SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 15 — Two of the biggest new video game genres are being merged in Might and Magic: Chess Royale, which pairs 100-player eliminations with chessboard-style strategy.
Video game giant Ubisoft is combining the Battle Royale and Auto Chess genres through a new game for mobile and PC.
Might & Magic: Chess Royale has players combining different unit types, factions, and heroes in order to win a one-on-one ten-minute game.
That’s in line with convention from the Auto Chess genre, which exploded in popularity in 2019 through Dota Auto Chess, Dota Underlords, and Teamfight Tactics.
Normally, those games have up to eight players participating in a sequence of solo matches over the course of 30 to 40 minutes.
Ubisoft, however, has come up with an approach that allows the participation of up to 99 players while lowering match times to ten minutes tops.
During an early public testing phase, which began in November 2019, matches of such relatively short duration were achieved through a sequence of rapid-play rounds that lasted around 30 seconds each.
Ahead of a full launch on January 31 across mobile and PC, Ubisoft is inviting potential players to sign up via preregistration on the App Store (iOS) and Google Play (Android).
In common with other autobattlers and many derivatives of the Battle Royale concept, it’s a free-to-play game that encourages players to make a variety of purchases.
The Battle Royale phenomenon emerged in 2017 through PUBG (aka PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds) and then, toward the end of the year, Fortnite.
Up to 100 players battle to become the last person or team standing after a scramble for high ground and high powered weapons and equipment, with aesthetics varying between military realism of “PUBG” and softer-edged cartoon stylings of Fortnite.
Then, at the start of 2019, Dota Auto Chess surged in popularity, a fan work based on multiplayer esport Dota 2, leading to the creation of Dota Underlords from the company behind Dota 2 and Teamfight Tactics from its League of Legends competitor. — AFP-Relaxnews
