Dragonest has announced that it will release PlayStation 4 and Switch versions of the popular Auto Chess in 2020.
The news comes via a fan meetup event in Tokyo, during which Dragonest CEO Loring Lee discussed future development plans with Japanese fans, including the release of console versions. Lee hopes that the large console market in Japan will help attract new players, and I’ll tack on that a Switch port would help just about everywhere, especially given the competitors’ (Dota Underlords and Teamfight Tactics) are exclusive to PC and (for Dota) mobile.
Auto Chess is a competitive multiplayer online strategy game (let’s leave the genre at that) developed in China that originally began life as a Dota 2 mod, before branching off into a standalone game for iOS and Android. A standalone PC version is currently in beta testing and due out via the Epic Games Store in 2019.
The next update for the smartphone version will be released in October, which will add a spectate feature, as well as Japanese voice-overs following the previously implemented Chinese and English voice-overs. Plans for other future updates have been announced, and they include an in-game voice chat feature for Duos, a four-versus-four mode, a tournament feature (due out by the end of 2019), a match replay feature (due out in the version update after the next one), and, of course, item availability balancing and various other adjustments.
Auto Chess may not be the biggest auto-battler on the market right now, but it’s undeniable that it started the craze, and the move to other populated platforms could be the one that puts it back on the map in a big way. The PlayStation 4 and Switch releases are anticipated to release in 2020, and the PC via Epic skew will be out later this year. If you’re interested in getting in early, you can check out the iOS app page here.
