Riot has announced a new autobattler mode for League of Legends, called Teamfight Tactics, and it’s going to be available to all players from 25th June (and on the public beta environment later this month).
This is Riot’s take on Auto Chess, the Dota 2 mod phenomenon – the mod Valve tried to collaborate with on it didn’t work out, so now Valve is making its own.
Teamfight Tactics pits eight players, one-on-one, against each other until only one remains. Battles are turn-based, like chess, and based around the League of Legends champions, and they fight, as you might have guessed, automatically.
Therefore, there is no actual twitch-skill in playing. Instead, the skill comes from strategy, in your choosing which heroes to deploy and in which formation, and in earning resources and upgrading your army. Autobattlers could be the next big thing after battle royale – hence the big guns throwing in their lots.