Tens of thousands of people have been playing Deadlock, a new multiplayer shooter from Valve, for months now, but there has been no official announcement or acknowledgement of the game's existence from its creators. Until now. Valve has published a starkly minimalist Steam store page for Deadlock, describing it as an “early-stage multiplayer game.”
“Deadlock is still in early development with lots of temporary art and experimental gameplay,” the page states. “Access to Deadlock is currently limited to friend invites through our testers.” The page also contains a single 22-second trailer and no screenshots.
At the time of writing, 63,000 people are playing Deadlock. Previously, those with access to the beta were asked to “not share anything about the game with anyone,” though footage inevitably leaked onto the web. That restriction has now been lifted entirely, with people posting their thoughts and more videos online.
Deadlock feels like a mix of Dota and Super Monday Night Combat; a 6v6 third-person multiplayer shooter with lanes, respawning monsters, and a skyrail transportation system.
I've heard it's weird that Valve wouldn't announce a game that a lot of people are playing, but honestly, I can understand the decision. Valve is notorious for canceling projects mid-development, and as a genre, a lot of multiplayer shooters seem to stumble during their beta phase. How many games has Ubisoft announced in the last five years, for example, only to cancel them as soon as players got their hands on them? My only disappointment is that Valve didn't come up with a more interesting name than “Deadlock” before making it official.