Deadlock fans are eating good right now, as Valve released a huge update for the MOBA named Old Gods, New Blood that’s still technically in its secret closed beta. But they are not eating as well as the devs at Valve HQ, who may or may not have contributed to a serious Domino’s pizza boom just before the update went live.
“Pizza places near Valve HQ in Seattle are experiencing higher than usual activity,” Deadlock Intel posted a mere two and a half hours before the new Deadlock update went live. Was this actually a Pentagon pizza moment or just a strange coincidence? We don’t know, but Michael Douse, Larian’s publishing director, seems to think Valve isn’t responsible for the boom: “Bro, they have unlimited boiled eggs on every floor. Nobody is going to Domino’s over there.” Ah yes, Valve’s famous infinite horde of boiled eggs, I forgot about that.
Pizza places near Valve HQ in Seattle are experiencing higher than usual activity 👀 pic.twitter.com/rjTsuNNWZpJanuary 22, 2026
Regardless of whether anyone saw this update coming, it’s here now, and it’s big. Valve has overhauled the patrons, bases, and troopers. On one side, we now have the Hidden King who “exists in the cracks of the city, waiting for his followers to usher him into the light.” He comes with a bunch of candlewick troopers, much like the OGs.
On the other side is the Archmother, “Glass, steel, and stone… Order and power where once there was none… The Archmother has always guided the founders’ hands, and now it is time for them to welcome her home.” She comes with new blue crystal and glass troopers—very fancy.
Valve has also revamped the post-game pages, adding a new MVP feature and a Key Player for the losing team. Alongside new info screens for you to ignore if you performed badly, or screenshot to send to your friends as evidence you’re too good to play with them. There’s also some UI improvements, like reactive portraits, kill streaks, damage impact indicators, a mid-boss timer, and a better chat visual, among other new features.
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Players who don’t want to commit as much time to matches will also be happy to see the integration of a new, shorter mode. Street Brawl is a “quick 4v4 battle for the city over a best-of-five match. Each round takes a couple of minutes.” It’ll get rid of farming as players start every round with equal resources, and it’s also streamlined the shopping system. Hell yeah, I can get on board with all of that.
But the biggest and best news from the Old Gods update is undoubtedly the six new heroes that are ready to be added to the game over the coming weeks. We’ve got:
- Silver: a “feral hot mess” who can transform into a werewolf.
- Rem: a little guy who can probably send other players to sleep.
- Graves: an edgy necromancer that can perform “area denial”.
- Apollo: “a cut above” demon with high mobility.
- Celeste: a dazzling performer who is half unicorn, I think?
- Venator: not the Arc Raiders pistol, but an “arms expert” with a big gun.
All of these heroes are ready to go, but Valve would never be so kind as to release them all at once. Instead, two heroes will be released per week on Mondays and Thursdays starting on January 26. In what order? That is still to be decided, by you, actually.
Deadlock players will be able to vote on what order the heroes should be released in, with votes earned by playing the game. So the more you play, the better say you’ll have. “Play a standard match or street brawl to earn votes,” the update post says. “Your first win of the day gives you four additional votes. Cast your votes in the ballot box located in the Hideout.”
After the first new hero is added, there’ll also be priority tokens for players to boost the support of certain heroes. They will also be earned faster the more heroes are in the pool. And for those who are already planning to campaign for a certain hero, Valve suggests using in-game sprays to “demonstrate your support for your favourite upcoming hero.”
I have already decided that I’ll give my life for Rem, but honestly, any of these other heroes could come in a close second. Like the rest of the roster, all of them look fantastic and will undoubtedly have an excellent kit for players to work with.
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