Deadlock May Introduce Trading and Skin System
Well-known dataminer and insider Maxim "GabeFollower" Poletaev has discovered indirect evidence of upcoming features in the Deadlock code. According to his findings, Valve developers might be preparing to implement a trading system and an item recycling mechanic.
In his Telegram channel, Poletaev reported that strings found in Deadlock's source code point to a possible implementation of in-game item trading. Specifically, the dataminer was drawn to the entry CannotUseWhileUntradable, which is typically used to denote items temporarily unavailable for exchange. This could indicate that the Valve team is working on mechanisms for transferring or selling game objects between users.
Furthermore, the code contains references to recycling cosmetic items. It is possible that in the future, players will be able to convert unwanted skins or customization elements into other valuable resources.
These discoveries come in the wake of the recent major Deadlock update titled "Old Gods, New Blood," released on January 23, 2026.