Ranked is coming to Deadlock but it has some wild restrictions

A ranked playlist is officially coming to Deadlock but it doesn’t quite work how you might expect. From limited playtimes to weekly resets, here’s the full rundown on everything you need to know.

With Deadlock slowly but surely captivating a bigger audience on Steam, Valve’s not-so-secret hero shooter MOBA has been making waves throughout 2024. Now that the floodgates are mostly cracked open, Valve is circling back with mega-sized updates to keep the early access title evolving.

We’ve already seen new characters, map changes, mechanics, and more in various updates, and now, Ranked play is on the way too. While exciting for the competitive crowd, Ranked play does come with some unique quirks here in Deadlock.

It’s not all straightforward, so read on for the complete ranked rundown to get you up to speed on how it all works.

How to access ranked play in Deadlock

First up, to even access ranked mode in Deadlock, you’ll need to have played at least 50 unranked games on your account. You simply won’t be able to queue until you’ve hit this milestone, so start getting those games in if you’re not at 50 yet.

Ranked officially goes live on Tuesday, October 15 at 8PM GMT.

However, you can only play during select hours. Ranked mode is only available between 1-4PM and 7-10PM in your local timezone. So for now, that means you can’t grind endlessly and push for the max rank in one enormous session.

How Ranked play works in Deadlock: Rules and Restrictions

Beyond the time constraints, there are more unique quirks you have to keep in mind when playing ranked in Deadlock.

To start, Ranked queue is only available Solo. You can’t search for games as part of a Duo, Trio, or full squad. That’s the case for now at least, there’s no telling when Valve may loosen up in this regard.

Once you do get into some Ranked games, there are 11 tiers of ranks to advance through, each with six levels. It’s safe to expect a lengthy grind after your initial placement.

Initially, you won’t notice your ranks going up and down as you play through, with ranks only updating once a week. Your rank will be updated on a weekly basis at 8PM GTM.

In order for your rank to update, however, you do need to play a minimum of seven ranked games in a given week. For now, it doesn’t appear there’s a limitation at all on the higher end, so Deadlock players are free to grind as much as they wish, at least during the available hours.

Valve

Ranked is where the real challenge begins In Deadlock.

For now, that’s everything we know about Ranked play in Deadlock, but with the new update now live and Ranked opening up imminently, we’re sure to learn plenty more.

We’ll be sure to update you here once we’ve got our hands on it all.