Chinese gaming giant Tencent is developing another autobattler title after their Chess Rush release last month. The new game is an internal mode for Tencent’s hit MOBA Arena of Valor. AoV is currently the most popular mobile title in China, where Tencent markets it under the name Honor of Kings. The news came down a few days ago through Niko Partners senior analyst Daniel Ahmad on Twitter.
Tencent will update Honor of Kings, the #1 mobile game in the world by revenue, with a map editor and Auto Chess mode this August.
The 5v5 MOBA has had many content updates over the year, in line with popular trends, including a battle royale mode last year. pic.twitter.com/9BVdnDfP7m
— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) August 2, 2019
We don’t know much about the new mode yet. It will be available through the Arena of Valor client and, therefore, will almost certainly be a mobile exclusive. More than likely, it will function very similarly to the original Auto Chess, much as Chess Rush does.
Coincidentally, according to Pocket Gamer, Chess Rush will soon receive some new content. The update is set to bring two new heroes and a new four-versus-four co-op mode. It is possible the new autobattler mode for Arena of Valor will release around the same time.
Investing heavily in autobattlers
It would seem Tencent is eager to engage with the autobattler craze as much as possible. The company has arguably cornered the market already. Aside from releasing this new mode only weeks after their first foray into the genre, they recently partnered up with Dragonest to co-publish Auto Chess in China. Dragonest CEO Longfei Li made the announcement on Weibo early last month. In North America, the game is an Epic Store exclusive.
Tencent also notably owns Riot, which means it holds the reins to the biggest autobattler in the world already. Teamfight Tactics is leagues ahead of all competing titles in the genre, and it shows no signs of slowing down. With Tencent’s dominance over the mobile gaming market, it is not unlikely that the League of Legends autobattler will eventually make its way there too.
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