Deadlock to Introduce Anti-Cheat Measures, Valve Confirms
Deadlock is gearing up for a major upgrade: anti-cheat software. This tidbit, shared by Valve developer Yoshi on the game’s official Discord server, has stirred excitement among the community. Responding to an inquiry, Yoshi confirmed, “Yeah, we are working on anti cheat,” marking a step forward for the game as it continues its playtesting phase.
In the same thread, Yoshi addressed concerns about keybinding exploits, which currently allow players to bind multiple actions to a single key, resulting in some quirky and unintended gameplay mechanics. Valve plans to crack down on these keybind tricks soon, though Yoshi noted they are waiting for legitimate uses to be incorporated into the settings menu first. This approach echoes Valve’s stance on similar exploits in games like Counter-Strike 2, where they’ve acted swiftly against third-party programs.
Deadlock, despite being in a relatively early stage, has already drawn the attention of aimbotters and other cheaters—a frustratingly familiar scenario for Valve, especially in games like Team Fortress 2 and Counter-Strike 2. While Valve has tools like the VAC system, cheaters remain a persistent issue across their titles.
The big question remains: How far will Valve go to secure Deadlock’s servers? While some developers have adopted kernel-level anti-cheat systems—granting programs the highest possible level of control on a player’s system—Valve has been reluctant to go down this controversial and risky path. Kernel-level solutions, while effective against certain cheats, raise privacy concerns and could potentially compromise security, leaving the company to weigh the pros and cons carefully.
In the past, Valve has relied on community reporting systems like Dota 2’s Overwatch and placed disruptive players in low-priority queues. VAC bans also serve as a significant deterrent, threatening to lock cheaters out of multiple Valve titles. However, Valve’s success rate in completely quelling cheaters has been spotty, and it’s unclear whether their upcoming anti-cheat for Deadlock will be able to strike the right balance.
