Although it hasn't been announced yet, Valve's latest game is currently one of the most popular titles on Steam.
The game in question is a hero shooter called Deadlock, whose release was leaked in May when videos and details were shared online following the launch of a private playtest.
Valve significantly intensified playtesting for the game in August, so that Deadlock is currently one of the 100 most played games on Steam.
According to SteamDB figures, Deadlock had an all-time high of 18,254 concurrent players on August 12.
Before this month, Deadlock's maximum concurrent player count was just under 2,700. The recent increase in player count may indicate that an official reveal of Deadlock is not far off.
IGN reports that Valve is using an invitation system for the game's current Early Access period, where certain Steam players can receive invites and then suggest other users to receive invites as well.
Here is Deadlock Gameplay Loop explains what the game is actually about #Deadlock #Leak pic.twitter.com/wu0NY2BNoj
— Doodle (@DoodleLTG) May 23, 2024
According to well-informed Valve enthusiast Tyler McVicker, Deadlock has been in development since 2018, features tower defense mechanics, and has a fantasy setting mixed with steampunk.
“This is supposed to be Valve's next big competitive game, the next Counter-Strike, the next Dota,” he said in May. “It's hero-based, it's class-based, it's very personality-driven.”
“This is where Valve tries to bring the entire community together under one roof.”
Valve's latest release was the tactical multiplayer FPS Counter-Strike 2 last year.