We’re getting crushed under a seemingly inescapable wave of autobattlers here in 2019, but there are still a few venerable titles that haven’t jumped on the bandwagon. While Runescape has had plenty of spin-offs, like the card game Chronicle, an Auto Chess derivative is not currently in planning – though it shouldn’t be a surprise to hear that Jagex has at least considered the possibility.
“As bandwagons come and go,” lead designer David Osborne tells us, “we’d probably be a bit late to that one already. But that’s the games industry for you. It was raised at one point because we have such a great library of characters. To be honest, that turn-based combat, the mix of Chronicle and Runescape… that would have been lovely.”
The autobattler market is already getting crowded. The battle of Teamfight Tactics vs Dota Underlords is well underway, and Drodo’s Auto Chess will be hitting the Epic Games store in alpha form soon. Add to that a selection of mobile derivatives, and you’ve got one of the fastest game industry gold rushes ever.
Osborne also shared how modern Runescape is borrowing from Old School as a sort of “creative beta” for new ideas.
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For now, the Runescape Land Out of Time release date is the big thing on the series’ horizon, and you can follow that link for plenty of details on what to expect.