Valve's Deadlock overtakes Team Fortress 2's PC player record

Valve's in-testing MOBA hero shooter Deadlock has hit a new milestone, surpassing the all-time peak concurrent player count for Team Fortress 2 on PC. According to PC Gamer, Deadlock's recent surge pushed it past TF2's record of 253,997 simultaneous players, set just three years ago.

The surge coincided with a major update that introduced six new heroes. The standout addition is Solomon, a chess mage whose weapon is a chessboard. Players report that reloading the weapon populates the board with a different historic chess game state depending on remaining ammo.

PC Gamer notes the comparison isn't perfect, as PC gaming's audience has grown since TF2's heyday. The outlet also speculates that Valve's massive storefront revenue allows it to run lengthy, unreleased tests like this one.

The report confirms Deadlock is still not considered finished for public release. Valve has told testers it is working on cosmetic items for heroes and additional modes of play.