Valve has announced a significant expansion to their third-person MOBA shooter Deadlock with six new heroes joining the battle. The first character, vampire-themed Mina, is already available to players, with the remaining five set to follow in a community-driven release schedule.
Rather than dropping all heroes at once, Valve has opted for a structured rollout where players will determine which characters arrive next through an in-game voting system. One new hero will unlock every two days over the next fortnight, specifically on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Community Voting Powers Hero Releases
The upcoming heroes—Billy, Paige, The Doorman, Victor and Drifter—await their turn to enter the battlefield based on player preferences. According to Valve’s update notes, players earn votes by completing matches and can cast them at the voting booth in the newly introduced Hideout area.
This Hideout replaces the previous Dashboard UI, functioning as a pre-game social space where players can gather with friends while waiting for matches. The area features interactive terminals for accessing various game modes and a practice range for testing abilities without loading the full Sandbox environment.
The legacy sandbox remains accessible through a teleporter within the practice range or via the Play Menu. Valve indicates the Hideout lays groundwork for future personalisation options, achievements and special events.
Visual Enhancements and Interface Improvements
The update brings significant visual improvements to both the game map and character selection process. Valve has implemented enhanced lighting effects throughout the environment and completely overhauled the hero selection interface, with promises of additional character visual updates in future patches.
Balance adjustments will follow shortly after each new hero’s release, allowing developers to fine-tune gameplay based on real-world performance data.
Deadlock’s Player Base Remains Steady
Despite being in closed beta and past its initial hype phase, Deadlock continues to maintain a respectable player count. Current Steam statistics show the game ranking 38th among the platform’s most-played titles, with 24,111 concurrent players and a 24-hour peak of 28,833.
These numbers place Deadlock in similar territory to Blizzard’s Overwatch 2 (25,809 concurrent players), though still well behind established MOBA heavyweight Dota 2 (425,314 concurrent players) and Steam chart-topper Counter-Strike 2 (673,513 concurrent players).
The consistent engagement suggests Deadlock has established itself within the competitive multiplayer landscape despite limited access and fierce competition from established titles.
Mina Introduces Vampiric Mechanics
The first new hero, Mina, brings unique vampiric gameplay elements as a “glass cannon” character capable of delivering rapid damage bursts through her passive ability, Love Bites. She can transform into bats to escape dangerous situations and grows progressively stronger as players trigger her Love Bites ability throughout matches.
Her ultimate ability, Nox Nostra, unleashes a swarm of bats that hunt down and silence nearby enemies. According to the update notes, each successful Love Bites activation increases her vampiric powers for the remainder of the match, creating escalating advantages for skilled players.
Valve noted they temporarily paused work on hero labs while developing these new characters but acknowledged player enthusiasm for certain experimental concepts that might return in future iterations.