Footage allegedly of Valve's adaptation of Dota Auto Chess, Dota Underlords, has been leaked. A video posted on Reddit reveals some of the heroes and items, largely drawn from Dota, that will apparently be available, as well as the first few very quick brawls. The video quality is low and the build is very early, but it gives us a better idea of how Valve's changing things in this version.
Valve announced that it was working on its own version of Dota Auto Chess a few weeks ago, not long after applying for a trademark for Dota Underlords. The original designers are also working on a Chinese version that's separate from Dota. It's quite a leap, from a mode to multiple games, one of them being created by Valve.
While the footage is from the mobile version, there's a PC version in development, too. Reddit user S3145, who leaked the footage, claims they've also played on PC. It runs better, they said, but plays similarly. They claim crossplay will also be possible.
Abaddon, Beastmaster, Bloodseeker, Axe, Arc Warden and lots of other heroes make an appearance, but a message from Valve in the menu notes that the roster will change with every new season. The beta season is focused on the core heroes, but a new category, Underlords, will eventually be included. The only Underlord we know from Dota is Vrogros, the leader of the Abyssal Horde.
The battles are brisk and simple, but they're also tutorial battles and thus probably not entirely representative of what it will be like in multiplayer or proper scraps. After completing the tutorial, a reward screen pops up, allowing players to pick their rewards from a list. And that's all we get to see.
If Dota Underlords is hosting a testing phase, we could be hearing more about it soon, and hopefully some details about the PC version.