Valve's Deadlock playtest success makes it favorite to be next big esports success
Valve's upcoming shooter, Deadlock, has been highly successful over the last few weeks, climbing the Twitch charts. Ever since its media embargo on the Alpha playtest was lifted on August 23, viewership for the title has exploded as it has received support from some of the platform's most popular content creators.
Amid the livestreaming success, the community is already buzzing about the game's esports potential, with some teams even announcing plans to sign rosters for the yet-to-be-released title. The strong viewership numbers from the first tournaments also hint at its high potential. Will this game become the next big esports discipline, or will it face the same fate as Artifact?
So far, Deadlock has registered 15.52M Hours Watched, putting it in the top ten games ranking between August 23 and September 5. This is mighty impressive considering the title is still in a private invite-only Alpha test, meaning only a select few players (including lots of influencers) have been given access.
These creators have ensured to repay that faith, supporting the game as it has hit a peak of 120K viewers so far, attained on August 25. With 47.6K Average Viewers since August 23, Deadlock — described as a mix of two renowned genres in MOBA and hero shooter — has also seen consistently high viewership on the purple platform.
Deadlock's esports ambitions
So far, Valve's newest game has received positive feedback from influencers and news media outlets, with particular praise coming in for its numerous playable heroes and unique hero skill trees. Many have also lauded the company's decision to soft launch its latest project, with word of mouth being the key marketing ploy and only existing players allowed to invite new ones, thus creating a spiderweb of gamers.
This has meant that talk has already shifted to how the game would do as a competitive outlet. The likes of Tundra Esports and Team Spirit have already been reported to soon be presenting rosters for Deadlock, with whatever competitive action witnessed so far involving streamers and players from other games like Dota 2.
In fact, the BB Deadlock Cup attracted a healthy 219.2K Hours Watched and 36.3K Peak Viewers. Russian-speaking game enthusiasts are known for their love for shooter and MOBA games, so it was not surprising to see such a heartening response, and with Valve likely to announce the first major Deadlock tournament soon, many players globally have begun preparing for battle.
So far, judging by the reactions online and among streamers, reactions to the game have been positive or negative, with very few in-betweeners. However, those who like it are really into it, including prominent names like TheWarOwl, shroud, summit1g, xqc, Nix, singsing, and alanzoka.
Crucially, some of these names are known to come alive during esports events, playing a big role in their viewership dynamics. With Deadlock already exhibiting signs of being a game that can perform well in such a setting, getting these personalities' attention and keeping them interested will go a long way in the title succeeding competitively.
Counter-Strike specialist TheWarOwl, who has never been into MOBAs, expected to play the game just once and then uninstall it. However, he was left surprised with the game and claimed he has enjoyed it so far. He did point out that a few fixes are needed so that mechanics are friendly to new players, i.e., those who have never played CS or Dota 2, as they will be the most crucial demographic in terms of attracting gamers to the title.
The former CS and Valorant pro Shroud was also full of praise for Deadlock, saying 'this is probably the best third-person shooter I've ever played. Because it's not just simply shoot and use abilities, but there's so much more nuance to it.'
Shroud did add that one thing missing is wall-riding, although he is sure Valve will fix that and that it wouldn't be surprising i a character can eventually do that. He believes that as it's a MOBA game, not even a thousand hours would be enough to learn to play it and that Deadlock will be 'absolutely addicting for this very reason.'
Another renowned influencer, TimTheTatman, said he had played the game a handful of times and had fun doing so. However, not everyone is on board the Deadlock bandwagon, with summit1g not a fan despite putting in a lot of hours into playing it. During a gameplay session, he told his viewers:
"I actually hate this game, chat. I'm playing to play with Shroud right now, let it be known. I'm ready to quit, though. I really don't like it. I really don't f**king like it. It makes me just want to play SMITE."
Valve's newest project game has lots of fans among the streamer community, but there's some work to be done to ensure it becomes a mainstay upon official launch.
As already mentioned, Russian-speaking audiences have taken to the game like a duck to water, with their predisposition for Valve's legendary offerings like Dota 2 and CS well known. This has meant that the language has been the second-highest contributor to the game's cumulative watch time on Twitch since August 23. Valve will hope this continues, as this demographic is a major market for esports, and any chances of Deadlock succeeding as a competitive outing will depend a lot on this market.
Simply put, Deadlock and Valve have gotten off to a great start, but there is a long way to go before the final release, by which time it could look a lot different than it is in its alpha test stage. As long as the developer continues to put in the work in that time, there is no reason why it cannot become a success in the esports segment, especially with the mix of shooting and team-based action that is what made a recent game like Valorant so famous.
Crucially, the reaction so far has been mostly positive, and with the game feeling pretty playable already, fans will have reason to believe Valve might release the game quicker than expected.
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