Deadlock adds Solomon in City Never Sleeps update with chessboard reload

Solomon is part of the City Never Sleeps update, which reportedly added six heroes in total.
His reload animation reshuffles a chessboard based on remaining ammo and uses positions from historic chess games.

What happened

Kotaku published an article on October 10, 2026 about Solomon, a new hero in Valve’s Deadlock. In the report, Solomon is described as a chess grandmaster and as part of the recent City Never Sleeps update. The Kotaku headline puts the focus on his reload animations, which are built around famous chess matches.

According to Kotaku, six new heroes were added in that update. The standout addition is Solomon’s chess theme: after reloading, his board rearranges into a new setup depending on the ammo left in the magazine. The source text explicitly says the board variations change after the reload, and that the positions come from real historical games.

An embedded post from Deadlock News on X adds a concrete detail. It says that every position on Solomon’s board comes from a real historical match. As examples, it names Maurice Ashley vs. Josh Waitzkin from 1999, plus a second game that begins in the provided text with Nakamura vs. Van… and is cut off there. The post is dated October 10, 2026, matching the Kotaku article’s publication date.

Based on the available sources, only the animation itself is confirmed. The sources do not say that the chessboard layouts have gameplay effects beyond the reload animation. The provided information also does not confirm the full name of the second game, since the X post is truncated.

Timeline

1999 — The game Maurice Ashley vs. Josh Waitzkin is cited as one source for one of the chess positions.
October 10, 2026 — Kotaku publishes its article about Solomon in Deadlock.
October 10, 2026 — Deadlock News posts on X that Solomon’s board changes after reloading based on remaining ammo and historical games.
October 10, 2026 — The reporting links Solomon to the City Never Sleeps update, alongside five other heroes.
October 10, 2026 — The X post explicitly says the chessboard positions come from real historical games, but the second reference is cut off at “Nakamura vs. Van…”.

Background

Deadlock is Valve’s hero shooter, which in the provided sources is still framed in a closed beta or upcoming context. Kotaku’s October 10, 2026 article refers to the game as an upcoming title, while the source summary also points to a closed beta context. Within that setting, Solomon fits into a wave of new additions and stands out thanks to a visual detail that directly references chess history.

The Kotaku source credits Zack Kotzer as the article’s author. In external context, the same piece is also found under the title “Deadlock Hero's Animations Based On Famous Chess Matches,” which matches the article’s focus: not a general hero reveal, but specifically Solomon’s animations. The available context also mentions a Deadlock wiki page describing Solomon as a hero who treats the battlefield like a chessboard, though that description is not needed to confirm the core of the Kotaku report.

The sources do not give a release date for Deadlock and do not fully confirm the second historical game referenced in the X post. What is confirmed is that Solomon’s reload animation is built around real chess positions. The post also says the pieces on the board are rearranged after reloading based on the remaining ammo, which is the central detail of the update.

The external context also includes a Tracklock article titled “CHECKMATE, Solomon has Arrived - Meet Deadlock's Newest Hero,” but that source places Solomon differently within the City Never Sleeps update and was not used as primary confirmation for the facts in this article. For the factual core, Kotaku and Deadlock News on X remain the main sources.

Sources

Kotaku: "New Deadlock Hero’s Reload Animations Based On Famous Chess Matches"
Deadlock News / X: post about Solomon’s chessboard variations and historical games