Since Deadlock’s soft launch to a wider audience in beta, it has gone from strength to strength with each fortnightly update. However, as of 2025 the developer has stated that Deadlock updates will become less frequent, no longer on a fixed schedule, and will be larger than ever before as they flesh out the game further.
What these larger patches will consist of remains a mystery, but we can take some educated guesses on what Valve has planned based on what we can already see in game files, recent patches, and community feedback.
For one, it’s very likely that the next few updates will see additional characters liberated from their Hero Labs confinement and migrate over to the main roster. Heroes like Magician, Holliday, and Fathom could all be part of the base experience within the next few months, making each and every game slightly more varied, and likely impacting current Deadlock item win rates as new metas emerge.
In a similar vein, it’s quite likely that new Weapon, Vitality, and Spirit items will become available in the coming months. We’ve already seen numerous new items introduced in the Deadlock New Year update, so it isn’t unreasonable to expect the Curiosity Shop to get further fleshed out.
One change which could be implemented properly moving forward could be hero skins. If you didn’t get the chance to play Deadlock during the holiday season, you’ll have missed out on the holiday skins each of the heroes added to their wardrobe (but don’t worry, you can still see them in our Deadlock hero 3D model viewer). Given Valve’s approach to previous titles like Team Fortress 2 and cosmetics, it wouldn’t be too surprising if we start seeing cosmetic crates, keys, and freebies dropping in a distant 2025 update.
While it’s now much more difficult to determine when the next update will drop, it is heartening to know that Valve are taking their time with improvements and, as as Valve developer Yoshi stated in their announcement, will allow changes to settle within the community before they’re suddenly overhauled, revoked, buffed, or nerfed.
If you don’t yet have access to Deadlock, make sure you find out how you can secure a Deadlock invite code, and make sure to follow Deadlock Rank on Twitter and BlueSky for all the latest updates.
