Deadlock hits 16-month player count high despite Highguard release

Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 27/01/2026

Deadlock reached a 16-month play count high after the release of its new Hero, REM. The record was set despite its release being the same day as Highguard’s much-anticipated release.

The third-person MOBA peaked at 98,887 players on Monday, according to SteamDB, the largest amount of players online since September 2024.

In contrast, Highguard suffered from a difficult launch, with many offput by the Free-To-Play game’s optimisation.

New Deadlock character sparks player count high

The unannounced Valve title, which is still in closed alpha, requires an invite to play. Despite that, the game previously peaked at 171,490 players in September of 2024.

That peak game two months into Deadlock’s closed alpha, when hype was fresh, regressing to more modest numbers since then.

Despite the protracted alpha period, Deadlock has attracted a dedicated fanbase, attracting about 30,000 players on average in December.

The game has seen some burgeoning interest in esports, with community charity tournaments arranged by prominent esports voices like Counter-Strike Stage Host Jacky Powers.

The game’s normal player count has seen a significant spike upon significant content releases, such as new heroes or events.

The Old Gods, New Blood on January 23 brought about a new mode, Street Brawl, and started the slow drip of new heroes, with one new hero coming out each week.

The newest Hero, REM, has brought a huge amount of hype to the game, as fans were pulled by his visuals and lore to try out their new furry friend.

As a result, the game reached its latest peak of 98,887 players, despite Highguard’s hype and advertising dominating Twitch and social media on Monday.

Highguard faces rough first day

Highguard was developed by Wildlight Entertainment, Inc. who were founded by Dusty Welch, former COO and GM of Apex Legends and Chad Grenier, former Respawn game director.

Their team consists of a team of devs, several of whom had previously worked on Apex Legends.

Despite the team’s Apex heritage, the shooter has faced criticism for its optimisation and gameplay, with many critics noting that the gigantic maps are far too large for 3v3.

The result is that the game is sitting at a “Mostly Negative” review state on Steam, with only 33% of players giving a positive review at the time of writing.

However, the game has also received stipulated praise from streamers like Shroud and CohhCarnage, despite sharing sentiments of the game needing further development.

Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor

Darragh Harbinson is an esports writer specialising in Counter-Strike. He has written for Esports News UK, Esports Insider, UKCSGO, Dexerto, and Rush B Media.

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