet and Nurse Harrow by vote between Oct 2 and Oct 20, 2026, with "over 110 Million votes" cast (Valve, Oct 20, 2026). PC Gamer called it "Valve's second major overhaul" (PC Gamer, Sep 29, 2026). Players set a new record of 303,347 on Oct 16, 2026, as Steam Player Count shows.

Sources: Valve's posts linked above. Patches and Updates lists every update with its notes, and City Never Sleeps Update, Old Gods New Blood Update and Hero Voting cover the latest in detail.

Valve's stated plans

2:30 Valve's Sep 29, 2026 note is its fullest statement of plans. It describes working on "several different things in parallel" since Old Gods, New Blood, including "progression and hero/hideout customizations", which it wants to adjust "before the game is fully released". It is also testing "large item redesigns/additions and alternate game modes that expand the scope of the game", though it is not "100% sure" they will ship. The Mid-Boss, Guardians and Walkers are next, and hero remodels will come gradually "in the near future" (Valve, Sep 29, 2026).

3:06 Outlets have read more into the game files than Valve has said. PC Gamer reported that a dataminer shared early Wardrobe concept art from the game files on Sep 30, 2026, showing heroes in alternative outfits, and that the new modes could include a rumored PvE mode (PC Gamer, Sep 30, 2026). Valve has confirmed neither. Release Date and Playtest covers what is known about a release.

Frequently asked questions

What was Deadlock called before? Deadlock is linked to Valve projects reported under the codenames "Citadel" (2021) and "Neon Prime" (2022), according to CGMagazine and PCGamesN; Valve has not commented on them.

When was Deadlock revealed? Valve officially revealed Deadlock on Aug 23, 2024 by opening its Steam page and lifting the playtest's gag rule (Valve forums).

When did Deadlock leak? Deadlock gameplay and screenshots leaked in May 2024 during Valve's closed playtest, months before the official reveal (TheFPSReview, May 22, 2024).

Who is Yoshi from Deadlock? Yoshi is the Valve developer who posts Deadlock's patch notes and announcements on Valve's forum and Discord; Valve has not given a full name (PCGamesN, Aug 9, 2026).

Did Deadlock used to have four lanes? Yes. Deadlock had four lanes until Valve's Map Rework Update of Feb 25, 2025 redesigned the map around three.

How long has Deadlock been in development? Deadlock has been playtested since at least spring 2024, when Valve's public patch log begins on May 3, 2024, and builds on earlier projects reported from 2021 (Valve forums; CGMagazine).

Sources

• Deadlock Gameplay: Full Bot Match (4K 60fps), IGN, Aug 30, 2024 (video)
• What Is Deadlock?, GameSpot, Sep 18, 2024 (video)
• DEADLOCK ... For Noobs (2 Years Later), Macro, Oct 19, 2026 (video)
• Deadlock Devs Explain Everything NOT in the City Never Sleeps Major Update, Goopy, Sep 30, 2026 (video)
• Changelog, Valve's Deadlock forums, read Oct 26, 2026
• 08-23-2024 Update, Valve (Yoshi), Aug 23, 2024
• 09-26-2024 Update, Valve (Yoshi), Sep 26, 2024
• 10-10-2024 Update, Valve (Yoshi), Oct 10, 2024
• 10-24-2024 Update, Valve, Oct 24, 2024
• 11-21-2024 Update, Valve (Yoshi), Nov 21, 2024
• Winter Visual Update, Valve, Dec 17, 2024
• Holliday, Vyper, Calico, and The Magnificent Sinclair, Valve, Jan 17, 2025
• Map Rework Update, Valve, Feb 25, 2025
• Shop Rework Update, Valve, May 8, 2025
• Six New Heroes, Valve, Aug 18, 2025
• 11-21-2025 Update, Valve, Nov 21, 2025
• Old Gods, New Blood, Valve, Jan 22, 2026
• Apollo - A Cut Above, Valve, Feb 12, 2026
• Gameplay Update - 03-06-2026, Valve, Mar 6, 2026
• Gameplay Update - 04-30-2026, Valve, Apr 30, 2026
• Gameplay Update - 05-22-2026, Valve, May 22, 2026
• Minor Update - 06-30-2026, Valve, Jun 30, 2026
• Matchmaking Update, Valve, Jul 30, 2026
• City Never Sleeps, Valve, Sep 29, 2026
• Shh... This Won't Hurt a Bit., Valve, Oct 20, 2026
• Deadlock on Steam, Valve, read Oct 26, 2026
• Deadlock charts, SteamDB, read Oct 26, 2026
• Valve's Next Game Is a Hero Shooter Called Deadlock, According to New Leak, CGMagazine, May 2024
• Deadlock: Gameplay Footage and Screenshots for Valve's 6v6 Dota-Inspired Hero Shooter Leak Out, TheFPSReview, May 22, 2024
• Deadlock 17k concurrent players Steam closed playtest, Game World Observer, Aug 12, 2024
• After four months, hundreds of leaked gameplay videos, and everybody you know having played it, Valve finally admitted Deadlock exists, PC Gamer (Ted Litchfield), Aug 23, 2024
• How to get into the Deadlock beta, PC Gamer (Morgan Park), Aug 16, 2024
• All Deadlock characters and abilities, PC Gamer (Sarah Richter), 2026
• Valve assures Deadlock players hungry for its next big update that it will notify them, 'or order a ton of pizza', when it's ready, PC Gamer (Tyler Colp), Aug 29, 2026
• Deadlock's gigantic new update gives its city a spooky new coat of paint, PC Gamer (Tyler Colp), Sep 29, 2026
• Valve says Deadlock is still too unfinished to release publicly, but has hero cosmetics and new game modes in the works, PC Gamer (Tyler Colp), Sep 30, 2026
• Deadlock isn't even 'out' yet, but Valve's new game is a true monster in the making, PCGamesN (Ken Allsop), Aug 9, 2026
• Deadlock from Valve drops fixed two-week update cycle, GamingOnLinux (Liam Squires-Hand), Jan 8, 2025
• Deadlock surpassed 100,000 concurrent players, Valve adds wall jumping, GamingOnLinux (Liam Squires-Hand), Aug 30, 2024
• Deadlock peaked at over 170k players during its playtest this last weekend, Shacknews (TJ Denzer), Sep 3, 2024
• Valve's Deadlock lets you turn cheaters into frogs, Engadget, Sep 27, 2024