TheRetroArcade
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Posts: 11,431
Joined: Feb 2026
Joined: Feb 2026
Valve continues to polish the game into one of the moodiest MOBAs out there.
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The cursed city where Deadlock's battles take place just got even spookier than it already was in the City Never Sleeps update. Valve's second major overhaul for the invite-only MOBA marks another major step in its pseudo-early access development, giving it a much stronger visual identity than it had before, six striking new heroes, and a massive list of tweaks to how it plays.
Deadlock's entire map has been redecorated into three distinct themes: a bright city center, a haunted university, and a shadowy stock exchange. All the buildings and creeps that inhabit each street have been redesigned to fit in. There are pickle jars with hands growing out of them lurking in the heart of the map, sentient stacks of books in the right lane, and slimy trashbag monsters in the left lane.
Squeezed between it all are four districts with their own identities, like a theater district infested with literal stage hands pulling the strings on steampunk-style automatons. Atop the Chinatown district is a bell tower where teams can fight over a fountain of souls to try to get a currency advantage in a tight match. Even the wooden crates that players smash for resources are now padlocked and bolted shut.
It's a whole new playground that will take some time for players to fully figure out. In the meantime, Valve has prepared six new heroes who will be released based on a player voting system, just like the previous set. My money's on the Rat King taking the lead because, well, he's the Rat King, a crowned rodent that began as a fan concept a year ago and quickly became a meme in the community.
Don't get me wrong, though, the others look great, too. Valve made a nurse who holds a needle like a gun, a Chess master who seems to float like Overwatch's Zenyatta, a skeleton who found a rocket launcher, a cozy old witch who I do not trust, and a young artist who wields a paintbrush. Two heroes will drop each week with the first making their debut on Friday.
Here's some other big changes I see on the update page:
All of this is only a fraction of the things Valve has added to the game, some of which it's intentionally keeping a secret so players can discover them on their own. Despite the size of the update, Valve hasn't removed the need for an invite to play Deadlock. One has to wonder how many of these it will take before the game is finally released to the public so everyone can get a taste of what Valve's been cooking up.
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2026 games: All the upcoming gamesBest PC games: Our all-time favoritesFree PC games: Freebie festBest FPS games: Finest gunplayBest RPGs: Grand adventuresBest co-op games: Better together
Tyler has covered videogames and PC hardware for 15 years. He regularly spends time playing and reporting on games like Diablo 4, Elden Ring, Overwatch 2, and Final Fantasy 14. While his specialty is in action RPGs and MMOs, he's driven to cover all sorts of games whether they're broken, beautiful, or bizarre.
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Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
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When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
The cursed city where Deadlock's battles take place just got even spookier than it already was in the City Never Sleeps update. Valve's second major overhaul for the invite-only MOBA marks another major step in its pseudo-early access development, giving it a much stronger visual identity than it had before, six striking new heroes, and a massive list of tweaks to how it plays.
Deadlock's entire map has been redecorated into three distinct themes: a bright city center, a haunted university, and a shadowy stock exchange. All the buildings and creeps that inhabit each street have been redesigned to fit in. There are pickle jars with hands growing out of them lurking in the heart of the map, sentient stacks of books in the right lane, and slimy trashbag monsters in the left lane.
Squeezed between it all are four districts with their own identities, like a theater district infested with literal stage hands pulling the strings on steampunk-style automatons. Atop the Chinatown district is a bell tower where teams can fight over a fountain of souls to try to get a currency advantage in a tight match. Even the wooden crates that players smash for resources are now padlocked and bolted shut.
It's a whole new playground that will take some time for players to fully figure out. In the meantime, Valve has prepared six new heroes who will be released based on a player voting system, just like the previous set. My money's on the Rat King taking the lead because, well, he's the Rat King, a crowned rodent that began as a fan concept a year ago and quickly became a meme in the community.
Don't get me wrong, though, the others look great, too. Valve made a nurse who holds a needle like a gun, a Chess master who seems to float like Overwatch's Zenyatta, a skeleton who found a rocket launcher, a cozy old witch who I do not trust, and a young artist who wields a paintbrush. Two heroes will drop each week with the first making their debut on Friday.
Here's some other big changes I see on the update page:
All of this is only a fraction of the things Valve has added to the game, some of which it's intentionally keeping a secret so players can discover them on their own. Despite the size of the update, Valve hasn't removed the need for an invite to play Deadlock. One has to wonder how many of these it will take before the game is finally released to the public so everyone can get a taste of what Valve's been cooking up.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
2026 games: All the upcoming gamesBest PC games: Our all-time favoritesFree PC games: Freebie festBest FPS games: Finest gunplayBest RPGs: Grand adventuresBest co-op games: Better together
Tyler has covered videogames and PC hardware for 15 years. He regularly spends time playing and reporting on games like Diablo 4, Elden Ring, Overwatch 2, and Final Fantasy 14. While his specialty is in action RPGs and MMOs, he's driven to cover all sorts of games whether they're broken, beautiful, or bizarre.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?