{"id":1500345,"date":"2026-02-17T06:04:41","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T06:04:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/KjAYk8pWUvCZoqqJMd4pDN"},"modified":"2026-02-17T06:04:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T06:04:41","slug":"im-sad-deadlock-is-just-a-moba-not-because-i-dont-like-them-but-because-im-in-love-with-valves-lore-and-characters-enough-to-want-any-other-game-instead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/im-sad-deadlock-is-just-a-moba-not-because-i-dont-like-them-but-because-im-in-love-with-valves-lore-and-characters-enough-to-want-any-other-game-instead\/","title":{"rendered":"I’m sad Deadlock is ‘just’ a MOBA\u2014not because I don’t like them, but because I’m in love with Valve’s lore and characters enough to want any other game instead"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
Harvey Randall, Staff Writer<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

\"PC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

(Image credit: Future)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last week I was: <\/strong>Begging people not to have a baby<\/a> for a free copy of GTA 6 (it is financially inadvisable). Also, playing a lot of Deadlock.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

I have a love-hate relationship with MOBAs, but Deadlock<\/a>\u2014after its new Old Gods, New Blood update<\/a>\u2014has dragged me back to the genre kicking and screaming. I’ve got over 2,400 hours in Dota 2 from my misspent uni years, and I’m currently sitting on 183 hours with Valve’s latest and counting.<\/p>\n

I’m having a good time, and by “good time”, I mean I am magnetically attracted to this dopamine machine and cannot pull away, even while I learn about all the fun new slurs I can be called by strangers online. But that comes with the territory. I’m deep in the paint enough that I’ve been viciously consuming voicelines, lore, and worldbuilding when I’m not playing.<\/p>\n

And yet, I can’t shake off this sense of malaise\u2014a feeling of “what if”, and I think it’s that worldbuilding to blame. Not because it’s bad, but because it’s very, very good.<\/p>\n

Deadlock might be one of my favourite videogame settings in a while. <\/em>It’s placed within a fantastical 1950s America where magic is not only real, but it’s become a heck of a lot more real within the past few decades.<\/p>\n

An event, called the Maelstrom, opened a bunch of Astral Gates across the world\u2014including one right above New York, dubbed the Cursed Apple. The reason it’s a MOBA is because there are two patrons trying to manifest fully in this magic-flooded planet, and you’ve gotta stop them.<\/p>\n

Valve’s character artists and writers have taken this concept and run with it. In no particular order, here are some of my favourite facts about this setting:<\/p>\n