Valve has probably realized by now that the most popular spinoff from its hit MOBA game Dota 2 is NOT its card game Artifact (which, in fact, is such a huge flop that the studio had to revise it on a foundation level), but Dota Auto Chess – a mod made by fans.

Released just last January, the mod instantly became a massive hit and its popularity is only rising by the day. It even reached a point where the mod’s creator Drodo studio decided to make a separate version for mobile devices, which doesn’t use any of Dota 2’s assets. You can read more on that in this article.

Auto Chess Mobile Champions
Drodo has made its own Auto Chess for mobile

With things being as it is, it’s not surprising that Valve has decided to take the idea and make its own standalone Auto Chess game.

The news was revealed through a Dota 2 blog post, in which Valve explained that it had discussed with Drodo about a potential partnership to make the game together back in February. However, due to various reasons it couldn’t come to pass, and the two developers instead ended up agreeing that they’d each make their own Auto Chess game while supporting the other.  Since then, Valve has been assisting Drodo in transporting existing player accounts to the latter’s game.

Dota Auto Chess
With Drodo's blessing, Valve is also making a standalone Auto Chess game

For its part, Drodo says it appreciates “the great encouragements, support and help that Valve offered on Dota Auto Chess and Drodo’s standalone game.”

“Valve has been a great company, who gave birth to the Steam Platform and open community like Workshop, enabling millions of players to display their talents,” the studio stated. “Being a fan of Dota2, we have great confidence in Valve’s new game, and expect the next world-class game. In the meantime, with Valve’s support, Drodo will continue updating the DAC mod, and attempt to design new modes and adaptations in our stand-alone game.”

Valve promises to reveal more details about its own Auto-Chess in the near future.