If you’ve gotten early access to Valve’s new team-based shooter Deadlock, you’re probably eager to bring your go-to squad along for the fun. Figuring out how to invite someone to deadlock beta isn’t as straightforward as it is for fully released games, thanks to rolling access waves and limited invite slots tied to each account. I’ve gone through this process myself with three of my regular gaming friends, so I’ve rounded up all the details you need to skip the confusion and get your party in matches fast.
How to Invite Someone to Deadlock Beta: Exact Steps for Eligible Accounts
First off, you can only send invites if you have an eligible beta account that’s been granted invite privileges. Not every early access player gets invite slots right away, so don’t panic if you don’t see the option the first time you log in. Valve rolls out extra invite slots in waves as they expand server capacity, so check back every few days if you don’t have access yet. If you do have slots available, follow these steps exactly:
- Open the Deadlock main menu and click the social icon in the top right corner of your screen, next to your profile avatar.
- Select the friend you want to invite from your Steam friends list, or enter their Steam ID manually if they don’t appear in your default list.
- Click the “Send Beta Invite” button next to their name. You’ll see a pop-up confirming how many invite slots you have left after sending the request.
Your friend will get a notification directly in their Steam client, as well as an email if they have notifications enabled. They have 7 days to accept the invite before it expires, so send them a quick message outside of Steam to let them know it’s coming if they don’t check their notifications often. If they don’t accept within that window, the invite slot will be returned to your account automatically, so you don’t have to worry about wasting slots on inactive friends.
Eligibility Rules for Invite Senders and Recipients
A lot of the confusion around Deadlock beta invites comes from unwritten eligibility rules that Valve hasn’t publicly shared in full. From testing with my own friend group and talking to hundreds of players in community Discord servers, I’ve pieced together the most consistent requirements you need to meet. These rules apply to everyone sending or receiving invites, so double check them before you spend time trying to figure out how to invite someone to deadlock beta only to hit a wall.
First, for senders: you need to have played at least 3 full matches in the beta before you unlock invite privileges. That rule is in place to cut down on bot accounts that hoard invite slots to sell on third-party sites. You also can’t have any active Steam account bans, including VAC bans or community bans, even if they’re for a different game. Valve restricts invite access for accounts with prior violations to keep the beta community as clean as possible.
For recipients, there are far fewer rules, but a few key restrictions still apply. Your friend can’t have a banned Steam account either, and they need to have had their Steam account active for at least 6 months. This is another anti-bot measure that prevents people from making throwaway accounts to access the beta. Recipients don’t need to own any other Valve games to accept the invite, though if they already play games like Dota 2 or Counter-Strike 2, their invite might process a little faster due to existing account trust scores.
That means if you’re trying to invite a friend who just made a new Steam account last month, you’ll have to wait until their account hits the 6 month mark, or ask them to use an older, established account if they have one. There’s no workaround for this rule right now, so don’t waste your time trying to send invites to new accounts.
Common Invite Issues and How to Fix Them Fast
Even if you and your friend meet all the eligibility rules, you might still run into glitches that stop invites from sending or being accepted. I’ve dealt with every one of these issues personally when inviting my own squad, so these fixes are tested and work for most players.
The most common issue is the “Invite Failed” pop-up that appears when you click send. 9 times out of 10, this happens because you don’t have any available invite slots left, or your account hasn’t unlocked invite privileges yet. Double check that you’ve played 3 full matches, and look for the invite counter in the social menu to see how many slots you have left. If you don’t see a counter, you don’t have slots available yet, so wait for the next access wave.
Another frequent problem is your friend not getting the invite notification at all. First, ask them to check their Steam message requests folder, because invites from accounts they don’t have added as friends often end up there. If it’s not there, have them log out of Steam completely and log back in, because sometimes cached data stops notifications from loading. You can also try canceling the original invite and sending a new one, as the first request might have gotten stuck in Valve’s server queue.
If your friend gets the invite but gets an error when they try to accept, it’s almost always because their account doesn’t meet the eligibility requirements. Have them double check that their account is in good standing and older than 6 months. If they meet those rules, the issue is usually a temporary server glitch, so try having them accept the invite through the Steam desktop client instead of the mobile app, as mobile invites have higher failure rates right now.
Should You Buy Deadlock Beta Invites From Third-Party Sites?
If you don’t have any friends with extra invite slots, you might be tempted to buy an invite from a third-party reseller site, or accept an invite from a stranger online for a fee. I strongly recommend against this, for a few very important reasons that most players don’t consider before spending their money.
First, Valve explicitly bans the sale of beta access in their Steam terms of service. If you buy an invite, both the sender’s account and your account can be permanently banned from Steam entirely, not just from Deadlock. That means you lose access to every game you own on your account, which is a way bigger loss than the $10 or $15 you might spend on an invite. I’ve already seen dozens of players post about their accounts getting banned for this exact reason in Deadlock community spaces, so it’s not an empty threat.
Second, most resold invites are scams. A lot of sellers will send you an invite, then report the invite as stolen to Valve a few days later, so your access gets revoked and you don’t get your money back. There’s no buyer protection for these kinds of transactions, so you’re almost always throwing your money away if you go this route.
So what should you do if you don’t have any invites? The best option is to sign up for the official beta waitlist on the Deadlock Steam page, and join official community Discord servers where players often give away extra invite slots for free to active community members. I gave away two of my extra slots to regulars in a Dota 2 Discord server last month, and tons of other players do the same, so you can usually get access for free within a few weeks if you’re patient.
At the end of the day, bringing your friends into the Deadlock beta doesn’t have to be a headache if you follow the rules and know what to expect. Now that you know how to invite someone to deadlock beta, you can get your full squad together and start testing the game before its full release. Just be patient if you don’t have invite slots yet, avoid sketchy third-party invite sellers, and double check that your friends meet all eligibility requirements before you send a request. Once you’re all in, you’ll be able to grind matches together and give Valve valuable feedback to make the game even better before it launches for everyone.