On Thursday, Anichess, a chess-focused subsidiary of Animoca Brands, disclosed the finalization of a funding round totalling $1.8 million. Sfermion and Amber Group spearheaded the round, joined by Fenbushi Capital, Aspen Digital, SNZ Capital, and other investors, as stated by Anichess in a press release. The company intends to allocate the raised capital towards game development, marketing efforts, and team growth. Anichess emphasized chess’s enduring appeal, accessibility, and strategic richness, reaffirming its status as a timeless classic.
“One of the benefits of a game whose appeal is measured in centuries is the sophistication and passion of its community, and we are thrilled for Anichess to showcase our new and updated interpretation of the game of kings in partnership with Chess.com,” said Yat Siu, Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Animoca Brands.
Anichess, a collaborative project between Animoca Brands and Chess.com, introduces an innovative twist to the timeless game of chess within the Web3 gaming realm. Through the integration of spells that introduce new strategies and gameplay elements, players are encouraged to rethink the traditional rules of chess while delving into the rich lore embedded within the game’s universe.
Having secured an oversubscribed $1.5 million seed round in 2023, Anichess embarked on a mission to enhance the accessibility and engagement of chess for all enthusiasts. In January 2024, it unveiled its player-versus-environment (PvE) daily chess puzzles, attracting over 1 million registered players and maintaining an active user base of 150,000 daily active users. Together, they have collectively solved over 50 million chess puzzles.
On 11th March 2024, Anichess launched its Season 1 leaderboard, which ranks players based on points accumulated from solving daily puzzles and acquiring Orbs of Power through gameplay and participation in social events. The platform is poised to introduce its online player-versus-player (PvP) game mode in the second quarter of 2024, promising further excitement and competition within its growing community.
“We’re excited to support Animoca Brands and Chess.com with the roll-out of Anichess, which represents an exciting foray into Web3 gaming for the timeless and global classical game,” said Dan Patterson, general partner of Sfermion.
He expressed his belief that the future of gaming lies in community-driven and player-owned platforms. Leveraging Chess.com’s expansive community of over 150 million players and Web3 communities like Mocaverse, he envisions Anichess as having the capacity to attract tens of millions of players into this innovative gaming landscape.
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