Does Deadlock have anti-cheat?

Valve’s upcoming hero shooter Deadlock is already being impacted by in-game cheaters. So what systems do the devs have in place to combat this?

Deadlock is a 6v6 hero shooter with a MOBA twist. It includes a massive roster of playable characters, such as robots, wizards, and other creatures. It has already drawn major comparisons to Overwatch 2 and Team Fortress.

While Deadlock is only in very early access, reports of cheating have already begun cropping up online and future players are concerned that the game will be riddled with hacking similar to Valve’s other titles.

Here is everything we know so far about Deadlock’s anti-cheat systems and any future plans the devs have laid out regarding mitigating any hacking issues.

Is there anti-cheat software for Deadlock?

Yes, Deadlock does have an anti-cheat. The system was announced in the September 26 update and is slated to be released a few days after the update goes live.

It’s unknown if this system is using Valve’s proprietary anti-cheat, VAC, which is also in use in Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2, or if this is a completely new system.

Obviously, the devs are quite reticent on discussing how the anti-cheat works and how it is built to prevent hackers from cracking it.

The anti-cheat will of course detect players using cheats and will ban them, or as an additional punishment, turn them into a frog mid-game.

Twitter: poggu/Valve

As part of the game’s anti-cheat measures, the devs also added an in-game reporting system to keep toxic players away in the September 12 update.

Players can now lose access to matchmaking, voice chat, text chat, and even reporting as penalizations for toxicity.

They can also be put in a low-priority queue as punishment if they have been reported too much. In addition, if you regularly misreport you could also face the same punishments.

On the official Steam listing for the game, access is “currently limited to friend invites” by existing playtesters. This decision aims to minimize hacking and cheating because, after all, who wants to be called out for cheating by their friends?

In fact, if your friend was caught cheating, and you’ve played regularly with them, it too could result in a ban on your account.

If you’re looking for a legitimate way to get ahead in Deadlock, check out our tier-list of the current characters or the best mouse and keybind settings.