Drodo Studios, the creators of the popular Dota 2 custom game Dota Auto Chess, have hinted at a mobile release for their game as a standalone title.
The China-based studio recently posted a teaser image on their Weibo account, which is pictured above. The teaser depicts the studio’s mascot, the Drodo courier from Dota 2 holding what appears to be a smartphone in its beak. The foreground also shows silhouettes of what could very well be the new models for the game pieces in the standalone release, with a caption that reads, “Coming Soon” in front of it.
Even if Dota Auto Chess is just a custom map in Dota 2, the game has been widely popular — garnering over 5.5 million players as of the time of writing.
Its popularity has caused knockoffs of the game to appear, such as the short-lived Chinese copycat game Realm of the Gods. According to a Chinese government database, at least eight companies have filed applications for the right to trademark the name “Auto Chess” back in January, including the Tencent conglomerate.
Dota 2 developer Valve Corporation also reportedly considered acquiring Dota Auto Chess in February, with aims to commercialize it as well as offer support and development help to its creators to turn it into a full-fledged title.
However, Drodo Studio stressed in its Weibo post that it hasn’t licensed its game to any outside company.
While it is hard to foresee how the Dota Auto Chess mod would perform as a standalone title, especially without the help of an established publisher, the decision of its creators to release the game on mobile seems to be a sound decision. The nature and format of the game fits the platform nicely, and would make it more accessible to players compared to a PC release.
With Drodo Studios having given no definite time frame for its game’s release, we can only wait for more updates on Dota Auto Chess’ development as a standalone title.
