We now have an interesting rumor on the upcoming Valve game that was once known as Neon Prime.
We reported on Valve registering the Neon Prime trademark in 2022, and that the game was under the codename of Citadel. At the time, details on the game were still under a specter of mystery, but several sources seem to be speaking up on it now.
Valve dataminer gabefollower made these tweets about the game, including its new name:
“Deadlock. Next Valve game. Previously known as Neon Prime, Citadel. Competitive third person hero-based shooter. 6 vs 6 battling on huge map with 4 lanes. Usable abilities and items.
Tower defense mechanics. Fantasy setting mixed with steampunk. Magicians, weird creatures and robots. Fast travel using floating rails, similar to Bioshock Infinite.
Basically, fast-paced interesting ADHD gameplay. Combination of Dota 2, Team Fortress 2, Overwatch, Valorant, Smite, Orcs Must Die.
Hero design pretty much inspired by Dota universe. Main map references modern steampunk European city (little bit like Half-Life). Initially game had sci-fi elements inspired by Half-Life and Portal, but after bad feedback dev team decided to focus on fantasy.”
We also found a YouTube from Tyler McVicker sharing the same information and adding some additional insight. Tyler explained that Valve originally got fans and influencers they liked to check out early betas of their games, and they did not require NDAs. Basically, Valve relied on a gentleman’s agreement for those fans to keep their secrets. Of course, this all ended around the 2010s, when one gamer proved to be a non-gentleman, and leaked DOTA Underlords.
But Tyler shared this story to point out that many such fans get an early look at their games and just don’t talk about it. Tyler received such an early preview of their card collectible game Artifact. And he also knew the game before it was Deadlock, when it was Neon Prime.
Tyler describes Neon Prime as ‘hard-edged, Sci-Fi cassette futuristic take on the Half-Life universe, in a third person competitive hero-based, team-based light MOBA tower defense shooter.” In the middle of development, Tyler says that Valve roughed out the hard sci-fi edges, and removed the Half-Life connection to make it a new and original IP instead.
Tyler largely corroborates gabefollower’s rumor, only adding his own emphasis that this is also part MOBA. He namedrops inspirations from Valorant, Overwatch, DOTA 2, and Team Fortress 2. Tyler also explains the art style got tweaked to support its fantasy setting.
And here’s the meaty stuff. Deadlock was in development two years before Half-Life Alyx released (2018), and Valve was making it this whole time. The reason word is starting to spread about it is a lot of people in and outside Valve have access to its closed alpha right now. These players even have their own Discord, and that Discord and community of alpha players is growing, in the hundreds.
Tyler says a lot of big name influencers and streamers are in a private Discord also playing this game, and now under NDA. These people couldn’t have leaked the game, but the other alpha players could have, and that in itself is actually kind of surprising.
Deadlock is Valve’s next major competitive game, their next Counter-Strike or DOTA, you might say. Apparently, Valve wants to bring their different competitive communities together in one title, which is an audacious goal, but for a company as successful as Valve, it might be the right thing for them to go next.
Tyler believes the leaks may force Valve to speed up their official reveal, but we’ll see how that works out. Between now and June, Valve may have already an official reveal trailer scheduled, but that doesn’t mean they can’t just do it now.
