Valve’s MOBA Shooter Deadlock Apparently Has Another, Even More Exclusive Build

Valve’s MOBA hero shooter Deadlock is still in an invite-only testing phase, as the company continues to develop and iterate. But a recent livestream mix-up looks like it revealed the existence of a second, even more exclusive playtest with some unseen characters and redesigns.

Leaks have swirled from a livestream hosted by a top Deadlock player, who reportedly appeared to open the wrong Deadlock build on stream. (Thanks, Eurogamer.)

The roster, as shown on-stream and captured by viewers, shows several new faces like the old-school Doorman, bespectacled Bookworm, and gothic Vampirebat, as well as visual alterations for characters like Ivy. Though the streamer quickly closed out after realizing their error, you can’t really un-spill the beans at this point.

No other info has circulated as of yet, though this leak is still fairly fresh. Deadlock is no stranger to leaks, as its own existence and content was the subject of numerous leaks. And while the existence of a test build for larger numbers of players to tinker with upcoming updates is not new either, it’s a bit strange for Deadlock, which is still in an invite-only early state.

Reactions seem mixed, as some on the r/DeadlockTheGame subreddit have expressed frustration with feeling like they were already in on a playtest. Even in its more-public build, Deadlock has seen changes big and small, and even cut a full lane from the game. Valve has used the Hero Labs mode in the past to let players further test new heroes, but it seems like this is an additional method to further test with a select crowd.

Despite being invite-only, Deadlock has garnered a surprising number of players and picked up some notice from fans of both shooter games and MOBAs. A new game from Valve is already noteworthy, but its strange rollout and continued status as an invite-only game has only added to its mystique. Now, it looks like there’s another, even more exclusive build for players to speculate over.

It’s important to keep the real news in perspective though, as one Reddit user points out: “Oh great as if one Lash wasn’t bad enough, now there are two of him!”

Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.