Valve’s shooter Deadlock, which made quite a splash when it first surfaced a year ago, seemed to be cooling off as access remained strictly behind a velvet rope. However, the recent reveal of six new heroes has sent the concurrent player count on Steam soaring fourfold.

Deadlock first grabbed the spotlight back in August 2024. By utilizing an invite-only testing phase, the title managed to peak at over 170,000 concurrent players. Yet, because you still need an invitation to jump into the fray, the numbers naturally waned, leaving the average concurrent players hovering in the mid-10,000s.

That changed on the 19th when Valve announced a massive update, including a fresh roster of heroes, breathing new life into the game. On the day of the announcement, concurrent players hit 28,000, and by the 26th, that figure had climbed to 56,544—a 4.7x increase compared to the pre-update lull.

These six new heroes are being rolled out in waves. We have already seen the debut of the ranged damage dealer Vampir Mina, the demonic goat Billy, the portal-wielding Doorman, and the book-summoning support, Page. Victor and Drifter are set to join the cast later. Beyond the new faces, the update introduced the 'Hideout'—a personal space for checking achievements and events—and a complete revamp of the map and character selection UI.

Meanwhile, in the global Steam top sellers, The Last of Us Part II Remastered climbed the ranks following its first-ever discount. Hollow Knight, enjoying a surge of interest ahead of its successor Silksong, secured 9th place thanks to a 50% price cut, while Hogwarts Legacy claimed 6th place with an 80% discount.

In the daily peak concurrent players top 20, Rainbow Six Siege slipped to 18th place with 72,835 players. Despite a boost from a major June patch, the numbers have trickled back down to pre-update levels. Elsewhere, Last Epoch dropped out of the top rankings as its player count fell into the 50,000 range, while Football Manager 2024 climbed into the top 20 with 67,859 players.