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Deadlock invites not working? When Valve's invite system is down
Every now and then, Deadlock's invites stop working for everyone at once. The game itself runs fine, matches still start, but every invite fails, from every account. It isn't your account, and it isn't your friend's. Here is how to tell, how long it lasted the times we measured, and what to do.
How to tell it's Valve's side
- Inviting a friend from the game's menu fails, or nothing happens, while the game works normally.
- It fails for everyone: Invite Frog's two accounts both get an error back from Deadlock for every player.
- The Invite Frog page shows a live log of invites. If "invite sent" lines have stopped for more than a few minutes, invites are most likely down.
The outages we measured
Invite Frog sends invites around the clock, so it sees an outage the minute it starts:
| When (UTC) | How long | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| 5 November 2026, 00:01 to 00:17 | About 20 minutes | Every invite failed with an internal error, then they worked again. |
| 7 November 2026, 22:25 to 23:20 | About 55 minutes | Every invite failed from both of the frog's accounts. Once it came back, invites were slow to arrive for a while. |
Both times, Deadlock itself stayed up. Only the invites failed.
What to do
- 1 Wait. Nothing is wrong with your account, and trying again and again doesn't help.
- 2 If someone is inviting you, stay friends with them so the invite can reach you once it works again. Invite Frog keeps everyone who added it on a list and sends their invites when Deadlock is back.
- 3 After the outage, look for your invite in your Steam chat, in Steam's notifications (the bell at the top right) and on your playtest invites page. Right after the 7 November outage, about half of the first invites came without a message in the chat.
Questions
- Are Deadlock invites down right now?
- Look at the live log on the Invite Frog page: it shows every invite as it goes out. If invites are going out there, they work.
- Why can't I invite my friend to Deadlock?
- If it fails for everyone, Valve's invite system is down; that has lasted 20 to 55 minutes when we measured it. If it's only your friend, their Steam account may be limited (under $5 spent) or already have Deadlock.
- How long do Deadlock invite outages last?
- The two we measured lasted about 20 minutes (5 November 2026) and about 55 minutes (7 November 2026).
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