Risk of Rain co-creator led the design of one of Deadlock's new heroes, to the surprise of no one: "Viper is such a Hopoo character"

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Duncan "Hopoo" Drummond only joined Valve 2 months ago, but has been busy

Risk of Rain 2
(Image credit: Hopoo Games)

Risk of Rain creator Duncan "Hopoo" Drummond may have only joined Valve to work on Deadlock just under two months ago, but his fingerprints are already well and truly on the MOBA thanks to two new heroes.

Over on the game's dedicated Discord, Drummond confirms that, yes, he was the lead on Viper and Magician. Fans already had a hunch thanks to the former more than the latter having some strong Risk of Rain vibes, and even now continue to talk about the shared DNA.

"It's such a simple yet clever way to create new character concepts, and it doesn’t surprise me in the least that they’re carrying that philosophy over to their work on Deadlock."

Another, more simply, says: "Viper is such a Hopoo character."

Currently in Deadlock's Hero Labs, Viper is a slithery assassin who can jump high-priority targets thanks to their strong ability to slide on in. The Magician, not to be forgotten, is more about confusing foes through their dirty ol' magic tricks. Mind you, as both of these characters are on the Hero Labs, they are likely subject to change. Regardless, we're sure the good ol' Risk of Rain DNA will remain.

Iain Harris
Iain Harris
News Editor, Games

I joined GamesRadar+ in May 2022 following stints at PCGamesN and PocketGamer.Biz, with some freelance for Kotaku UK, RockPaperShotgun, and VG24/7 thrown in for good measure. When I'm not running the news team on the games side, you'll find me putting News Editor duties to one side to play the hottest JRPG of 20 years ago or pillaging the depths of Final Fantasy 14 for a swanky new cloak – the more colourful, the better.