Risk of Rain Developer’s Early Deadlock Leak Went Unnoticed Due to Quirky Nickname

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Duncan ‘Hopoo’ Drummond, the creator of Risk of Rain and developer of Deadlock, recently teased a new character for the upcoming Valveshooter. Despite a history of leaks, this one seemed too wild to be true.

In November 2025, Drummond joked in Deadlock’s official Discord, “at least no one has leaked chickenwing, ted, or abrams jr yet,” prompting a flurry of sarcastic fire emoji reactions. Some fans speculated in a Reddit thread about his comment, initially dismissing it as a joke—after all, who would be named Chickenwing? But this week, it became clear that Drummond was hinting at the arrival of Celeste.

“Introducing The Dazzling Celeste,” Valve announced on February 9, unveiling “Coney Island’s biggest star.”

Her debut performance features Light Eater, where a deep breath ignited by her radiant baton damages enemies in front of her. Following that, she uses her Dazzling Trick to envelop herself in a prismatic shield that explodes and silences nearby foes. Players in the Deadlock playtest can now experience Celeste, the carny with a unicorn horn.

Celeste’s backstory, shaped by her boardwalk life, reveals her motivation to protect her “found family”: “Keruba the mermaid. Blockhead Lenny. Chickenwing. Ted.” Yes, Chickenwing—the character you thought was just a joke.

Now, if only Abrams Jr. would make an appearance, he might just have a lesson to teach.

Deadlock scores big with the introduction of Celeste, a dazzling performer whose movement skills have fans eagerly anticipating a nerf: “It is EXTREMELY overpowered.”