It’s no secret that autobattlers are the hot new genre in town. In the wake of the success of Dota Underlords and Teamfight Tactics, more and more companies are rushing to cash in on the trend.
We are certain a number of popular franchises will spin out their own autobattlers. Here are five we see as the most likely to join the fray soon!
Heroes of the Storm
Dota Underlords, Auto Chess, and Teamfight Tactics were all spawned inside MOBA titles. The only other relatively big-name player in that category is Blizzard’s Heroes of the Storm. The game has a big roster of playable characters and combines the flair of all of the companies’ existing IPs into one. It is the most likely contender to get its own autobattler spin-off.
While Blizzard could theoretically use one of their other franchises, it is less likely they would go that way. The studio got burned pretty badly with their 2018 Diablo Immortal reveal and will likely not make the same misstep so soon. Furthermore, an autobattler would be a very quick and inexpensive way to try to revitalize the Heroes of the Storm scene, which has been on life support since Blizzard cancelled esports support last year.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe
This one is a no-brainer. The MCU has been one of Hollywood’s biggest financial powerhouses for a decade now. And there are already a number of Marvel-based competitive games out there, mostly on mobile.
To be blunt, autobattlers are easy to make. Most developers just take the original Auto Chess formula and attach some new assets to it. An Avengers or X-Men autobattler could already be in development.
Paladins or Overwatch, or both
While arena shooters are no longer in vogue, they still draw massive viewerships on Twitch. And both Hi-Rez’s Paladins and Blizzard’s Overwatch have big and dedicated communities. It would be very surprising if neither title gets its own companion autobattler.
Going off of previous patterns, Hi-Rez is more likely to make the first move. The company is not known to spare any time going all-in on hot new genres.
Warhammer
The unkillable behemoth that is Games Workshop keeps the torch of traditional wargaming burning today even more brightly than they did in the ’80s and ’90s. Back then their designs served to inspire Blizzard to create many of the inescapable archetypes we see everywhere in gaming today.
The Warhammer IP is omnipresent in modern games, from Steam to mobile to console. An autobattler set in the grim darkness of the far future makes perfect sense to us.
Hero Hunters
Our final prediction may seem hyper-specific, but we stand behind it. Hero Hunters is a very successful mobile PvP title with a massive roster of playable characters. The game already feels somewhat like an autobattler. Gameplay consists of deploying teams of characters, which then fight on auto-pilot when not controlled by the player.
If this turns out to be the next big autobattler, they have the opportunity to be the first to actively innovate on the formula. Hero Hunters has a lot of integral mechanics, like destructible cover, which could add so much to the rigid and already-monolithic autobattler gameplay.
What do you think of our list? Would you like to see other games or companies come out with their own autobattlers? Let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to stay tuned to Daily Esports for more competitive gaming news and content!
