It seems like Blizzard Entertainment might take a bite out of the auto chess pie.
Digital game analyst Daniel Ahmad teased fans with a cryptic tweet today, hinting that a Hearthstone auto chess title might be announced at BlizzCon 2019.
“I should add, the Hearthstone expansion above won’t be the only new Hearthstone content to be revealed,” Ahmad tweeted along with a picture of a chess board.
Auto chess, much like battle royale, is a budding genre that’s been growing in popularity exponentially. The community created game mode Dota Auto Chess, which eventually sparked the creation of Valve’s Dota Underlords, was the first of its kind to make waves. Riot Games jumped into the autobattler scene soon after and is enjoying great success with Teamfight Tactics, an auto chess game that uses the League of Legends cast of champions.
Blizzard might be late to the party. But World of Warcraft is a 15-year old title with extensive lore and characters, as well as a huge player base, and it was used as the inspiration for Hearthstone. Using that world as a basis for an autobattler would create a sense of familiarity among fans looking to jump into a well-received genre.
Riot Games, on the other hand, is attempting to break into the digital card game industry with Legends of Runeterra, scheduled for an early 2020 release.
With both major developers potentially encroaching on the other’s turf, 2020 is shaping up to be an exciting year for gaming fans worldwide.
