Deadlock is currently undergoing playtests, but the game could have been quite different, with a Valve insider claiming it began life as a Half-Life spinoff.
On Aug. 25, renowned Valve insider and leaker Gabe Follower released a video about Half-Life 3 leaks. In its 18-minute runtime, he primarily discusses why he thinks Half-Life 3 is real but also claims that Deadlock was initially set in Half-Life‘s universe.
“Over the course of the next three years [2021-2024], we regularly see leaks of some game set in the Half-Life universe,” Gabe Follower said in the video. “Previously, it was quite difficult to determine which particular game it was, since initially Deadlock, aka Shadowline, aka Neon Prime, and aka Citadel, took place during the seven-hour war, where the Combine fought against the rebels of the streets of City 17.”
Those who are familiar with the Half-Life universe shouldn’t need an introduction to a few of these terms, but we’ll do so for the others. The Combine is an interdimensional empire in the game’s world, that conquered Earth during an incident called “the seven-hour war.” It’s named so because, as you may have already figured out, it took the Combine only seven hours to defeat Earth’s united nations. City 17, on the other hand, is the main area in Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One.
According to Gabe Follower, Deadlock was originally meant to be a multiplayer game set during this short war, but (for some unknown reason) Valve decided to go in a different direction.
In the end, Deadlock turned out to be its own game with a separate universe, and maybe it’s for the best. Though, we can’t help but think of what could have been. Maybe we would have had playable characters like The G-Man and Gordon Freeman, or Antilons and Combine Hunters.
Deadlock may not be the Half-Life spinoff it was reportedly meant to be, but Gabe Followers’ other claims suggest fans of the series may have something to look forward to in the future—a fully-fledged next entry.
