Valve Cracks Down on Deadlock Pause Abusers with Permanent BansGame On!

Valve has recently started handing out permanent bans to players abusing the pause feature in Deadlock. This new MOBA, currently in its Closed Alpha phase, allows players to universally pause a game for 20 seconds, a system designed to handle disconnections and give teams a chance to recover a missing teammate.

However, reports have surfaced of this feature being misused, with some players pausing to throw off the opposing team. Clips of Twitch streamer ohnePixel encouraging his viewers to “take their pause” to “tilt the enemy team” have circulated online. Other players have claimed their accounts were banned due to this misuse.

Want to dive deeper into Deadlock and its features? Check out our ultimate guide to playing Deadlock. Interested in gaming on a controller? Read our article on how to play Deadlock with a controller.

Abusing the Pause Feature in Deadlock: Permanent Bans are Rolling Out

The exact details of these sanctions remain unclear. Ban notifications, like the one above, do not specify the exact reasons for permanently banning players. However, a highly popular discussion thread on Reddit has prompted many users to share their own experiences.

One player recounted, “During a close match the other night, the opposing team kept pausing the game for about five minutes while our team was struggling during the Boss Weakened phase.” This isn’t an isolated incident. Another player added, “In one of my matches, the winning team took turns pausing and resuming the game while they took out our Boss, making the gaming experience even more frustrating.”

Some think this behavior might be accidental. One user explained, “I have friends who play League of Legends and often press P to open the shop, out of instinct. I’ve advised them to change the shortcut to avoid these mishaps.”

Pause features are common in MOBAs. Valve already uses a similar system in Dota 2, but as with any game in development, Deadlock’s mechanics may still evolve before its official release.