As cheating in Deadlock rears its head, Valve goes, yeah, maybe anti-cheat for its new hero shooter is a good idea

Key art for Deadlock.
(Image credit: Valve)

Valve's upcoming multiplayer shooter Deadlock is still in development, but that hasn't stopped cheaters from already appearing. Thankfully, the developers seem to be working on a solution.

Whispers about Deadlock have been in the air for some time now, with player counts suspiciously climbing behind the scenes even before Valve acknowledged that it was a game that existed. It now has a Steam page, but currently, it seems that the only surefire way to get into the playtest is to get an invite from another playtester. With that in mind, you'd think it'd limit the number of cheaters who could actually get access to the game in the first place, but last week, a clip that appeared to show players using aimbots surfaced online.

Obviously, as in any multiplayer game, this is far from ideal, but it sounds like Valve is already trying to sort it out. As the Twitter account @IntelDeadlock highlights, Deadlock dev 'Yoshi' simply writes on Discord: "Yeah, we are working on anti-cheat."

It doesn't seem that any details have been shared about what anti-cheat software might be used to deal with matters, but it's clearly going to be a game of catch-up since cheats have already breached containment. Of course, while on the one hand, it's surprising to see cheats surface so quickly, Deadlock is still far from being complete, so, understandably, there's much more for the devs to work on at this point, anti-cheat included. Hopefully, it'll be in a much better place by the time it is released in its full form at some point in the future.

We'll just have to wait and see if Deadlock could end up being one of the best shooters when its full launch is here.

CATEGORIES
Catherine Lewis
News Writer

I'm one of GamesRadar+'s news writers, who works alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.

Read more
Key art for Deadlock.
Deadlock updates will be "a little bit more spaced out" so Valve can "improve our development process," but you can expect bigger major patches when they arrive
A player wearing a gasmask and holding a gun during the shooter, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
136,000 Call of Duty accounts have gotten banned since ranked launched for Black Ops 6: "We’re not slowing down in our mission to shut down cheaters"
Venom, Spider-Man, Peni Parker, Scarlet Witch, Magneto, and Storm pose in artwork for Marvel Rivals
Marvel Rivals devs lift bans on players mistakenly banned for cheating: "We do not and will not ban players who are playing fairly"
Operation: Harsh Doorstop
"You and I will have legal problems": FPS dev threatens action against rival streamers who've taken more than $10k "from studios we compete with"
Jeff the Land Shark as he appears in Marvel Rivals
No, Marvel Rivals developer NetEase isn't intentionally planting fake leaks to mess with everyone, but its datamined characters aren't guaranteed to appear in the future, either
Screenshot from Spectre Divide, showing a character in a purple jumpsuit and full face mask aiming their gun.
Despite more than $60 million in investments, Shroud-backed FPS Spectre Divide and its dev are shutting down after the first season failed "to cover day-to-day costs"
Latest in Third Person Shooter
Four Helldivers lined up on base ship
A year after Malevelon Creek became Helldivers 2's fiercest battleground, it looks like the Automatons are coming back for more
Helldivers 2 screenshot showing someone using a big gun
Helldivers 2 boss says "death and rebirth" is a natural part of the games industry, but it's "unnecessarily brutal" right now "because we don't diversify enough"
The Invisible Woman in Marvel Rivals
Marvel Rivals devs know exactly how popular Invisible Woman is, and say that "body shape or silhouette" add to a character's popularity in a way far more innocent than the internet deserves
Helldivers 2 Warbond
Helldivers 2 players "became obsessed" with Malevolon Creek, but it was Gabe Newell who really kicked off one of Super Earth's bloodiest battles
Heroes and villains face off in Marvel Rivals key art
Marvel Rivals exec isn't afraid of roster bloat after NetEase promised new heroes every 6 weeks: "There's no limit for the sky. We just throw everything at it"
Marvel Rivals: Ignite #1
Marvel Rivals goes manga in a new comic from Peach Momoko and three other Japanese artists that reveals several new in-game costumes
Latest in News
Dune Awakening
Dune Awakening launches for $50 without a stay in early access, and while the survival MMO "will not have a monthly subscription" it will have "optional" paid DLC
Linda Cardellini as Laura Barton in Hawkeye
Linda Cardellini cast as Jason's mom, the original Friday the 13th killer, for Crystal Lake prequel series
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 studio CD Projekt Red won't make survival games just because they're popular, but Netflix's Edgerunners anime is fueling dreams bigger than RPGs
Assassin's Creed Shadows screenshot showing female protagonist Naoe
Assassin's Creed Shadows Naoe actor was terrified to perform until her first mocap scene earned "a standing ovation" on set: "Maybe I can do this mocap thing"
Daredevil: Born Again
Marvel may have just sneakily confirmed one of the biggest Daredevil: Born Again fan theories
Assassin's Creed Shadows cinematic screenshot
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Yasuke actor says that Naoe could beat his samurai in a fight: “Especially with that big a** helmet of mine”