LogInDeadlock is silently popular.
Valve, The Verge
By now, you've probably heard of Valve's hero-based shooter Deadlock, which feels like an open secret – we know its name, we've seen its gameplay, we've found its Steam page, but Valve is yet to even acknowledge its existence.
Whether or not it does so, there are plenty of players enjoying the game already and bringing Deadlock to new player peaks. At the moment, its record is 18,254 concurrent players, and over 5,000 are testing the shooter right now.
Back in May, there were "hundreds" of playtesters in the shooter, but I guess this number has grown. If you were wondering how to play Valve's Deadlock (and how there are so many players before launch,) you'll need a friend who has been invited to the playtest and who's willing to pull you in.
If you're eager to jump in without an invitation, you'll be disappointed. Eurogamer's reporter Victoria Kennedy tried to install the game but was faced with a message saying, "An error occurred while launching this game: Game configuration unavailable."
So you'll have to be happy with little glimpses for now. Deadlock is described as a "combination of Dota 2, Team Fortress 2, Overwatch, Valorant, Smite, and Orcs Must Die." It will offer playable abilities and items, tower defense mechanics, robots, and a fast-travel system with floating rails.
The Verge has more to tell about Deadlock, as its Sean Hollister got to play it recently. He says it's all about constant fights between your team’s Troopers and the enemy's. "Each match culminates in an all-hands-on-deck fight against the enemy’s Patron, a gigantic floating orb with arms and death rays."
As promised, there are ziplines that help you traverse the map and avoid attacks, along with dashes and slides for better maneuvering.
"To power up, I needed to take my hero back to a shop to buy new perks with the souls I’d accumulated by destroying enemy troopers and heroes, but that left my territory undefended. By the time I returned, the front lines had been pushed back further than I would have liked."
There is a gameplay video on YouTube, and I'd go check it out before Valve tells The Verge it doesn't appreciate it leaking its content. Then again, conspiracy theorists will say it's just a coordinated marketing move.
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