Deadlock invite
See how friend-invite playtest access works while the Steam page stays coming soon.
A Deadlock invite is a friend request from someone already in the playtest, sent from the in-game menu. You cannot buy a key on Steam. The store page for app 1422450 still lists the game as coming soon, Windows only, with no public price. Valve's own copy says access is limited to friend invites via playtesters while the build stays in early development with temporary art and experimental gameplay. If you do not know a playtester, you wait. Use this access desk for the invite path, then How to Play for guns, melee, ziplines, Troopers, and the first Patron siege after the client opens.
What the Steam page actually says
Steam still marks Deadlock coming soon. Release date copy on the store is not a ship calendar you can plan around. The listing is Windows PC, Action and Multi-player, developed and published by Valve. Mac and Linux flags are off. There is no achievements payload and no store trailer movie, only still screenshots. System requirements remain TBD.
Simplified Chinese store copy uses 异锁 as the local name in the short description. Other Steam languages keep Deadlock. That naming split is why this wiki's Chinese brand reads 异锁 while English stays Deadlock. None of that changes the invite gate. The Steam community hub confirms product identity and does not sell keys.
How a playtester actually invites you
Playtesters send friend invites from the in-game menu. That is the mechanism Valve and the City Never Sleeps page both describe. There is no public queue to join, no Discord bot on this wiki, and no store checkout. Add a playtester, wait for the in-game invite, launch the Windows client, and then read How to Play.
Because the build is experimental, an invite this week does not freeze systems. City Never Sleeps already rebuilt the map and put six heroes on a vote. Ranked already exists as a gated playlist. Getting in is the start of reading those pages, not the end of waiting. If your friend list has nobody in the playtest, keep the Steam page wishlisted and stop refreshing fake key sites.
After the client opens
Once you launch, the useful next clicks are Heroes, How to Play, and Ranked in that order if you care about the ladder, or Street Brawl if you want a 4v4 tonight. The Hideout holds the hero vote and the Ranked hub. Do not spend your first hour in Ranked calibration. You will not have 60 Standard wins or 15 on three heroes.
Hardware questions have no official answer beyond Windows and TBD. Valve has not published a minimum spec sheet worth quoting. Use a machine that already runs a modern Source 2 game and expect the art to change. Official support is Valve, not this wiki. For takedown or correction mail, use Contact. If you launched tonight, skip Ranked, pick one playable hero, last-hit Troopers until the shop spend feels automatic, and save The Broker and Bell Tower dives for a later night.
Windows client, languages, and what you get after launch
The Steam listing is Windows only. French, Spanish, Polish, Turkish, Russian, Ukrainian, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Thai, Japanese, Indonesian and other interface languages appear on the store language table, with English carrying full audio. Simplified Chinese store copy uses 异锁 in the short description while other storefronts keep Deadlock. None of those language flags open a public download. You still need the in-game friend invite before the client will let you into a match.
After launch, the Hideout is the indoor hub for the hero vote and the Ranked season board. Standard is the playlist that banks the 60 wins and the 15 wins per hero Ranked later demands. Street Brawl is the 4v4 shortcut if a full Cursed Apple siege is too long. City Never Sleeps already rebuilt the streets you will load into, so the first screenshot you remember from 2024 is not the city you play tonight. Keep the Steam page wishlisted for store news, and treat playdeadlock.com as the current visitor guide for Haunts, The Broker, and the vote six.
Wishlist, news, and what not to click
Wishlist the Steam page if you want store emails when Valve flips coming soon to a purchase button. That button does not exist today. Community key sellers, fake Discord bots, and screenshot galleries from other wikis will not put you in the playtest. The only described path is a friend already in the client. If that friend is offline, wait; refreshing the store page will not mint an invite. A wishlist star is only a news hook, never a queue ticket, and it will not replace a playtester sitting in the Hideout with the in-game invite menu open.
Once you are in, mute the urge to queue Ranked on night one. You will not have 60 Standard wins. You will not have 15 wins on three heroes. Play the Cursed Apple in Standard, or Street Brawl if the siege is too long, and read How to Play for guns, melee, ziplines, and Troopers. Official access language is on the Steam listing and the City Never Sleeps page linked under Sources.