There's a new Valve game out there called Deadlock: it's a third-person shooter with heroes, abilities, and what looks like a Dota 2-style map. A lot of people are playing it every day, but Valve hasn't acknowledged that such a game exists. And now we're noticing that Deadlock even has a public subreddit.
r/DeadlockTheGame, currently sitting at three and a half thousand members, describes itself as "the go to community for Deadlock, a third person MOBA currently in development by Valve Corporation." It was created three months ago, around the same time screenshots and gameplay videos for Deadlock began leaking onto the web. The subreddit hasn't seen a ton of activity since its founding, but scrolling down reveals a steady trickling of players in the hush-hush alpha tests sharing their thoughts on the game.
"Valve should make the sharp turns in the zipline more curvy," wrote user fwa451 just hours ago. "Idk that's it. It didn't bother me that much before but I played Bioshock Infinite recently and the zipline rides feel very comfortable and aesthetic."
I don't know how Valve could possibly improve the ziplines in a game it has never heard of, but I see what they mean. See, based on the dozens and dozens of leaked Deadlock videos out there, it appears ziplines are the main method of fast travel to and from lanes. It does look a lot like BioShock Infinite's rail lines, and I agree it could look smoother.
Here's a fun one: There's a hosting service already advertising and selling Deadlock dedicated servers on the subreddit.
"Just wanted to share that we've been experimenting with dedicated servers for Deadlock, and it’s working pretty smoothly—just like for any other game," wrote the Dathost account. "Right now, we’ve got servers up in Europe and North America."
User Tbmode has apparently played so much Deadlock that they want Valve to get more heroes in there ASAP, and aerostalgic already has you covered with farm priorities and carry capabilities.
"Add analog of Razor from DOTA. I mean I know in game we have Seven but I truly need static link!" Tbmode wrote.
Elsewhere, players are arguing about hero balancing, how much the early build they're playing keeps crashing, and to what degree Deadlock should be considered a "MOBA" or a "shooter." It's got lanes, it's got creeps, it's got a store, but it also has movement tech and guns. So is it a MOBA with shooting, or a shooter with MOBA stuff?
A question for the developer of Deadlock to answer, if we ever do find them…
