Valve's Deadlock surpasses Team Fortress 2 player record

Valve’s upcoming hero shooter, Deadlock, has reached a new milestone by surpassing the all-time peak concurrent player count of Team Fortress 2 on Steam. On October 9, 2026, Deadlock recorded 262,145 concurrent users, eclipsing the previous record of 253,997 set by Team Fortress 2 in 2023.

Despite being in an invite-only early development phase, Deadlock has climbed to become the fifth most-played title on Steam, trailing only Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, PUBG: Battlegrounds, and AION 2. This growth is attributed in part to the “City Never Sleeps” update, which introduced map reworks and a new hero named Solomon.

The surge in popularity is notable given the game's limited accessibility through a friend referral program and Valve's typically secretive development process.