In the early hours of September 30, Valve rolled out City Never Sleeps for Deadlock, the most significant update in the beta's history so far. New York has been transformed almost beyond recognition, six new characters are on the way, and the game's concurrent player count has smashed a record that had stood for more than a year.The previous peak of 171,490 concurrent players had stood since September 2024, when Valve had only recently started handing out invites. The new record is 228,086. And the game still has no release date and remains accessible only through invitations from friends. In other words, none of those 228,000 players simply stumbled across it and jumped in. Every one of them had to be invited.Valve announced six heroes at once: Nurse Harrow, Rat King, Solomon, Deadman Danny, Baba, and Violet. They will be released gradually, two per week, starting on October 2. Players themselves decide the release order by voting in the pre-match lobby. Votes from the winning team count double, and the first win of the day also grants bonus votes.Image unavailable
Map: Four New Districts With Risk-and-Reward Mechanics
All three lanes have received a new look, while the old neutral camps have been replaced by new Haunts with three tiers of difficulty. Four Districts have also appeared between the lanes:
Theater — floating Stage Hands among the scenery;
Chinatown — Festival Spirits and the Bell Tower, which contains a large amount of Souls but rings loudly across the entire map while you collect them;
Haunted Lot — an abandoned area inhabited by animated Shrooms;
Plaza — home to the Sunken Plaza, where the deeper you descend, the more your Stamina is restricted, but the greater the potential rewards;
The map also now features Tough Crates, which can only be broken with a Heavy Melee attack, Buff Containers, Healing Snacks, and Steam Vents.
Temporary Merchant With Corrupted Items: The Broker
Around the 30-minute mark, a mysterious merchant called The Broker appears. He exchanges high-tier items for Corrupted versions with stronger stats but random negative effects. His stock refreshes roughly every 15 minutes. The Broker will disappear on October 2 when the first new hero is released.Image unavailable
Interface and Technology
The HUD has been reworked, with more than 15,000 new and updated ping lines added. The number of pre-match hero conversations has increased from over 700 to 1,500, alongside more than 10,000 new voice lines. Deadlock has also been updated to the latest version of Source 2. Valve improved performance, anti-cheat, and network prediction, and added a dedicated 21:9 HUD option for ultrawide displays.Looks like it might be time to give the game another try?
