New Deadlock Update Lets Players Turn Cheaters Into Frogs

Valve’s new hero shooter, Deadlock, hasn’t even officially launched yet, but cheaters are already becoming a problem. The game is currently in the midst of a closed beta, meaning players can only access the game via an invite from another player. But that hasn’t stopped the game from gaining massive popularity, and as is the case with many online shooters, more players means more cheaters.

Naturally, Valve is handling the influx of aim-bots and other instances of cheating the way any reasonable developer would: by turning the offending players into frogs.

“When a user is detected as cheating, during the game session the opponents will be given a choice between banning the user immediately and ending the match or turning the cheater into a frog for the rest of the game and then banning them afterwards,” the Deadlock developer known as Yoshi shared in a forum post outlining a recent game update. “The system is set to conservative detection levels as we work on a v2 anti-cheat system that is more extensive. We will turn on the banning of users in a couple of days after the update is out. When a match is ended this way, the results will not count for other players.”

The frogs in question are essentially defenseless, unable to do damage or use the abilities of the character they were playing prior to being frog-ified. Non-cheaters can easily kill a frog, or simply choose to let it leap around the arena for the rest of the match.

Deadlock was officially announced in late August, when Valve uploaded an announcement trailer and lifted the NDAs signed by streamers and other playtesters. The game’s official release date has yet to be announced, but one thing is certain: No fairytale princesses will ever plant a kiss on any of Deadlock’s frogs, especially given their history of cheating.