If you’re one of the lucky players who got early access to Valve’s new team-based shooter Deadlock, you’re probably already hyped to jump into matches with your regular gaming crew. There’s nothing worse than getting access to a hot new multiplayer game and having to play solo, so it’s no surprise that how to invite people to deadlock beta is one of the most searched questions for early players right now. I’ve been testing the beta for three weeks, and I’ve run into every possible invite issue you can imagine, from invites disappearing into the void to friends getting access revoked because I missed a small eligibility rule. This guide pulls together all the lessons I learned, so you can get your friends in the game without wasting your limited invite slots.
What You Need Before Sending Any Deadlock Beta Invites
Before you even open the invite menu, there are a few non-negotiable requirements you have to meet first. I skipped these the first time I tried to send an invite, and I spent 45 minutes confused why the invite button was greyed out for all my friends. Save yourself the headache and confirm you check all these boxes first.
- Active, fully verified Deadlock beta access on your main Steam account
- Completion of all 2 introductory tutorial matches in the game
- A minimum of 5 public multiplayer matches played without reports for toxic behavior
- At least 1 unused invite slot allocated to your account (check in the in-game social menu)
Most players miss the 5 multiplayer match requirement, because the game doesn’t tell you that’s a rule anywhere outside of the hidden support pages. You won’t unlock invite privileges until you finish those 5 matches, even if you got your beta access three days ago. Another thing to note: invite slots are not permanent. If you don’t use your slots within 10 days of getting them, they get reallocated to other active players, so don’t hoard them for too long. Steam account standing matters more than you think — if you have a recent temporary ban for harassment or cheating in any Valve game, your invite privileges get revoked automatically.
How to Invite People to Deadlock Beta Without Common Errors
Once you’ve confirmed you meet all the prerequisites, sending an invite only takes a minute, if you do it right. I’ve seen a lot of players rush through this step and end up wasting an invite slot on an account that can’t accept it, so follow these steps carefully. First, launch Deadlock and navigate to the social menu in the top right corner of the main screen. You’ll see a small button that says “Manage Beta Invites” right under your friends list — if you don’t see that button, that means you haven’t unlocked invite privileges yet, so go back and check the prerequisites we listed earlier.
Click that button, and you’ll see how many unused invites you have left, along with a list of Steam friends who don’t already have beta access. Only select friends who have had a Steam account for at least 3 months, because accounts newer than that are automatically blocked from accepting beta invites, even if you send them one. Once you select the friend you want to invite, click “Send Invite”, and you’ll get a confirmation pop-up. Your friend will get a notification on Steam, as well as an email to the address linked to their Steam account. Remind them to accept within 72 hours, because after that the invite expires and you lose that slot. If you have multiple invites to send, you can select up to 3 friends at once, but I recommend sending them one at a time so you can track who got their invite and who didn’t.
Fixes for Deadlock Beta Invites That Don’t Arrive
Even if you follow all the steps perfectly, sometimes invites don’t show up for your friend right away. This is super common right now, because Valve’s servers are handling a huge volume of invites as they roll out more beta access slots. The first thing to do if your friend says they didn’t get the invite is ask them to check their Steam notification spam folder. A lot of players have their Steam settings set to filter messages from people they don’t interact with often, and beta invites often end up in that spam folder. If it’s not there, have them log out of their Steam account completely and log back in — this often triggers pending notifications that got stuck in the server queue.
You can also ask your friend to search for “Deadlock Beta Invite” in their email inbox, because sometimes the email notification shows up before the Steam notification does. If none of that works, double check that you sent the invite to the correct Steam account. A lot of players have multiple alt accounts, so it’s easy to send the invite to the wrong one by mistake. If you’re sure you sent it to the right account, and it’s been more than 24 hours, you can submit a support request from the in-game help menu. Just make sure you include the Steam ID of the person you invited, so the support team can track the invite easily. Keep in mind that support response times are slow right now, so you might wait 2 to 3 days for a reply.
Best Practices for Sharing Deadlock Beta Access Responsibly
It’s easy to get excited about having extra invites and send them to random people online, but there are a few rules you should follow to keep your own access safe. First, never sell your beta invites, or trade them for in-game items, gift cards, or anything else of value. Valve actively tracks invite usage, and any account found selling invites will get a permanent ban from Deadlock, and all invites sent from that account will be revoked, meaning all the people you invited will lose their access too. It’s not worth the $20 or $30 you might get from selling an invite, to lose access to the game permanently.
Second, only invite people you know and trust. If the person you invite gets banned for cheating, toxic behavior, or selling their own access, your account will get flagged, and you might lose your invite privileges or even your own beta access. I’ve seen this happen to a player in my Discord server who invited 3 random people he met on Reddit, and all 3 got banned for cheating within a week. He lost his own access a few days later, even though he didn’t cheat himself. Third, if you have extra invites, consider giving them to players who have been active in the Deadlock community for a while, like people who make fan content, or organize community events. That helps build a healthier, more positive player base for the game when it launches fully. Finally, remind anyone you invite to follow the game’s code of conduct, because their behavior reflects on you too.
Bringing your friends along to play a new game is half the fun of early beta access, and knowing how to invite people to deadlock beta doesn’t have to be a confusing, frustrating process. As long as you meet the prerequisites, follow the steps carefully, and avoid the common mistakes we covered, you can get your whole crew in the game and playing matches in no time. From my own experience, the most common issue is just invites ending up in spam folders, so don’t panic if your friend doesn’t get their notification right away. Take it slow, double check all the details, and you’ll be queuing up for matches together before you know it.