The ever-churning waters of Valve game rumors have now thrown out a new game called Deadlock, previously known as Neon Prime, which apparently acts on a trademark filed two years ago.
Yesterday, Valve content creator Gabe Follower claimed that the studio is making a new game called Deadlock, which was previously called Neon Prime. Described as a "competitive third person hero-based shooter," the game allegedly has teams of six players battling it out on "huge maps" with four lanes, using tower defence mechanics, with a fantasy/steampunk aesthetic blending "magicians, weird creatures and robots."
Basically, fast-paced interesting ADHD gameplay. Combination of Dota 2, Team Fortress 2, Overwatch, Valorant, Smite, Orcs Must Die.Hero design pretty much inspired by Dota universe. Main map references modern steampunk European city (little bit like Half-Life). Initially game…May 16, 2024
The Twitter account goes on to claim that it's a "combination of Dota 2, Team Fortress 2, Overwatch, Valorant, Smite, Orcs Must Die," with fast-paced gameplay. The designs of playable characters are allegedly inspired by DOTA games, and it's also claimed that while an earlier version of Deadlock had "sci-fi elements inspired by Half-Life and Portal," negative feedback prompted Valve's developers to switch to more of a fantastical setting.
Shortly after the two tweets above, a series of images purportedly from Deadlock leaked online via Imgur. The four images show hero characters battling it out in the third-person perspective, as well as a long-range specialist character called Grey Talon, complete with a bow. The map screenshots do admittedly look European by design - they bring to mind the architecture of French cities like Paris and Lyon in particular.
Additionally, Valve leaker Tyler McVicker has provided some supposed information about Deadlock. In the video below, McVicker claims that Deadlock is currently in the alpha stage of development, and is undergoing playtesting from not only developers at Valve, but content creators as well. McVicker also claims an announcement about Deadlock is imminent, and he's surprised more details about the game haven't leaked online, considering the amount of people apparently playing the shooter.
This could finally be making good on a Valve trademark filed two years ago. Back in 2022, Valve filed a trademark for something called Neon Prime, which, two years later, we still have zero information on. If the information being shared recently is accurate, it seems Valve's Neon Prime has actually changed names to Deadlock instead.
Check out our upcoming PC games guide for a look over all the confirmed games coming to Valve's storefront and others in the near future.
