Try out Checkmate Showdown’s new demo ahead of Steam Next Fest!

Chess meets fighting games in Checkmate Showdown, an upcoming title by indie studios ManaVoid Entertainment and BadRez Games. The game will officially launch on PC (Steam) on November 15th, 2023 after a summer of highs with a presence at EVO and getting the game played by some of the biggest names in the fighting scene.

As Checkmate Showdown ramps up to launch and prepares to fight its way through a more-crowded-than-ever edition of Steam Next Fest (Oct. 9-16), the team just released its brand new, chess-focused demo! A bit of context around this ‘daily challenge’ version of the game :

Starting October 2nd, you will be put in a different chess situation every day for the remainder of the demo (ending Oct 23rd)

The board states are taken directly from games that were actually played by pros and streamers

Until then, full online matches are possible so you can lab some combos ahead of the daily challenges!

Quickplay will match you up against someone random around the world (Ping indicator enabled!)

If you’d like to play against a friend/viewer, use room codes (Steam invite not activated)

You can plug in two controllers in the same PC to play local multiplayer

Ranked play & solo play (vs CPU) will only be available at launch

The game is also entering its ‘Final Preview’ phase, and we are therefore booking previews with members of the press and creators to play rounds against members of the team.

Key features:

True Test of Strategy & Skill: Checkmate Showdown will require the player to master a broad set of skills to become the best. Learn strategies for the board and elaborate combos for the fights to make your way to the top.

Tactical Fighting Decision-Making: As each chess piece corresponds to a fighting game archetype, the choice of attacking with one or the other will be crucial. Strategize on the board but stay flexible as you’ll never know which type of fighter might come your way!

Strong competition system: Checkmate Showdown is made by a team of hardcore fighting game enthusiasts who understand the importance of competition in fighting games. The game aims to feature the most up-to-date matchmaking technology and balancing to allow for friendly (or not!) competition.

Community at Heart: Based in the center of Montreal, the development team thrives from its proximity to the local fighting game community. The game is made by fighting game enthusiasts for fighting game enthusiasts.

About ManaVoid Entertainment

Founded in 2014, ManaVoid creates video games that mix genres, themes and popular mechanics in order to create innovative and unique experiences. After launching Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan to critical acclaim (84 Metacritic) in 2021, the team is also currently working on a roguelike city-builder titled Roots of Yggdrasil alongside Checkmate Showdown.

About BadRez Games

Founded by Mathias Theys and Jon Cote, BadRez Games is born from their shared love of fighting games but also from the realization that the genre has mechanically not evolved at the same pace as other genres. Checkmate Showdown follows this direction and aims to offer a more strategically complex competitive game than other fighting games while delivering a sensational fighting game experience!