Deadlock Surpasses Team Fortress 2's All-Time Steam Player Record Following New Hero Release

Valve's Deadlock has overtaken Team Fortress 2's all-time concurrent player record on Steam, reaching 262,145 simultaneous players on October 9, 2026.

The new milestone coincided with the release of Solomon, a chess-themed hero introduced as part of the ongoing City Never Sleeps update. It is a significant achievement for Deadlock, which remains in invite-only testing without an announced public release date.

According to SteamDB, Deadlock reached its new peak of 262,145 players on October 9. That surpassed Team Fortress 2's record of 253,997 concurrent players, set on July 13, 2023. The difference is 8,148 players, putting Deadlock ahead of one of Valve's longest-running multiplayer games.

The figures measure the highest number of people playing each game simultaneously on Steam. They do not represent total players, daily active users, or lifetime sales.

The milestone also shows how much attention Deadlock is attracting before its official launch. Valve has continued developing the game with feedback from invited players rather than opening access to everyone.

Solomon joined the playable roster on October 9, becoming the third hero released through the City Never Sleeps update.

His abilities are built around chess pieces and battlefield positioning. Setup Bishop lets him place attacking pieces and move them into position, while Kingside Knight provides protection for allies and supports defensive movement.

Rook Battery sends pieces charging forward to disrupt enemies. His ultimate, Develop Queen, summons a queen that deals area damage before creating squares that damage and stun enemies. Solomon can also reposition the queen to repeat its effects.

Solomon also carries a chessboard-inspired weapon called Alekhine's Gun. Its unusual design has drawn attention because the board's arrangement changes when the weapon is reloaded. His arrival follows the releases of Rat King on October 2 and Baba on October 6. Each character has brought a different playstyle to the expanding roster.

Valve launched City Never Sleeps on September 29, introducing a major visual overhaul of Deadlock's supernatural New York setting.

The update redesigned areas of the map and neutral enemies while adding interface improvements, accessibility options, and other gameplay changes. The update also announced six new heroes to be released in stages, with the community voting to determine their arrival order. Solomon marks the halfway point of that rollout.

Three characters remain: Nurse Harrow, Deadman Danny, and Violet. Valve has scheduled the next hero's release for October 13 at 2 p.m. PDT, with voting continuing to decide who joins the roster next.

The strong player turnout comes while Deadlock is still officially described as a multiplayer game in early development. Valve has not announced when it will leave invite-only testing or receive a full public release.