Riot Games Is Launching Teamfight Tactics, Its Own 'Auto Chess,' Later This Month
The developers of League of Legends are stepping into the autobattler ring.
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Riot Games has announced a new game mode for League of Legends today called Teamfight Tactics, its entry into the growing autobattler genre. This mode, accessed through the League of Legends client, will go live June 25 for all players.
The genre of board vs. board fights between customizable squads of warriors is commonly called "auto chess" after its originator, a mod for Valve's Dota 2 called Dota Auto Chess. While Valve and original mod developer Drodo Studio are both working on their own standalone versions of the game, the genre has soared in popularity within the Dota 2 client. Riot's foray marks another major developer, and a fellow MOBA at that, moving into the space.
"Players have expressed a tremendous amount of interest in the autobattler genre," says Richard Henkel, product manager of Teamfight Tactics. "And we hope League of Legends fans are excited to see the game's signature art, style, and deep gameplay come to life in this new mode."
Teamfight Tactics will be populated by many existing League of Legends characters, like Morgana, Mordekaiser, Graves, Garen, and Lucian. It takes many nods from other efforts, like combining units and challenging other boards, but Henkel told USgamer that Riot is trying to address "pain points" in the genre, while also adding a unique spin on the formula.
Teamfight Tactics will be available to any players with a League of Legends account through the game's client. For more information, check out our interview and hands-on impressions of the game's early stages.