We can also see from one of Gabe Newell’s developers what was previously prototyped within the company, as they took elements from another game and incorporated them into the finally announced Deadlock.

Someone on Twitter had a valid point, even if the criticism sounds a bit sarcastic. However, the person is right: Valve Software is breaking Steam’s rules with its own game. Even if it is their own development, they should still play by the rules they made! In fact, Deadlock’s Steam page would require at least five screenshots of the game, and the review process has been skipped by Valve. They’re right, because there’s only a 22-second teaser on the site and nothing else to see.

ATTENTION VALVE SOFTWARE. YOU ARE VIOLATING YOUR OWN RULES FOR THE DEADLOCK STORE PAGE. ATTENTION VALVE SOFTWARE. ATTENTION VALVE SOFTWARE. ATTENTION VALVE SOFTWARE. ATTENTION VALVE SOFTWARE. ATTENTION VALVE SOFTWARE. ATTENTION VALVE SOFTWARE. ATTENTION VALVE SOFTWARE. ATTENTION. pic.twitter.com/jb73cqYyG2

— Ancient Egg ○ Wishlist ‣ B.C. Piezophile (@3DGlyptics) August 24, 2024

Let’s assume that Valve is breaking its own laws elsewhere, because it is also a Steamworks partner and has to follow their rules. In March, The Orange Box was heavily discounted, and meanwhile Valve has added a “Winner of over 100 awards” logo to its Steam page, which is also against Steam’s rules, as ratings and award names should not be displayed. This was quickly noticed by Tom Giardino, a Valve employee, so at least there was no problem with it later.

Valve dev "Yoshi" shared early footage of gameplay prototype for Deadlock. Placeholder assets from Left 4 Dead, Dota and Half-Life… pic.twitter.com/fmKfl7d1KA

— ‎Gabe Follower (@gabefollower) August 26, 2024

On Discord, a Valve employee named Yoshi shared something from Deadlock, which was then shared on Twitter. We can see an early prototype of the game in which the character is surrounded by several antlions. Those giant bugs are from Half-Life 2, only in different colors (grey, yellow…) and there’s a particle effect when they die. But it’s not just Gordon Freeman’s world (although it’s a fact that Deadlock was originally set in his universe when it was codenamed Citadel), as Left 4 Dead weapons (and DotA) also appear in the video.

It makes sense what Valve did: they adapted elements from their previous games for the prototype, so it was a quick way to execute an otherwise good concept.

Source: PCGamer,