New Deadlock update adds adorable hero who specializes in naps and pillow fights, sees Valve's shooter soar to nearly 100,000 players

Deadlock is back in the limelight, it seems, and it's all thanks to Rem – an adorable new hero that might just be Valve's cutest support character to come to the limited-access third-person shooter yet.

Six new characters are coming to Deadlock as part of its huge Old Gods, New Blood update – but there's a catch. Two of the heroes are set to drop each week for the next three weeks, until they're all finally available to play in-game.

One of the first to arrive is none other than Rem, a precious little guy packing some heavy support abilities, thanks to a recent community vote. Valve describes him as "an accidental stowaway from the world of dreams." Think Sandman-esque vibes.

"Pillow fights are Rem's preferred form of conflict," the developer writes, "tossing his favorite pillow at enemies to knock them back when they're getting too close" – and I think I'm obsessed. He doesn't just specialize in naptime himself, though.

He has "Lil Helpers" who work to buff and support allies while he does the more heavy lifting (heavy lifting meaning taking literal naps beside you to provide heals). It's not surprising Rem won the vote, eh?

Rem isn't just proving his popularity via online votes, though. As per SteamDB, Deadlock just hit a 24-hour peak of nearly 100,000 at 98,887 active players – a high number the game hasn't seen in nearly two years, with the all-time record of 171,490 having popped in August of 2024.

It's also a significant jump from 20 to 30,000 players that Deadlock was averaging prior to Rem's debut and the Old Gods, New Blood update. There's more to come, too. The necromancer hero Graves, werewolf-like character Silver, unicorn-horned performer Celeste, arms expert Venator, and last but not least, Apollo, who comes wielding a sword.

The future looks bright for Deadlock stans, and if the numbers are anything to go by, we might just see the up-and-coming Valve shooter hit a fresh record of peak players. What's 70,000 more or so, right?

Here are some of the other most exciting new games this year and beyond to keep an eye on if you want even more to look forward to after Deadlock.