'Auto Chess' is coming to PS5 with haptic feedback

Before Valve (Dota Underlords) and Riot (Teamfight Tactics) launched their own versions of turn-based autobattlers, there was the Auto Chess mod for Dota 2. That game is now available as standalone Auto Chess, with crossplay linking PC, PS4 and mobile platforms. Now developer Dragonest has announced a native PS5 version will launch next week, complete with support for ultra-fast loading using the console's fast SSD, upgraded graphics, and haptic feedback on the DualSense controller.

We don't have a lot of detail on how much force feedback players will experience beyond news that you'll get a "jolt" when you win a battle or defeat an enemy player, but it could be interesting to see what the gamepad adds to a title that wasn't built with it in mind.

Also new is a PlayStation-exclusive character, Date Masamune, who can be acquired from the in-game store or the PlayStation Store. This game will support cross-play with all the other platforms, and it comes in just as Auto Chess launches season eleven with new challenges and a "chess pass" of unlockable items.

Separately, the developers have announced changes for the game including a Fragment System to unlock skins for free and a Training Camp mode to help new players pick up the game. The second one is the most interesting when it comes to the future of this game and the subgenre as a whole — while some games exploded during our quarantine year, auto battlers seemed to have a lot of momentum but didn't really take off.