Amid an online decline, Valve changes the development flow for Deadlock

Deadlock, Valve's MOBA-shooter, has seen a significant player decline, with peak online counts now hovering around 18,000-20,000, a far cry from its initial peak of over 170,000. In response to this, Valve has announced a strategic shift in its development approach.

To improve the development process and deliver more substantial updates, Valve is abandoning its previous bi-weekly update schedule. Future updates will be released on a flexible, non-fixed timeline, allowing developers more time to thoroughly implement and test changes. While major updates will be less frequent, regular hotfixes will continue to address critical issues. A developer stated that this change will ultimately lead to more robust and impactful updates.

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The developers acknowledged that the previous two-week cycle, while beneficial, didn't allow sufficient time for proper implementation and testing of updates. This revised strategy aims to address this limitation.

Despite the player count drop, Valve assures players that Deadlock is not in jeopardy. The game is still in early development, with no release date set. This, coupled with the apparent internal approval of a new Half-Life title, suggests a potential delay in Deadlock's launch beyond the next year or two.

Valve's focus remains on delivering a high-quality product, prioritizing player satisfaction over rapid release cycles. The company's philosophy mirrors the evolution of Dota 2, which also transitioned from a frequent update schedule to a more measured approach. This strategic shift, therefore, is not indicative of any underlying problems, but rather a refinement of the development process.