A new Massive Online Battlefield Arena (MOBA) appears to be over in the works at Valve: Deadlock. The game is an Overwatch-style shooter and the first set of leaks has already hit Twitter, or X. Leaked by account @gabefollower, the initial information on the game is that the project, previously Neon Prime, is a “third person, shooter style 6 vs 6… on a huge 4 lane map”. It uses tower defense aspects, which might call to mind the tower system in MOBAs like League of Legends or Smite. 

In terms of vibe, Gabe commented on how the game seems to have moved away from the Half-Life, Portal influences it had adopted when it was still Neon Prime. Now it has embraced more of a fantasy science fiction fusion, with more emphasis on the fantasy. The leaks also included some images of one of the heroes that players will get to use: Grey Talon, a hunter focused on long range attacks and skill shoots. The lanes in the standard map also seem to include some system that will allow players to travel quickly back to lane from base. The navigation of when to back and get new items versus when to greed one more wave is an age old MOBA dilemma, and one that Deadlock might be mitigating. 

There was also a YouTube video by Tyler McVicker, Valve’s own “passionate gamer,” that commented on the leaks as well. In it, McVicker specifically focuses on the relationship that Valve has had with leaks in the past due to their apparent preference for a “gentleman’s agreement” as opposed to a traditional NDA. So in some ways McVicker sounds relatively unsurprised with all the leaks from the closed alpha that is apparently open to a lot of people. However, IGN instead states that players are currently participating in closed alpha testing under an NDA. If the change in that policy has truly occurred, it leaves one to how Valve may respond to these leakers.