I don't have children, but if I did, I'd probably love them less than I love Deadlock, Valve's work-in-progress MOBA shooter. It might be unfinished, but its anarchic invite-only test has served up better live service than most live service games with its constant reinvention—a habit Deadlock's carried into 2026 with the massive update released Thursday. That update brought a new mode which is almost my favorite way to play the game now... if it weren't for one critical aspect.
A normal match of Deadlock is familiar MOBA fare and is therefore extremely stressful. Games usually last between 20 and 45 minutes, and there's very little downtime as teams vie for objectives and farm creeps. Furthermore, every match is ranked—there's no casual queue. Even if you just want to try a new build and unwind, your lackadaisical performance might be mucking up a teammate's chance to get promoted. This environment is fundamentally hostile to the habitual chiller.
