Deadlock

Deadlock is a third-person shooter and multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game, featuring two teams with six players each that battle each other. In each match, the twelve players control characters who split across three lanes (formerly four lanes) in a large city. To win, one team has to advance their "troopers", a category of non-player characters (NPCs) who fight alongside players, towards the enemy "patron", a possessed effigy, by defeating the other's team troopers, who respawn in waves, and players. Before defeating the patron, a team has to take down entities known as "guardians", "walkers", "base guardians", and "shrines" which are located on the lanes and protect the patron. Its style of gameplay has been described as a mix of Overwatch (2023), Dota 2 (2013), and Team Fortress 2 (2007).

Throughout the game, players earn "souls" as currency through different methods. Souls can be spent at shops on items that level their character's abilities and weapons. Certain items also provide the player with additional active abilities. Deadlock features various movement mechanics, including sliding, dashing, and double jumping, and players can also travel through the lanes via zip lines. The city features numerous alleyways and hidden paths, as well as systems of vents and crawlspaces, through which players can also navigate.

Deadlock is being developed by Valve in the Source 2 video game engine. Its development allegedly started in 2018. References to its internal code name Citadel were discovered in the code for Dota 2 in 2019, and it was speculated at the time to be an entry in the Half-Life series due to sharing its name with the final area of Half-Life 2. In October 2022, Valve registered a trademark for Neon Prime; video game journalists suggested that it could be a new video game from the developer.

Duncan Drummond, co-creator and designer of Risk of Rain 2 (2019), is a gameplay designer on Deadlock, and its movement systems and design choices have been noted as similar to the Risk of Rain sequel. Dota 2 director IceFrog has contributed, and was speculated by a data miner to also be Deadlock's lead. Further details were reported from the same data miner in 2023, who speculated that it was an instalment in the Dota series and "a sci-fi-oriented third-person 'MOBA-lite' that looks like Overwatch mixed with Team Fortress 2 mixed with Dota 2". He added that there was an external playtest during the same period. In August 2024, an anonymous Valve developer shared early footage of Deadlock.

While it was still internally known as Neon Prime, VG247 described the aesthetic as "futuristic sci-fi/cyberpunk" and "Japan-inspired".

Sean Hollister of The Verge published a full review of Deadlock in its early development in August 2024. He noted that since he had not signed a NDA, he was open to review it, despite a dialog box telling him not to share any information about it with others. He was subsequently banned from the game. Some readers responded negatively to the article's publication.