‘Dead Air’, a new content channel for all things Deadlock (Valve’s upcoming shooter/MOBA game) is off to a strong start.
The trio of talent behind the channel – UK host and commentator Jacky, American host and interviewer DAMP and UK commentator Blank – are riding a strong wave of initial interest.
Then, last month, Valve lifted the public restrictions around the game, whose alpha playtest is ongoing, giving the all-clear for everyone to discuss it. And Dead Air was quick off the mark. In fact, it was already on the track for some time before the gun was fired – it started out as a private podcast in the game’s Discord.
Valve has directly promoted content from Dead Air, including Patch Notice videos on the official forums and Discord.
Beyond the videos and guides on the Dead Air YouTube channel, the team has been working on tournaments, including an upcoming event in London, which we’ll come onto further in this article.
But first, some words from one of the brains behind the channel.
‘We fell in love with the game and have been brainstorming in secret for a long time’ – Jacky on Dead Air’s beginnings
“Myself, Blank and DAMP fell in love with the game months ago when we first got access to its development test very early on and have been playing, creating and brainstorming in secret for a long time,” Jacky tells Esports News UK.
“So it’s really cool to now be allowed to discuss the game publicly and show that we’re all going to be a staple part of Deadlock’s scene for years to come.
“Myself and Blank intend to work together as a commentary duo on the game, with DAMP looking to be a host and interviewer inside Deadlock’s esports scene when things are established!”
Jacky is of course known for his Counter-Strike work (check out our interview with him from London’s recent Blast Premier Spring Final here), with Blank’s background in Overwatch (here’s our old interview with him from i63) and DAMP working in a range of games and roles, including a Rocket League challenge at the London Games Festival earlier this year.
Now they’re looking to work as talent for Deadlock going forward, given their passion for the game.
So, what kind of content does Dead Air create?
“The Dead Air channel is basically your one stop shop for everything Deadlock,” Jacky says. “Myself and Blank do a weekly podcast covering the meta, balance changes, general banter and lengthy speculative breakdowns of the Patch Notes.
“I do a Patch Notice series covering every update in visual detail with before and after comparisons, and offer a way for people to see how the games developed from a very early stage.
“And DAMP does various player interviews, a weekly Deadlock News show and a lot of other fun content.
“We’re currently making videos ranging from settings and tutorials, to commentary and explanations of how to play the game to a high level, to deep dives and guides for newer players, alongside funny content and everything in-between!”
UK players win the Aurora 1xbet Deadlock Masters
Dead Air also recently provided English coverage of the $10,000 Deadlock Masters tournament, with hosting and commentary.
This tournament was won by Team Mikaels, featuring Mikaels, Piggy, Sharyk, Helly, Zerggy and Lystic, with the latter two from the UK.
The tournament was one of the earliest of its nature in Deadlock, and Dead Air’s coverage of it did well between September 6th and 8th 2024.
DAMP revealed that it generated just under 1m minutes watched, with 38,000 unique viewers and 1,287 average viewers.
It also earnt them more than 2,500 new followers to their Twitch channel.
Dead Air announces Cursed Apple Clash event at London’s Red Bull Gaming Sphere
Yesterday Dead Air announced its own event – a charity content creator clash with live commentary, hosting and an audience at the Red Bull Gaming Sphere in London.
It will take place on Wednesday October 9th and Thursday October 10th 2024.
The $500 charity event will feature six influencers, who will be raising money for the total prize pot, to be given to UK-based charity SpecialEffect.
The players will be online, but the Dead Air team will be on-site.
Tickets for the event will be available soon.
Deadlock has generated tons of hype over the last few months, with an all-time player peak of 171,490 a week ago. For a game that’s not even out yet, the potential is huge, and Dead Air is already affirming itself as a valuable extension of the game’s community.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
