Valve says Deadlock is still too unfinished to release publicly, but has hero cosmetics and new game modes in the works

Deadlock's massive new update isn't a sign of an imminent public release, according to the MOBA's first proper development update. The invite-only game continues to grow in scope and polish, but Valve says there's still a lot of work to do.

"We think building a multiplayer game is very hard and risky, and the best way to minimize that risk [is] to make sure that we are able to have it in players' hands from an early state to help us shape it and tell us what is fun and what isn't," Valve says at the top of the update.

Six new heroes and a ton of visual overhauls came to Deadlock earlier this year in the Old Gods, New Blood update. While not everything in the game was touched, the breadth of the update made it seem like Deadlock was entering the next stage in its development. The level of polish in the map and many of the game's systems reached a point where it was hard to call it "unfinished" as far as early access games typically go.

But Valve can and will do whatever it wants, and in this case that doesn't involve releasing the game to a wider audience. Looking back at that update in this new post, Valve says "there was still a good amount of work we wanted to do on the core game itself before we moved onto more polish phases of the game development (like updating older hero artwork)."

Valve says the Deadlock team shifted away from focusing on specific areas of the game and started working on many things in parallel this year. Most of those things are in the new City Never Sleeps update, like the redesigned map and items, but some are still on their way: "This even includes things like progression and hero/hideout customizations, as we feel those are features we want to be able to adjust and significantly change based on feedback before the game is fully released."

There's an early Wardrobe concept art in Deadlock files that shows heroes in alternative outfits and it looks like Rem is going to have a rain coat: models/heroes_wip/familiar/familiar_rainday.vmdlmodels/hideout/materials/ hideout_wardrobe_display_bg_color_png_11fd48a6.vtex… pic.twitter.com/XPlz8JB717September 30, 2026

"There are also other things we've been working on recently that are more speculative (as in we aren't 100% sure if they will be released or not based on how playtesting goes, though results so far have been promising) like large item redesigns/additions and alternative game modes that expand the scope of the game," Valve says. The new game modes could include the rumored PvE mode created by former Risk of Rain developers.

Visual updates for older heroes were originally planned to happen "towards the end of early development," Valve says, but it will "likely be gradually working on them in the near future for inclusion in upcoming updates alongside other work."

I'd love to know what prompted the team to move those up in the list because it doesn't sound like Deadlock's "early development" is over yet—or is it? Valve's update doesn't provide any clear indicators for when it expects it to feel finished enough to enter the polish phase.

Right now, it seems like the only sign of that happening will be whenever a bunch of heroes start getting attention. And even then, we don't know if Valve plans to release Deadlock to the public before every inch of it is perfect. If you want a peek at its spooky map or cast of weirdo heroes, you'd better find someone to beg for an invite because I don't think Valve's letting it out of the cage anytime soon.

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