Rumor: New Deadlock Details Leak, Including Characters And Gameplay Design

Following our initial report on rumors about Deadlock, a new set of rumors have arrived.

For those who aren’t caught up yet, Deadlock is the next video game from Valve, and it is the same project that was originally known as Neon Prime when Valve registered that name as a trademark in 2022. Valve has been allowing a group of influencers to be part of the testing for Deadlock, so the game has been vulnerable to leaks for a while.

We are aware a lot of videos are, in fact, leaking now, showing footage purporting to be from Deadlock. Of course, we can’t verify that that footage is legitimate. Even if they are, it’s also possible that Valve will make even more changes from that leaked beta or alpha, so that the final product will look and play different.

That means that these scoops may not really be any good, for people who actually want to play it. Insider Gaming claims to have independently verified information about Deadlock, so we’ll review what they have to say.

First off, Insider Gaming vouches for the information shared by GabeFollower. They also claim to have seen footage of gameplay, though they do not confirm if it’s the same footage going around online now. They do refer to it as an “early development build with lots of experimental gameplay features and art assets.”

Insider Gaming refers to Deadlock as a 6v6 third-person hero-based shooter. However, its gameplay loop, mechanics, and character variety is more akin to DOTA. That means, unlike the straightforward team shooter gameplay of a Team Fortress 2, you have to collect a resource from enemies mid-game to power up.

For Deadlock, those resources are souls, and you can collect them from randomly generating creeps across the map, or from enemies. There will also be spirit urns, that one designated player carries around the map, to help their team earn more souls.

These are the names of the characters Insider Gaming has confirmed for Deadlock. They also got descriptions for some characters:

• Abrams – A gargoyle-demon like character
• Bebop – A Red robot with what looks like a missing eye
• Dynamo – Another robot
• Grey Talon – A Native American character
• Haze
• Infernus
• Ivy – An Imp
• Kelvin
• Lady Geist
• Lash – A warrior
• McGinnis – A welder or blacksmith
• Mo & Krill – A monkey and pig duo
• Paradox
• Pocket
• Seven
• Vindicta – A vampire-looking character
• Warden – A police officer
• Wraith – A bounty hunter
• Yamato – A samurai-looking character

At this point, we will remind you that Valve has yet to confirm this game, or even acknowledge the rumors in any way. Given everything that’s coming out already, it looks like Valve is just about ready to make an official reveal, but for now, even that is only speculation.