Valve has released a major update for Deadlock, introducing a new map, six playable heroes, new neutral enemies and several additional systems to the multiplayer hero shooter.

The City Never Sleeps update also coincided with a new concurrent-player record for Deadlock. According to SteamDB, the game's player count climbed above 228,000 concurrent players shortly after the update launched, marking its highest recorded peak to date.

Valve outlines Deadlock’s ongoing developmentAlongside the update, Valve provided an overview of Deadlock's development and indicated that the game remains in an active development phase.Following the January Old Gods New Blood update, Valve said the team still had substantial work to complete on the game's core systems before moving toward later development stages such as updating older hero artwork.

Several features have been developed alongside City Never Sleeps, including progression systems and customization options for heroes and player hideouts. Valve said these systems are being developed with flexibility in mind so they can be adjusted significantly in response to player feedback before the game's full release.

The team is also experimenting with features that may or may not ultimately become part of the game. These include larger item redesigns and additions, as well as alternative game modes intended to expand Deadlock's gameplay.City Never Sleeps adds a new map and HauntsOne of the update's biggest additions is a new New York-inspired map. The setting draws on the city's early-to-mid-20th-century aesthetic while presenting it through Deadlock's stylized and supernatural visual design.

The update also replaces the game's previous neutral enemies with a new group known as Haunts. The new creatures include:
- Specimen, a disembodied hand contained in a jar.
- Past Dues, spectral enemies inspired by libraries.
- Gutter Ghouls, cyclopean creatures resembling animated trash bags.
- Barrel Mimics, animated barrels equipped with improvised weapons.
- Stage Hands, marionettes controlled by ghostly hands.
- Crabbage Pots, creatures inspired by New York folklore and featuring plant-like designs.
- Festival Spirits, supernatural entities inhabiting Chinese lanterns.
- Shrooms, mushroom-based creatures with a wizard-like appearance.
- Underhands, gargoyle-like enemies with a tendency toward theft.

The new map and Haunts are designed around the update's supernatural interpretation of New York, adding another layer of environmental and enemy variety to Deadlock's matches.

Six new heroes join the roster

City Never Sleeps also introduces six new heroes: Nurse Harrow, Rat King, Solomon, Deadman Danny, Baba and Violet.

Several of the new characters are closely tied to the update's New York setting. Rat King is accompanied by a rat associated with pizza, while Solomon is presented as a competitive chess player. Baba, meanwhile, is an elderly character accompanied by pigeons.

Rather than releasing all six characters simultaneously, Valve is allowing players to vote in-game on which of the new heroes should be introduced first.

With City Never Sleeps, Valve is continuing to expand Deadlock's characters, maps and underlying systems while maintaining an active development approach that leaves room for significant changes based on player feedback.