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Dota Auto Chess has unofficial ranked matchmaking, and the devs are glad

The unofficial solution has its limitations, but the devs are happy it exists

dota auto chess

Dota Auto Chess has flirted around the idea of ranked play, but limitations on Dota 2 custom games mean that it can’t use its in-game ranks for matchmaking. Various Discord servers and the like have given players a way to meet up and play with others of similar skill levels, but a fan-made site aims to automate the matchmaking process.

Dota2Chess.com allows you to link your Steam account, hit a button, and automatically match up with other players of similar ranks. If you match up with players at your rank and within your selected regions, a bot will invite you to a lobby alongside the others you’ve matched against. Once the match is full, the bot drops from the game so that the match can start.

In an early Reddit post advertising the site’s launch, users noted a lack of fairly basic features – including standard security measures – but those problems appear to have been mostly addressed by now. There are certainly games to be found in this unofficial matchmaking system, but you’re limited to whoever else has signed up for it.

We asked the proper Dota Auto Chess team about the fan-made creation, and it seems they’re pleased fans have stepped in to circumvent Dota 2’s custom game limitations.

Toto tells us that the team isn’t quite so different from the fans making their own tools. “Actually, we are fans of Dota 2. At this point, we are not different with our fans. We will also continue to encourage fans to contribute their ideas into this game. We believe that fans’ opinions will make this game better.”

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Dota Auto Chess is going to mobile as a stand-alone title, though without the Dota name. The mod’s popularity has already had a notable effect on player counts for Dota 2 itself, and perhaps there’s nothing quite so appropriate than for a Valve-published take on a Warcraft 3 to go on and spawn a new mod with its own fan community.