Valve’s MOBA Shooter Deadlock Cuts a Lane, Spurring Reactions From Its Playerbase

Deadlock, the MOBA-meets-hero shooter mash-up from Valve, has been in a perpetual state of quiet build-up over the last year. But that hasn’t stopped Valve from making massive, tectonic changes, like cutting down the number of lanes.

Yesterday, February 25, Valve published the Map Rework Update for Deadlock. Chief among the changes was a redesign of Deadlock’s core map around three lanes, rather than four. For those who don’t dabble in MOBAs, these “lanes” are the central focus of gameplay; minions spawn at each team’s base and surge down them, attempting to push the battle lines into each other’s territory. Players take up residence in the lanes, fighting over the killing blow on minions to accrue money and experience they can use to power up.

It’s one big game of tug-of-war, and reducing the number of figurative ropes from four to three has pretty drastic implications. It cuts down on one source of resources and reduces the number of fronts in the ongoing battle. It also means, for the 6-on-6 battles of Deadlock, that previously “solo” lanes will more often be duo lanes.

“Definitely going to be missing four lanes,” one commenter said on the Deadlock subreddit. “I always thought that was one of the more unique aspects of Deadlock. Oh well, learn and adapt I guess.”

Despite some of the worried hyperbole over map shifts, there is a degree of trust — though not absolute or unflinching — and voicing measured feedback. “It’s just a test guys chill,” said one commenter. “If it works well it stays, if it doesn’t work then it will go away like mid urn.” (A former game mechanic.)

A decent amount of this trust stems from the fact that IceFrog, the pseudonymous developer behind Dota 2, is also working on Deadlock. Dota 2 is fairly infamous for massive overhauls and game-changing updates, wiith patch notes that felt like getting whiplash from spreadsheets. Old memes stretching back to the early days of Dota 2, encouraging players to trust in IceFrog’s changes, have already been resurfaced for modern Deadlock players.

“Dota 2 has seen so many massive overhauls and changes and the game still thrives,” a commenter said. “As long as Deadlock’s core gameplay doesn’t drastically change (which definitely isn’t a guarantee since its currently in development) then people will play the game regardless.”

Map changes aside, Valve took the wrench to a lot of Deadlock with this recent update. Soul Orbs, which are released from enemies upon death and can be shot by players to either secure their rewards or partially deny them from the enemy team, also got a hefty rework. Sprinting has been tuned, flex slots and economic considerations have been made to adjust for the new three-lane set-up, and there’s the usual slew of quality-of-life and hero changes.

For some, especially the long-time Dota players, Deadlock’s update feels par for the course. (Dota 2 even got its own massive overhaul just last week.) While it will certainly shift the way players approach the game, part of the long-term appeal of a MOBA like Deadlock is the ways the game shifts over time, in response to both developer changes and community reactions. If handled well, it can result in years of vibrant competition. If not, well, hopefully there’s a rewind button somewhere. History has shown that not all major updates are made in stone, even for huge games like Overwatch.

With not even a week out yet in Deadlock, players will need to dig in and figure out just how the reduced lanes shifts the game, suss out the intended change, and find new ways to open up gameplay through it. On at least one positive note, players with solo lane anxiety can breathe a sigh of relief.

Deadlock is still flagged as being in early development, and Valve warns players it’s filled with “temporary art and experimental gameplay.” Access is currently limited to friend invite via playtesters, and there’s no release window announced.

Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.