Everything New In The City Never Sleeps Update For Deadlock

Published Oct 1, 2026, 1:06 PM EDT Collin is a Guides Staff Writer at TheGamer who has been writing guides for nearly ten years. He is also a professional game/level designer. More importantly, he's still waiting for a new Ape Escape game to release. Deadlock's next major content drop has arrived and it's a doozy. Dubbed the "City Never Sleeps," this update introduces significant changes to the game's map, various quality-of-life changes, and an additional six new characters you can play. It's a lot of content, and the map additions alone are enough to change the game significantly. So whether you're a seasoned resident of The Cursed Apple or a newcomer wondering what all the commotion is, here is everything you need to know about the latest content update and all the major changes included. The Cursed Apple Map Changes Perhaps the most dramatic addition in this update is the huge alterations to Deadlock's map. This includes full reworks of all three lanes, along with stylizing four parts of the jungle to fit specific themes. Starting with Blue Lane, this area is now based on Times Square with the bridge crossing over the main street being much wider. Additionally, there is less cover for each of the guardians, forcing players who are on the defense to use the side buildings for cover. Each street leading to the walkers is more open, and there's no longer an elevated area behind them if you're coming from the jungle. This pushes players to commit more to their attacks. As for Green Lane, this is now based on Central Park and predominantly features trees, greenery, brownstone buildings, and a library. The big addition to the lane is a massive tree on one side that you can actually climb up and use as cover or a vantage point. Various balance alterations have been made, such as the tier one mob camp being moved several meters away from the tower and lanes from walker to base having more cover. Finally, for Yellow Lane, this one revolves around a decommissioned industrial zone and the New York Stock Exchange. While the lane itself hasn't received any major changes, the big updates are to the walker rooms, which both offer different areas for cover, such as the stock exchange having massive pillars around the walker. There are also four unique districts, one for each side of the jungle. Chinatown and Haunted Lot are on the side of The Hidden King, while Plaza and Theater districts are tied to the Archmother's side of the map. The Haunted Lot is composed of broken down buildings you can run through or climb, providing some unique hiding spots or places to dip into when you need cover. Alternatively, Chinatown is relatively straightforward except for the massive bell tower in the center of the district. The Plaza is one of the most dramatic locations, with the entire center being an undercroft with a purple haze obscuring a vision of what's underneath. There's also a massive statue of a demon holding the globe, along with narrow walkways going around this pit. Last but not least is the Theater, a massive, well, theater that features a stage with multiple mobs and Sinner Sacrifice machines in the mezzanine. Keep in mind, the bell tower in Chinatown will ring whenever you are looting at that location, while the Sunken Plaza limits your audio and drains your stamina when you're in the purple mist. These make the locations high risk, but they are some of the best spots on the map to quickly amass a ton of souls. Haunts Haunts are the new name for the neutral AI mobs you farm for Souls in the jungle and lane. Instead of using the same one-eyed monster model, each area now has Haunts themed to them along with some unique attacks. For example, the Barrel Mimics in The Haunted Lot can ignite their fuses and explode if you don't kill them fast enough, while the Stage Hands' weak point is actually the marionette hand, not the puppet itself. All of the Haunts' difficulties are now displayed next to their name, with I being the weakest and III being the toughest. You can also see how many souls killing a Haunt is worth, and when the camp is destroyed, there will be a timer over their spawn point to show you when they return. Notably, the Mid-Boss has not changed at all, as Valve explained, this will come in a future update. The Broker A limited-time vendor, The Broker appears around the 30-minute mark in matches and offers to turn items you currently own into Corrupted versions of themselves. You can find the Broker on your map by the distinct Fedora and Glass icon on the mini-map, with one appearing on each team's side of the arena. Corrupted Items are essentially much stronger versions of existing items, but they always come with a negative modifier. For example, a Corrupted Rapid Recharge will come with an additional charge, faster cooldowns for that ability, and bonus Spirit Power but at the cost of something else. The negative status effect will be randomized each match, such as reduced stamina, bullet resist, or movement speed. While not always advantageous, Corrupted Items can be comically powerful and are usually worth snagging. Notably, you can only buy one Corrupted Item from the Broker at a time, and there are no souls spent to get it. The Broker is also planning to leave on Friday, October 2nd, once the new heroes start releasing, but I imagine he will return throughout the season. Six New Characters The last major addition is the six new heroes who will be playable in coming weeks. Similar to the Old Gods, New Blood update, players can vote on which of the heroes they want to see first, with the winner each week being released. Characters will come out every Tuesday and Friday, so don't worry if your favorite didn't win right away. Deadlock's upcoming characters are: Baba The Rat King Violet Solomon Deadman Danny Nurse Harrow Not much is known about these heroes outside of the keywords displayed on their character select screen and general in-game models. There's certainly speculation, such as The Rat King being a gun frontliner who can use the underground tunnel system or Nurse Harrow being some type of support hero. You can vote on each character once you load into a match, but before the game actually begins. Approach the machine in front of you when you spawn and pick which of the remaining heroes you want to see next. This will cast your vote, and if you win a match, it will be doubled. Additionally, winning your first game of the day will also double your vote. Numerous Quality Of Life Changes There have also been numerous quality-of-life changes and bug fixes. These range from a cleaner HUD and health bars to thousands of additional voice lines to a more comprehensive ping system. You'll find most aspects of the game have been touched in some way, both visually and mechanically, so long as it doesn't directly involve the characters or what items do. Notably, there are no new character models for heroes like Sinclair, Yamato, Viper, etc., and items are still functioning as they did before this update. All of those are scheduled for a later update, as City Never Sleeps focuses mostly on the updated map, characters, and overall visual readability of Deadlock. We also got a bunch of bug fixes, but there hasn't been a balance patch yet, so expect to still get absolutely obliterated by Shiv's shotgun. The Ranked Season Reset has also been pushed out a few weeks, giving you more time to grind if you're looking to ascend through the ranks!