We have some BIG news for you, including information on the Checkmate Showdown Tournament in early 2024 and last minute surprises but first... Only [b]TWO[/b] more weeks until the game releases! Checkmate Showdown will be available on November 15th 2023. The game will be priced at [b]19.99$USD + a 15% launch discount[/b] ([b]grab it while it's on sale![/b]) Here's a few things to know before launch: [u][b]Casual/Local Vs[/b][/u] For our Casual players out there, you'll be able to go into casual play and be matched against someone of your own skill level so you can enjoy a full Checkmate Showdown experience without the sweat. If you're looking for offline play, we have a few available options such as [b]vs CPU[/b] and [b]local VS[/b] (either two controllers or 1 controller and 1 KB directly in the same PC). Checkmate Showdown is also 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. Remote play is also available. 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! [u][b]Ranked[/b][/u] Ranked matchmaking will also be available if you'd like to test your skills in this dual-layered fighting game. Leaderboards will show you where you are currently ranked amongst your peers around the world. Points are won by winning and lost by losing. The more points you have, the higher rank you are. The scoring is as follows: [list] [*] If you [u]win[/u] against a stronger opponent, you win more points. [*] If you [u]win[/u] against a weaker opponent, you win less points. [*] If you [u]lose[/u] against a stronger opponent, you lose less points. [*] If you [u]lose[/u] against a weaker opponent, you lose more points.[/list] [b][u]Events[/u][/b] [u]Brilliant move of the week[/u] For our newer players, [url=https://discord.gg/gpMrfByn5H]we have a channel in our Discord[/url] called #clips where you can post your brilliant plays/combos. Every week after launch, we'll pick one lucky winner and highlight them on our social media platforms + a chance to 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 on that soon! [u]Bi/Tri-Weekly Community Tournaments[/u] Tournaments will be held every 2-3 weeks in Discord depending on availability, 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! [u][b]Official Checkmate Showdown Tournament[/b][/u] The 1st official Checkmate Showdown Tournament will be held in mid January. [u][b]For ranked players only[/b][/u]. Upon release on November 15th, ranked players will have 2 months to grind. The top 128 players after 2 months (January 15th 11:59PM EST) 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]. Make sure you lab every character and test out your pawn/tag-assist strats cuz this tournament is going to make Bobby Fischer and Daigo look like chumps. For more info, [url=https://www.discord.gg/gpMrfByn5H]head over to our Discord[/url] [u][b]Last minute surprise[/b][/u] We can now confirm that Checkmate Showdown will have a [b]Chess960[/b] game mode! [url=https://www.chess.com/terms/chess960]Click here[/url] to learn more about this game mode. We can also confirm that we're currently working on porting to [b]PlayStation 5[/b]! We'll keep you all informed on the release date once we know more. [u][b]Development Roadmap[/b][/u] The future of Checkmate Showdown will rely on the community. If we're successful enough, we will continue adding on to the game and we'll always be ready to address certain balancing issues thanks to our group of testers on Discord. We'll always listen to what you have to say and if something needs to be changed, we'll put a plan in action. As for other Game Modes, we have a bunch of cool ideas suggested by the community that could be really fun for Checkmate Showdown. Having these ideas is great, but implementing those ideas in our game requires a number of resources (Time/Money/People). While we'd love to have every game mode & modifier possible, the (indie) reality that we live in means the future of the game depends entirely on the player base feeding it. We're confident we can keep the hype going for a few months with planned events & streams but if you'd like to help us out and make sure we extend the lifecycle of Checkmate Showdown, you can: [list] [*] Spread the good word [*] Leave a review (this helps us!) [*] Talk about the tournaments for both casual and ranked players [*] Share our posts on Social Media [*] Share with your favorite streamer(s) [*] [url=https://www.discord.gg/gpMrfByn5H]Join our Discord[/url] and actively participate [*] Send us clips of your gameplay or use the #CheckmateShowdown hashtag [/list] [b]CALL TO FGC[/b] If you're a TO or if you're in an FGC Discord that runs tourneys, we'd love to add our game to the mix! Contact [b]kevin@manavoid.com[/b] to get in touch! We're two weeks away from launch and we're making sure everything is just right before release. We can't wait to show you what we've been cooking and to see the community pop off. Hopefully, upon release, a few streamers can help us out by playing. We've reached out far and wide and now we must let the FG gods to their thing. See you on November 15th!