Deadlock release date: When does it fully come out & playtest end?

Deadlock may look like a complete game to playtesters but Valve says it’s still in early development stage, so when will the game get an official release date for it fully coming out?

On August 26, Valve publicly acknowledged Deadlock, allowing streamers to share gameplay footage and talk about the MOBA shooter on social media. But that doesn’t mean that Deadlock is now available for all. It’s still officially in a closed testing phase, even though it’s easy to send Steam friends invites.

That has left playtesters curious about the official Deadlock release date. Since it looks fairly complete, when can players expect it to be available for all?

When is Deadlock’s release date?

Although Valve hasn’t announced the official release date for Deadlock, players can look at what happened with other Valve playtests. Dota 2 spent two years in public beta before its 2013 release, and by that logic, players shouldn’t expect Deadlock to be fully released until late 2025 or early 2026.

But times have changed, and there’s no guarantee Deadlock will follow the same timeline. On the flipside, Counter-Strike 2’s playtest period was closer to six months.

The good news is that even if Deadlock is delayed by two years, accessing the game will only become easier over time. Currently, beta testers can invite multiple friends to the playtest, which will continue to grow the player base. At this stage, even though Deadlock hasn’t gotten a full release yet, players have little trouble playing the game.

When does the Deadlock playtest end?

The Deadlock playtest doesn’t have a scheduled end date, but it does follow a daily cycle; matchmaking is only open for a set period of time each day.

The playtest will likely end a few days before the official release date, which is currently unknown. While other games like Dragon Ball Project have a public playtests that shut down for months, Valve’s public betas typically open and run until the game launches.

That means that, outside of patches and game maintenance, Deadlock’s playtest is likely here to stay until the game is fully released. Players can’t just jump into the matchmaking queue whenever they want, though.

Deadlock matchmaking times during playtest

Deadlock’s matchmaking is only available at fixed times, which vary based on the day of the week. This schedule is likely to change over time and, in all likelihood, will eventually see the game become playable 24/7.

Here’s a schedule for Deadlock matchmaking for each region:

While waiting for the Deadlock release date, players can still enjoy other modes, such as Hero Sandbox, which is live all day. Players who are absolutely desperate for their hero shooter or MOBA fix can just look to Steam for many, many alternatives.