Auto Chess Is Coming To PS4 And Nintendo Switch In 2020

Auto Chess was and still is — for lack of a better phrase — the new hotness. The game started as a mod for popular MOBA title Dota 2, and has since become its own thing, all the while being copied by Riot Games and Valve. Sadly, when the game strikes out on its own on PC this year, it'll only do so as an Epic Games Store exclusive. But that won't be the case forever.

According to the folks at Gematsu, Auto Chess will be dropping that Epic Games Store exclusivity sometime in 2020, which means it could presumably appear on other PC games stores (hello, Steam!). Not only that, Auto Chess will appear on two consoles for the very first time: the PlayStation 4 and the Nintendo Switch. It is hoped, says Dragonest CEO Loring Lee, that the large install base of consoles in Japan will help grow the popularity of Auto Chess even more.

That Japanese focus, it appears, might also explain why Auto Chess is skipping the Xbox One for the moment.

For those out of the loop, Auto Chess started out as a Dota 2 mod that essentially turned that game into a modified version of chess (hence the name). And the game that'll land on the Epic Games Store later this year is largely the same. Instead of featuring the action found in MOBAs, Auto Chess is essentially a strategy title that enables players to select pieces and then watch a battle play out without their input. Or for those sports-minded folks out there: it's like a fantasy football spin on MOBAs. You draft your characters. They play. Hopefully your team wins.

It's supposedly far more approachable than actually playing a MOBA, which makes sense, as playing fantasy football is far easier than the act of playing football itself. We'll just have to see how attractive that type of game is to those who aren't all that familiar with the games Auto Chess spawned from. If you don't know MOBAs, will you care for Auto Chess? Or will its association with MOBAs — which are traditionally difficult — scare players away from even giving it a shot?

We'll find out later this year when Auto Chess comes to the Epic Games Store, and in 2020 when Auto Chess hits PS4 and Switch.