Valve Promises Robust Anti-Cheat System for Deadlock

Despite not being officially released, the upcoming hero shooter/MOBA hybrid Deadlock, created by Valve, has already seen multiple reports of cheaters ruining the experience for players.

Currently, the game is in its closed beta stage, with those participating only able to invite their friends. Pulling in a concurrent player count of over 100,000 as of August 2024, the game is already proving to be wildly popular, but as to be expected in the world we live in, cheaters are already ruining things.

Valve is currently hard at work on anti-cheat software for the title, according to developer Yoshi on the game’s official Discord server (and spotted by PC Gamer). This came in response to one user’s concern over user’s ability to bind multiple actions to a single key.

“Our plan is to restrict those in the near future, once we get enough of the legitimate uses people have added to the settings menu,” Yoshi said. In August, Valve claimed that anti-cheat was being considered a “very high priority in the long term.”

It’s unclear when players can expect to see this new software implemented in-game, nor is it clear how effective it will be. In the past, Valve has been hesitant to commit to kernel-level anti-cheat given its unpopularity with the gaming community.

Last week, Deadlock received a large update that vastly improved the hero shooter/MOBA’s minimap and added a low-priority queue for players who don’t know how to behave. Additionally, matchmaking is now open 24/7 for all regions, something making those taking part in the game’s current testing phase very happy.

While many Valve fans were aware of the studio’s upcoming title in some capacity, Deadlock remained an open secret until it was officially announced in August. A full release date for Deadlock has not yet been announced.