To no one’s surprise, Valve’s new not-so-secret MOBA shooter, Deadlock, just recently cracked 100,000 concurrent players, earning it a place in the top 20 games on Steam. It has accomplished this feat without an official steam page or release date in sight, making it one of the most bizarre releases in recent years.
Valve’s approach in the lead-up to releasing their new game is an interesting one that has got a lot of people talking. The game is clearly in its alpha test phase and still looks to be in its early stages of development despite being fully playable. What we can gather from our first impressions of the game is that it’s a 6v6 shooter with multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) elements.
Deadlock has been a very hot topic of discussion in gaming, especially in regards to its approach to testing rather than its actual gameplay. Reviews of the game so far are fairly positive owing to the fact that it’s still quite early in development, but the common consensus regardless of mixed reviews is that the game is without a doubt a fun experience. This is very evident based on the recent concurrent player numbers, with the game cracking 100,000 players, putting it in the top 20 on the Steam Charts.
img: Deadlock Steam Charts – src: SteamDB
This number is incredibly high for a game in early access, with the only other game seeing such numbers while still in early access being Player Unknown BattleGrounds (PUBG). Additionally, PUBG had the unfair advantage of already being on other platforms as well as having a ton of hype surrounding it, which only makes the Deadlock situation even more impressive.
It seems that more and more players are figuring out how to bypass the invite-only system that was put in place by Valve to restrict people from accessing the game. With the massive number of players on the game currently, it’s only fair to suspect that this was done intentionally by Valve to drive conversation around the game, add a layer of exclusivity to it, and then lure players in.
img: Deadlock Art – src: Steam
The game functions as a shooter but incorporates elements from MOBA games such as different lanes and stationary defenses that need to be attacked for your army of grunts to advance. The game is less of a shooter in terms of rewarding pinpoint accuracy and is more of one based on the ability to consistently fire at an enemy to wear down their health bar; think more Team Fortress and less Counter-Strike.
Outside of creating a sense of exclusivity, it’s also possible that Valve used this approach as a litmus test to gauge the game’s reception. Deadlock, despite sharing elements with multiple games, still feels very unique and is likely to be considered a risk by any studio, especially in a gaming market where familiarity is rewarded and being different is punished. Nevertheless, judging by the public reception, Deadlock is likely to achieve moderate success when it eventually releases with its full potential yet to be realized.
