Games

Deadlock Updates Address Its Biggest Problem

Published

1 month ago

October 21, 2024

Christoph Rediske

Key Takeaways

Valve adjusts Deadlock matchmaking for faster queue times, increasing player satisfaction.
New concentrated play hours introduced in Deadlock to reduce wait times for matches.
Deadlock developers address queue time issues by simplifying matchmaking schedule.

Players are now able Deadlock matches faster, with Valve making adjustments to decrease queue times. A new “concentrated” set of play hours has been implemented, allowing a larger number of players to queue up at once. This cuts back on the time spent searching for matches in Deadlock, which has already proven to be one of 2024’s most interesting and talked-about new games.

Officially revealed this August, Deadlock is the newest project from legendary video game company Valve. Deadlock is a unique mix of MOBA elements and traditional third-person shooter gameplay, which is all wrapped up in a stunning early 1900s steampunk-esque aesthetic. While not officially released yet, Deadlock has already become a huge success for Valve, with the game amassing large amounts of daily players as beta invites continue to get sent out. Players have praised Deadlock for its fun and addictive gameplay as well as its already-mentioned unique visual flair, though players have had one major criticism of the game: its wait times. Players have found themselves waiting upwards of 20 minutes to load into a match, but this issue is now being addressed head-on by Valve.

Deadlock October 2024 Patch Adds Long-Requested Feature

Deadlock’s October 2024 patch notes unveil the addition of a feature fans have been hoping for, along with various other game enhancements.

Extended Deadlock queue times should now just be a faint memory, with Valve making adjustments to cut back significantly on the time spent finding and loading into a match. Aside from bugs and crashes in Deadlock, queue times have been a major struggle point for players. Now, according to PCGamesN, Deadlock‘s matchmaking times have received a massive overhaul. “We have adjusted the matchmaking schedule to not be split across many different hours throughout the day, primarily to help address queue times,” said developer ‘Yoshi’. “There will now be a wider continuous, but more concentrated, set of hours that it is enabled in. The schedule is now more simplified as well, as there is no more user selection component.”

Valve Announces Changes to Deadlock Matchmaking

Yoshi followed this announcement by explaining that ranked matches now have weekend-specific hours. Certain regions were off by a few hours, meaning ranked matches would not happen at the same time. However, this issue has also been fixed. Yoshi explained that the core issue regarding long queue times stems from the fact that Valve “spread out users too much in different times that it causes bad queue times/match quality.” While already one of Steam’s most popular new games, Deadlock is still in active development, meaning a full official release could still be far off. The game has already changed significantly since the first beta invites went out, with Deadlock making headlines over its characters and gameplay.

Deadlock also made an impression for the way it deals with cheaters, turning players caught exploiting the game into a helpless animal. Valve gives players the option to either kick the caught player from the game or turn them into a frog for the remainder of the match. Over the course of the last few weeks, other tweaks and changes have been made, such as Deadlock‘s newest hero, Mirage. Players should keep an eye on Deadlock, as there will likely be more changes and updates on the way very soon.