Deadlock Skins Trading Leak: Tradeable Cosmetics Coming to Valve's New Game

Valve's hero shooter Deadlock continues to generate buzz, and the latest discovery from the game's files has the trading community paying close attention. New evidence suggests that cosmetic trading and item recycling could be making their way to the game, potentially opening up an entirely new economy on the Steam Marketplace.

What the Leak Reveals

Popular Valve news source and dataminer Gabe Follower recently shared images of game code found within Deadlock's files. The strings discovered point to functionality that would allow players to trade cosmetics and recycle unwanted items.

Among the code strings discovered were references to:

• ToGCRecycleMultipleItems — suggesting players will be able to recycle multiple cosmetic items at once
• EGCMsgUseItemResponse_CannotUseWhileUntradable — indicating items will have tradeable and untradeable states, similar to CS2's trade hold system

These naming conventions are consistent with how Valve handles item systems in their other games like CS2 and Dota 2, which both feature robust trading ecosystems and Steam Marketplace integration.

What This Could Mean for Traders

If Deadlock follows the same model as Valve's other titles, we could see:

Steam Marketplace Integration

Just like CS2 skins and Dota 2 cosmetics, Deadlock items would likely appear on the Steam Community Market. This would allow players to buy and sell cosmetics using their Steam Wallet balance.

Third Party Marketplace Support

With tradeable items comes the potential for third party platforms to offer Deadlock skins. Sites that currently deal in CS2 and Dota 2 items would likely expand to include Deadlock cosmetics once trading goes live.

Item Recycling System

The recycling code suggests Valve may implement a system where players can break down unwanted cosmetics. In Dota 2, recycling items rewards players with crafting materials or other rewards. Deadlock could adopt a similar approach.

A Growing Economy

Deadlock is already one of the most anticipated games in Valve's lineup. The company has made it clear that the hero shooter is their top priority, with teams from across their other projects contributing to its development.

Adding a trading economy would be a natural fit. Valve has decades of experience running virtual item marketplaces, and the Steam infrastructure is already built to handle it. The question isn't really whether Deadlock will have tradeable cosmetics, but when and how the system will work.

Take It With a Grain of Salt

It's worth noting that these are datamined files, not official announcements. Game code can change significantly during development, and features found in files don't always make it to release. Valve is known for iterating extensively on their games, and what we see in the code today might look very different by the time it ships.

That said, the presence of this code strongly suggests that Valve is at least exploring cosmetic trading for Deadlock. Given their track record with CS2 and Dota 2, it would be surprising if they didn't eventually add some form of item economy.

What to Watch For

Keep an eye on future Deadlock updates for any mention of:

• Cosmetic item drops or purchases
• Steam Inventory integration
• Trade hold systems
• Marketplace listings

For developers building trading tools and applications, Deadlock represents a potential new frontier. When the game does eventually add tradeable items, having API access to inventory and market data will be essential.

We'll continue to cover Deadlock news and any developments around its trading features as they emerge.