Deadlock, Valve’s invite-only cross between Dota and Overwatch, has hit its highest player count ever — while still not fully available to the public. The game climbed to 228,086 concurrent players on Steam on September 29, according to SteamDB, the largest figure in its history, after Valve rolled out its huge City Never Sleeps update.
What the City Never Sleeps Update Changed
Released on September 29, the update drastically overhauled the game’s map, added six new heroes, more than doubled the character interaction voice lines, and packed in multiple HUD and quality-of-life improvements. It was a major moment for a game that still doesn’t have a release date.
The reworked New York-inspired map, The Cursed Apple, now has distinctly themed segments: the central blue lane is Broadway, the green lane is Greenwich, and the yellow lane is York. Between them sit smaller districts like the Theatre, Chinatown, the Haunted Lot, and the Plaza — and each lane and district has unique Haunts, the PvE enemies that fit the new look. The Deadlock community has also latched onto the new voice lines, with players picking out highlights of the game’s growing cast of oddball characters.
Still Invite-Only, Still Undated
Despite the momentum, Valve says Deadlock is still too unfinished to release publicly, as PC Gamer reports — though hero cosmetics and new game modes are in the works. If you want to play it right now, you’ll have to find someone with access who can gift you an invite code.
The milestone caps a notable stretch for Valve and Steam — a year that already included the platform’s biggest game leak in history. As Deadlock continues to pick up steam (on Steam), the question is just how big this game can get by the time it actually ships.