Deadlock’s City Never Sleeps Update Adds New Hero Violet, With Nurse Harrow Closing It Out
Valve’s hero shooter-MOBA hybrid Deadlock is in the middle of its biggest content push yet. The City Never Sleeps update pushed the closed playtest to a new all-time peak of 228,000 concurrent players, smashing the previous record of 171,490 set in late 2024, and the update capped off its hero rollout with a new painter-themed hero, Violet, added on October 16, 2026.
Violet's Kit: Ink, Brushes, and Portraits
Violet plays like nothing else in Deadlock’s roster. Her Living Ink ability lets her Empower her next three bullets to become steerable and deal bonus weapon and spirit damage, or Draw a solid ink stroke that blocks projectiles and units until an enemy melees it down. Flow State drags a brush forward that boosts allies’ slide distance while slowing and damaging enemies caught in its path, and flicking it forward early trades the trail for a bigger damage burst.
Her signature ability, Still Life, has Violet sketch a chosen enemy hero for continuous spirit damage; completing the sketch stuns them, deals a damage spike, and drops a pickup that permanently grants Violet stats based on that hero. Her ultimate, Abstract Landscape, drops an 18-meter ink circle that reveals and damages enemies who leave it while buffing allies’ spirit power inside.
One More Hero Before the Update Wraps
Violet isn’t the last addition — Valve confirmed the final hero of the update, Nurse Harrow, arrived on October 20, 2026, to close out City Never Sleeps. Deadlock remains an invite-only closed playtest with no public release date yet, though Valve is running a community vote on the release order of six more upcoming heroes.
Playing Deadlock
Deadlock sits on Steam as an invite-only playtest for now. If you’ve got access, keep a Steam Wallet Code (US) or Steam Wallet Code (Global) topped up on your account so you’re ready for whatever Valve monetizes once the game leaves testing.
