[b][h3]Are you ready to become the ultimate competitor?[/h3][/b] We're excited to say that Checkmate Showdown is [b]AVAILABLE NOW[/b]. From the Closed Beta to the Demo, local events here in Montreal to being invited to Evo in Las Vegas - we can't thank you enough for your continued support and your genuine interest in our game. We're excited to show you what's in store so take a minute to read through our update just so you don't miss anything! [previewyoutube=18w10Y_gJKk;full][/previewyoutube] [u][b]What to expect[/b][/u] [list] [*][b]Casual matches:[/b] Enjoy a full Checkmate Showdown experience without the sweat. [*][b]Ranked matches:[/b] Enjoy a full Checkmate Showdown experience WITH sweat & leaderboards. [*][b]Private matches:[/b] Play against a friend or a viewer with a room code! [*][b]Chess960:[/b] Randomize the starting position of each major piece. [*][b]Local Vs./CPU Vs.:[/b] Hop on the couch, plug in an extra controller and fight each other or a bot! [*][b]Practice mode:[/b] Head into the training room and start labbing combos, tag-assist, etc! [*][b]5 classic characters:[/b] Each with their own distinct moveset, attitude and abilities! [*][b]Rollback netcode:[/b] For minimal latency and smooth gameplay. Also it's 2023. [*][b]Input customization:[/b] Because the community said so! [/list] Although you can play with a keyboard, we recommend using a controller. We are compatible with most controllers including fightsticks, just make sure everything is properly setup in your [url=https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/steam_controller/device]Steam controller input[/url] settings. If you're looking for someone to play against, you can always [url=https://www.discord.gg/gpMrfByn5H]join our Discord of 3000+ members[/url] and head into the #LookingForMatch channel and post your lobby code! Before we get into our launch update, including upcoming events... [b]Please leave a review! Leaving a review helps us a lot in terms of discoverability and is the best way to support us after buying! We're trying to get 10 reviews in the first few hours![/b] [u][b]Bugs[/b][/u] Although they should be at a minimum, you will most likely find some - this is okay! The best way to let us know about any bug you encounter is through Discord. [url=https://www.discord.gg/gpMrfByn5H]Join our Discord server[/url] and head into the #bugs channel. The more information you have about the bug and your PC specs (including screenshots/videos,) the easier it is for us to process it. [u][b]Ranked[/b][/u] Ranked will be available at launch however we will be resetting leaderboards two weeks from now (Nov 30th). We need to make sure everything is running smoothly so we're giving ourselves a two week buffer. This means that your ranked status will start "counting" as of Dec 1st 2023. Thank you for understanding! [u][b]Events[/b][/u] [u]Brilliant move of the week[/u] [url=https://discord.gg/gpMrfByn5H]We have a channel in our Discord[/url] called #clips where you can post your brilliant plays/combos/moments. Every week, we'll pick one lucky winner and highlight them on our social media platforms. You might even win a prize! [u]Combo Competition[/u] We'll be hosting a combo competition in our Discord in 2024 after giving you all enough time to lab with each character. More info soon on Discord. [u]Monthly Community Tournaments[/u] Tournaments will be held every month in Discord (could be bi/tri weekly) hosted by devs and community members (mods). We'll try to match skill level as best we can so every level of player is welcome! For bragging rights, Discord roles and game keys! [u]Hand and Brain[/u] Imagine this: JWong being instructed by Alexandra Botez vs Daigo being instructed by Andrea Botez. Thirteen seconds left on the clock, 2 pieces left for each player, only half HP, commentary done by your favorite chess and FGC caster - chaos ensues. Checkmate Showdown Hand & Brain Showmatch. For now, this is a vision of ours but we're throwing it out in the universe because we'd love to see it happen for real. If you know anyone that can help make this happen, please reach out in Discord! [u][b]**Official Checkmate Showdown Tournament**[/b][/u] The 1st official Checkmate Showdown Tournament will be held in [u]Early January 2024[/u] - for [u][b]ranked[/b][/u] players only. Upon release on November 15th, ranked players will have about 2 months to grind. The top 128 players will receive an invitation to our first official tournament with a prizepool of [b]1000$[/b]. You read that right - ONE. THOUSAND. DOLLARS. With a prizepool this big, this makes us one of the biggest indie fighting game tournaments [u]ever[/u]. If you're looking for a new game to grind, this is your chance. That being said, we'll also have a tournament production company helping us out with this so stay tuned... For more info, [url=https://www.discord.gg/gpMrfByn5H]head over to our Discord[/url]. [u][b]Additional Info[/b][/u] [u]Console release[/u] We're currently working on porting to [b]PlayStation 5[/b]! We're not sure when it will be ready but we'll keep you all informed on the release date once we know more through Discord or [url=https://twitter.com/Checkm8Showdown]Socials[/url] [u]Steam Deck[/u] As of right now, we are not optimized for the Steam Deck. We are investigating this issue and we'll know more soon - Apologies for the inconvenience. [u]Future plans[/u] At BadRez Games, we're very keen on making and shaping games with the help of our community. Through community feedback and testing phases, we were able to make key quality additions to Checkmate Showdown and we will always continue doing so with our future titles. Whatever you want to see, we can make it happen as long as it's agreed upon by the majority and it makes sense for the game. If you're interested in this type of community management, please consider following us on our journey! If we're successful enough with Checkmate Showdown, we will continue supporting the game throughout the next year. This could be in the form of additional features but mainly for balancing as of right now. We'll always listen to what you have to say and if something needs to be changed, we'll put a plan in action to address those changes. As for other Game Modes, we have a bunch of cool ideas suggested by the community that could be really fun for Checkmate Showdown. While we'd love to have every game mode & modifier possible, having the necessary resources will depend entirely on the player base feeding it. On our end, we will try our best to bring as many people as we can to the game but [u]your help[/u] is greatly appreciated as well - whatever form it comes in. What started off as a funky idea to make an accessible fighting game with a twist quickly turned into an FGC validated game. With the help of the BadRez community on Discord, we were able to add even more depth to it and make this game the best it can be. If you have any questions, please feel free to comment below and we'll get to you as soon as possible. For now... GET IN HERE AND DEFEAT THE KING!👑👊 https://store.steampowered.com/app/1803410/Checkmate_Showdown/