Deadlock and third-person MOBAs are the next big esports market
Valve’s new title Deadlock has the community hooked with skyrocketing player numbers and exploding enthusiasm. Hitting over 100,000 peak players, this title has the recipe to become an esports hit in a matter of months – let’s learn more about this new title.
Deadlock mixes MOBA and Shooter
Currently in its early development stages, the limited access title has been in the works for a few years hoping to be the next best esports game. Notably, Dota fans have now realized where Valve’s efforts have been for the past year.
Deadlock is a mix of Hero shooter with MOBA elements, a recipe for success proven by Team Fortress and Overwatch. This title’s identity is similar to something like VALORANT, which was in-turn always labelled as a combination of Counter-Strike and Overwatch. Deadlock gets closer to OW with it’s third-person play and game stylistics.
The best description for Deadlock, is a third-person MOBA.
Understanding Deadlock and how it fits the big picture
Let’s quickly break down how a typical Deadlock game plays out.
- Teams – 6v6 matches
- Hero selection – queue into a match by selecting three heroes out of the roster of 20 split into the roles of tanks, supports and assassins. Overall, movement is smooth, flexible and fast.
- Abilities – hero powers are used to shift opponents around, deal damage, make them vulnerable and can be combined with teammates.
- Currency – farm enemy minions and frag out in order to earn souls and money to power up your character and purchase items.
- Maps – across four lanes, scattered with minions, towers, jungle zones and mid-bosses like Dota. Ziplines help for quick traversal.
- Win – to win the game, one team must eliminate the enemy Patron, buried deep in the enemy team’s fortifications
To understand it better, we recommend checking out some gameplay as content creators this past week have gained access to the title.
Is Deadlock the future of esports?
Valve has already proven that it can nurture an esport to insane success, as seen with Dota and Counter-Strike. However, many would argue that the community did more than Valve in this regard. With a such a committed third party ecosystem, Valve just needs to keep the content coming, balance the title and listen to community feedback. In turn, their own community will make sure the title becomes a massive success. I have no doubts the likes of ESL or BLAST would quickly pick up the title for their portfolio.
Deadlock seems like an exciting new prospect for esports and esports betting merging the best aspects of MOBA and shooter. We’re curious to see how the title will compete with other esports or whether it will carve out its own niche.
