Highlights:
* As per the official documentation, Deadlock breaks Steam policy because Valve has not submitted five gameplay screenshots for the homepage.
* A minimum of five screenshots need to be featured on a game’s Steam page.
* Valve has been obsessively keeping Deadlock under wraps.
Valve’s insistence on maintaining secrecy has landed Deadlock into controversy. The upcoming shooter game, whose existence was subtly revealed in August, does not fit the Steam criterion of featuring a minimum of five screenshots on the game description page. Such an interesting omission was pointed out by an indie game developer whose tweet has now become viral.
Deadlock Breaks Steam Policy: Do The Rules Apply To Valve?
In the past, Valve punished those who leaked gameplay footage, even imposing a ban on a journalist who revealed details about the title before its official revelation. The developers have been secretive about the shooter game to such an extent that Deadlock Early Access is limited to ‘friend invites’ by selected players. Even the Steam page is empty, only featuring a 22-second teaser and a cover image.
Valve Corporation launched Steam in 2003. 3DGlyptics, an indie developer working on an underwater simulation title named B.C. Piezophile, called out Valve for violating their own rules in a blog post. Deadlock doesn’t have the required number of gameplay screenshots. Technically, Valve is a Steamworks partner so it must abide by the rules or face ‘self-imposed’ consequences.
The official Steamworks documentation does mention that a developer must “provide at least 5 screenshots of your product.” These would be featured on the Steam homepage of the game. Moreover, the screenshots must be specifically about the gameplay.
Even though news about the game has been revealed by Valve, they haven’t updated the Steam page. Interestingly, the official gameplay footage of the shooter title has been circulating on social media. Snippets of the game were previously leaked by alpha testers despite the developer’s efforts to create mystery around Deadlock.
- Also Read: Deadlock Hero Tier List: Best Heroes Ranked
Valve’s upcoming game combines 6v6 third-person shooting with the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) aspects. It is similar to Supervive, developed by Theorycraft Games, which is scheduled for a launch in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Mixing MOBA with shooter is a growing trend but it doesn’t seem like Deadlock would be released this year. Following the alpha, the developers may reveal a few region-exclusive betas akin to Spectre Divide.
