Deadlock has finished at No. 1 in PC Gamer’s Top 100, but the more revealing detail is how many members of the editorial team found a compelling reason to play without embracing the mode that defines the genre.
The comments ranged from a writer who loves Deadlock’s characters and experimental design to another who had spent more than 360 hours with it. That breadth explains the result better than a simple appeal to competitive popularity: PC Gamer’s ranking rewards the quality of a game’s design, while the process deliberately preserves room for personal enthusiasm and surprise.
Deadlock’s position is therefore both an endorsement and a recommendation to look beyond familiar genre labels.
How PC Gamer chose its Top 100
The selection begins with nominations from the editorial team. Any PC game can be put forward, producing a longlist of more than 300 candidates. Staff then rate each game across three weighted categories: Quality, Importance and Freshness.
Quality carries the greatest influence because a game has to be genuinely good to qualify. The other categories help the list remain useful from one year to the next. Giving Importance too much weight could freeze the ranking around established names. Giving Freshness too much influence could make the list unstable or overly responsive to recent releases.
Each game’s ratings are averaged, then passed through formulas that penalize entries supported by too few voters. Editors also make manual adjustments. Most series are limited to one game, although exceptions are made when the entries are sufficiently different, as with Baldur’s Gate 2 and Baldur’s Gate 3.
| Ranking factor | What editors consider | What that means for Deadlock |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | Whether the game is genuinely good | Its writing, setting, character design and experimental mechanics received strong praise |
| Importance | The game’s contribution and staying power | Its unusual direction and record-high concurrents support its case for wider attention |
| Freshness | The appeal of a newer or currently exciting release | Its continued interest helped it stand out in a list built to change over time |
| Editorial review | Variety and meaningful differences between entries | Its distinct setting and accessible mode helped it fit a list that avoids simple genre repetition |
This is not a mechanical popularity chart. Staff advocacy, personal experience and editorial judgment all play a part, but so do formulas intended to prevent narrow preferences or short-lived excitement from dominating the result.
Why Street Brawl changed the conversation
Deadlock is built around a multiplayer online battle arena structure, yet Street Brawl offers a way into that structure without requiring players to treat the competitive mode as the only point. It uses the same large cast of strange characters, giving players more room to understand the game while keeping matches varied.
That mattered because the editorial response was not limited to experienced MOBA players. Elie Gould described loving Deadlock despite not being a MOBA fan, singling out its writing, experimental design and mode for less experienced players. Jacob Ridley also praised its accessibility, character roster, interface and high skill ceiling while admitting that he had yet to try the standard mode. Andrea Shearon reported enjoying the game after only a handful of hours despite normally avoiding hero shooters.
Harvey Randall, who had logged more than 360 hours, went further and argued that Deadlock was shaping up to be the best in its class. His enthusiasm carries extra weight because it comes from someone who knows the genre rather than encountering the game for the first time.
Together, these reactions reveal a useful trade-off for players. The competitive mode supplies depth for genre specialists, but Street Brawl lowers the cost of getting familiar with the characters and systems. It does not remove complexity; it makes that complexity easier to approach.
Why Deadlock’s first place matters
A No. 1 ranking normally raises the question of what made the game stand out. For Deadlock, the answer lies partly in its combination of a distinctive setting, unusually strong characters and a design that made the multiplayer experience easier to enter.
The setting plays a major role. Jake Tucker said that the supernatural 1950s New York environment was his main attraction even after repeatedly failing to get into the game. The consistent world gives Deadlock an identity that extends beyond its mechanics. Its characters are described as well written, while its combination of combat, exploration and unusual presentation makes the genre feel less conventional.
That distinction helps explain how a game associated with MOBAs could attract staff members who usually avoid them. It also illustrates the limitations of using genre as the only filter. Deadlock may resemble familiar competitive shooters or MOBAs, but the opinions gathered here describe a more characterful and experimental package than those labels can fully convey.
The ranking should not be treated as proof that Deadlock will suit every player or settle every argument about the best games on PC. The list is explicitly subjective, and even its scoring process includes manual intervention. Its value is discovery: it points readers toward a game that different members of the team can defend for very different reasons.
What to watch before making the genre mode your main goal
The most important question is whether the appeal survives beyond the more forgiving introduction offered by Street Brawl. The mode’s accessibility helped several editors discover Deadlock, but their praise also extended to the setting, characters and experimental design. Those qualities are what separate a strong first impression from a lasting recommendation.
Players should therefore watch for how well Deadlock holds attention after the novelty of Street Brawl fades. It is worth comparing characters, trying different abilities and learning the interface, but the standard mode remains the deeper test for anyone interested in the game’s competitive potential.
The broader point concerns PC Gamer’s Top 100 itself. Its voting system is designed to avoid rewarding only established prestige or only what is newest. Instead, quality leads the process, while importance, freshness and editorial review shape the context. Deadlock is the clearest beneficiary of that balance: praised by experienced genre players and newcomers, recognized for a distinctive world and valued for a route into its mechanics that does not demand immediate mastery.
Who should care about this result
Competitive multiplayer fans have the clearest reason to investigate Deadlock’s standard mode. The praise from experienced players suggests there is substantial depth behind the approachable alternative, particularly for those who value character variety and a high skill ceiling.
Players who dislike traditional MOBA complexity have an equally useful signal. Street Brawl appears to provide a practical entry point, while the shared roster and systems make it a legitimate part of the game rather than something entirely separate.
Players seeking a memorable setting should also take note. The consistently described supernatural New York environment became one of the strongest hooks in the editorial reaction. Deadlock’s first place suggests that its appeal is not limited to the competitive framework; world, writing and unusual design all contributed to the vote.
Everyone else should treat the ranking as a reason to try rather than an instruction to buy. Deadlock’s strongest case is that it can offer different reasons to play for different people. Whether that combination remains compelling is the thing to watch.
Key takeaways
- Deadlock’s No. 1 position came through a subjective process combining weighted staff voting, formulas and manual editorial review.
- Street Brawl made the game approachable for editors who had little interest in traditional MOBA play.
- Experienced competitive players also praised Deadlock’s characters, setting, design and high skill ceiling.
- The ranking is a strong discovery signal, but genre labels alone do not capture the game’s appeal.
Frequently asked questions
Did Deadlock beat every other PC game in PC Gamer’s ranking?
Yes. Deadlock finished at No. 1 in PC Gamer’s Top 100.
Do you need to understand MOBA rules to enjoy Deadlock?
Not immediately. Street Brawl was praised as an accessible way to learn the game, although the standard mode offers greater competitive depth.
How did PC Gamer choose its Top 100 games?
Staff nominated more than 300 games, rated them across Quality, Importance and Freshness, and then applied formulas and manual adjustments for the final list.
Can multiple games from the same series appear on the list?
Yes. Editors can make exceptions when they consider the games meaningfully different, as they did with Baldur’s Gate 2 and Baldur’s Gate 3.