Valve’s not-so-secret new shooter MOBA Deadlock is beginning to gain traction after its closed playtest began taking on new players. More and more people are keen on trying out the game—and here’s how you gain access.
The Cursed Apple is waiting to be explored. As one of 20 heroes, each sporting a unique kit of abilities, your aim is to charge and destroy the enemy base before you lose your own. Unfortunately, access to Deadlock right now is down to a little luck, but having a friend already in the test will help immensely.
Here’s how to access Valve’s Deadlock closed playtest.
How to join the Deadlock playtest
To access the Deadlock alpha playtest, you need to have a friend on your Steam friends list already in the test. They can send you an invite, after which you receive an email and Steam notification when Valve has added your account to the playtest. When this is done, you can install and play Deadlock.
If you’re lucky enough to have access to the playtest already and want to invite your friends, select the “Invite your Friends” button on the bottom-right of the Deadlock main menu, then scroll through your friend’s list and select those who want to play. They may not receive an invite straight away, but once it’s sent, all they have to do is wait and accept it.
Valve has not publicly announced an open beta for Deadlock yet, so outside of having a friend invite you, there isn’t any other way to access the playtest. This wave-by-wave invite method is something of a norm for Valve: It’s been slowly opening up access to its projects since the days of Dota 2 and, more recently, Counter-Strike 2.
Early playtests were only open for a select few, but as of June 2024, Valve has issued further waves of invites to players. Nearly 20,000 concurrent players were spotted in the playtest in early August, so it’s clear the developer is ramping up access to properly stress-test Deadlock. In any case, keep an eye on your emails for the Steam invite!
