One of the co-creators of Risk of Rain is now working on Deadlock

GamesMOBAOne of the co-creators of Risk of Rain is now working on DeadlockWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Gearbox, Hopoo Games)

Risk of Rain space man holding gun and busted guitar in front of purple background

Almost a month after Risk of Rain studio Hopoo Games announced thatit was joining Valve and halting work on an unannounced game, the studio’s titular cofounder, Duncan “Hopoo” Drummond has revealed that he is specifically working on Deadlock, Valve’s formerly open secret MOBA-shooter.

Risk of Rain creator Hopoo has joined the Deadlock team pic.twitter.com/XnY4R3JNXlSeptember 27, 2024

Drummond and Paul Morse co-created the popular Risk of Rain series of roguelikes, with ownership of the series and stewardship of Risk of Rain 2 recently passing to the game’s publisher, Gearbox, tomixed results. On September 3, Hopoo Games announced that most of the team had joined Valve, including Drummond and Morse, with the studio going dark and development halting on an unannounced game codenamed “Snail.”

It’s unknown at this point if Morse and the rest of Hopoo are also working on Deadlock, or if they’re taking on other projects at the famously opaque developer. Court documents show that Valveconsisted of 336 employees in 2021, with more than half of them (181) focused on active game development. Counter-Strike 2 and Deadlock are the most actively-supported of the studio’s games these days, but you have to imagine the team behind 2020’s single player Half-Life: Alyx is working on something else⁠—that is if it isn’t already DOA, far from an impossibility given the studio’s history.

At the same time, Hopoo’s demonstrated expertise with third person shooters and itemized progression from Risk of Rain are a perfect fit for Deadlock, similar to how Campo Santo’s affinity for first person exploration and storytelling no doubt helped make Half-Life: Alyx into agreat game. At the end of the day, if you got a job offer to work at Valve, wouldn’t you take it?

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals

TOPICSValve

TOPICS

PRODUCTSDeadlockRisk of Rain 2

PRODUCTS

More about moba

Vindicta standing next to a shop

Mel from Arcane stares, contemplatively, in a new trailer for Season 1 of League of Legends 2025.

League of Legends' new season trailer is basically an epilogue to Arcane with 6 new Fortiche champion redesigns in it—so if it’s not a preview of the upcoming Noxus show, I’ll eat my hat

LatestPlayers are still finding edge-case Baldur’s Gate 3 scenes, like one where you play as a kidnapped Astarion even if you made your own player-characterSee more latest►

Latest

Players are still finding edge-case Baldur’s Gate 3 scenes, like one where you play as a kidnapped Astarion even if you made your own player-character

Astarion

Players are still finding edge-case Baldur’s Gate 3 scenes, like one where you play as a kidnapped Astarion even if you made your own player-character

See more latest►

Most Popular

Watching an all-romances speedrun of the legendarily janky Fallout: New Vegas is a delight

Activision will send you alarmingly detailed data for every single Call of Duty match you’ve played in the last 4 years if you ask, and players are using it to figure out their mysterious SBMM rankings

Here’s a game about being a depressed, lonely maintenance robot on a long-haul space colony ship

Civilization 7 has been Steam Deck Verified ahead of its launch next month

23-year-old D&D RPG Neverwinter Nights just got a new update thanks to the ‘unpaid software engineers’ of its unkillable community

My Summer Car, the absurdly detailed Finnish life sim about vehicle maintenance and drinking in your underpants, smashes into 1.0 after nearly a decade in Steam early access

Assassin’s Creed Shadows takes a run at improving parkour, as Ubisoft strives to make the system less ‘like a gas pedal’

Today’s Wordle answer for Saturday, January 11

The Last of Us season 2 trailer is a brief look at a story you should probably just play yourself in April

Lords of the Fallen publisher embraces fear of the DEI boogeyman, says it will not include ‘any social or political agendas’ in its games

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

A bunch of the best Steam Deck accessories on a blue background.

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

Thank Goodness You’re Here review

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback

3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

4Ikea Utespelare desk review

Ikea Utespelare desk review

5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals#

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals