Valve's latest shooter game, Deadlock, already has a problem with cheaters despite being in invite-only alpha.
The new shooter/MOBA hybrid's newfound issue is giving fans of the studio's other shooters some unnecessary flashbacks. Footage of players taking advantage of Deadlock's first cheats came out last week.
Deadlock's Cheater Problem
In one video, you can see two players making use of aim-botting and what seem to be bullets that curve around corners.
One innocent player reacted to seeing the footage and said that cheaters are "very blatant" and they seemingly "do not care at all" that what they were doing was obvious to anyone watching.
The cheater issue is not ideal, especially since Deadlock is still in an invite-only alpha state. This means that Valve has had to tighten restrictions against state-tracking sites due to how early it is, according to GamesRadar.
The problem has made some players wonder what the cheaters actually have to gain in taking advantage of unfair systems to beat other players. Also, Deadlock will soon have matchmaking and MMR changes in the near future.
Many are hopeful that the presence of these particular cheats will urge Valve to step up its anti-cheat efforts for its latest shooter game. However, longtime fans know that this is not actually a given, taking into consideration the company's history.
Reddit user MintDoe was the one who posted the video of the cheaters in Deadlock. Many commenters said that it was important to report these cheaters but MintDoe said cheating was not yet included in the game's direct reporting feature, said IGN.
What Can Valve Do?
The two characters who were highlighted in the cheater issue video were Infernus and Vindicta. The latter has also become one of the most popular picks in Deadlock and is one of the most picked by players.
Many fans also noted that some of Valve's other games, such as Counter-Strike 2 and Team Fortress 2, suffer from a cheater problem.
The studio recently introduced a new way to deal with automatic assistance while playing. It also banned using the input-automation keyboard feature in Counter-Strike 2.
The situation comes as Deadlock's players already have several milestones, such as having nearly 90,000 active players on reveal day. It also had more than 106,000 online players just a few days after, according to 80lv.
Valve's latest game is a 6v6, third-person hero shooter that has a MOBA twist. Deadlock takes inspiration from several classic titles in the genre. These include League of Legends, Dota 2, and Heroes of the Storm.