Anichess, the progressive chess-based online strategy game developed in partnership with Chess.com and five-time World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen, today announced the completion of a funding round of US$1.8 million.

The round was led by Sfermion and Amber Group, with participation from Fenbushi Capital, Aspen Digital, SNZ Capital, and others. Anichess will use the funds raised to fund game development, marketing initiatives, and team expansion. Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, commented on the announcement stating: 

“With its popularity, accessibility, and incredible strategic depth, chess is a classic game that has stood the test of time. 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.”

Web3 Game of Kings 

Anichess is a web3 gaming project developed in collaboration between Animoca Brands and Chess.com, the leading global online chess platform. Anichess provides a novel tactical twist on the classic game of chess by implementing spells that open up new strategies and gameplay, and that require players to rethink the rules of traditional chess as they uncover the expansive lore within the world of the gameboard.  Annabelle Huang, managing partner of Amber Group, commented:

 "Anichess represents a refreshing take on one of the most classic games cherished by many generations and we are proud to support the team in realizing their vision of delivering an engaging, community-centric, and decentralized player experience. The enthusiastic response to the debut of spell chess puzzles is a testament to the team's execution capability and we look forward to the release of the main game later this year."

One Million Registered Players

In 2023, Anichess closed an oversubscribed $1.5 million seed round to develop an experience that makes chess more engaging and accessible to all. In January 2024, Anichess launched its player-versus-environment (PvE) daily chess puzzles and has since secured over 1,000,000 registered players while maintaining an active user base of 150,000 daily active users who have collectively solved over 50 million chess puzzles. 

Anichess’s Season 1 leaderboard was launched on 11 March 2024, ranking players based on points accumulated from solving daily puzzles and collecting Orbs of Power obtained through gameplay and participation in social events. Anichess’s online player-versus-player (PvP) game mode is expected to launch in Q2 2024.

Dan Patterson, general partner of Sfermion, commented: “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. The future of gaming is community-driven and player-owned, and we believe that, with Chess.com’s existing community of 150m+ players and web3 communities such as Mocaverse, Anichess has the potential to onboard tens of millions of players into that future.

"With the added strategic components and esports-like elements, Anichess aims to keep things fresh by building for the gamers who yearn for the hardest challenges. We’re looking forward to working closely with the team and onboarding countless more into web3 gaming,” Dan Patterson added.

Anichess can be played for free at www.anichess.com. Fans can follow Anichess on X and join its Discord server to stay updated on future developments.

More About Animoca Brands?

Animoca Brands is a global leader in gamification and blockchain with a large portfolio of over 400 investments in web3 projects, with the mission to advance digital property rights and contribute to building the "open metaverse".

The company and its various subsidiaries develop and publish web3, crypto and blockchain games, traditional games, and other products, many of which are based on popular global brands including The Walking Dead, Power Rangers, MotoGP™, and Formula E. 

Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, says: "One of Animoca Brands’ core philosophies has always been to support and empower mission-aligned builders who believe in the vision of web3 and the open metaverse to usher in digital property rights for all." You can learn more about Animoca Brands and everything they are working on here.