Chess "Gaming"

[John Upham]

I was sent the following PR which may be of interest:

Hi,

As part of your coverage of the World Chess Championship, I wanted to send across some information showing the growth of Chess in the video game space. I hope it’s useful if you’re planning to write anything exploring the impact of chess on the wider culture.

While there are hundreds of Chess apps available as mobile phone games, the most popular game is simply called ‘Chess’ and is the mobile version of the popular browser-based game from Chess.com

Chess.com made headlines when it reached 10 million daily active players for the first time on January 20, and the mobile version of the game has been following a similar growth trajectory, with a significant increase in downloads and revenue starting at the beginning of January 2023.

In fact, chess is so popular in the mobile space that it’s inspiring new mobile game genres, such as ‘auto-chess.’ These games utilize chess-like elements by tasking players to build a team using characters (your pieces) who automatically battle each other on a Chess-style board until a winner emerges. Some of the most successful examples of auto-chess games are Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, DOTA Auto Chess and Team Fight Tactics.

I’ve left some additional data below on how Chess.com’s mobile game is ranking in the iOS charts, but if you have any questions, let me know!

• Chess featured in the top-10 breakout games by download growth on iOS and Google Play in Canada (1st), Australia (5th), UK (6th), and Germany (10th).
• The developer of the game (chess.com) has six other Chess-themed games available on iOS and Android. The second-most-popular game is the Chess tuition app, Learn Chess with Dr.Wolf. It includes a small selection of free beginner lessons but full access costs $6.49 / $6.99 on Android/iOS or $46.99 / $48.99 for a monthly subscription.

• According to GameRefinery data, this mobile version of chass is most popular in United States, United Kingdom, Russia, France, and Germany (in order of downloads).

• US generates 37% of downloads, followed by UK (8%), Russia (6%), France (6%), Germany (5%), Canada (5%), India (4%), Australia (4%), Turkey (4%) and Saudi Arabia (2%).

• According to GameRefinery data, the game generates the most revenue in US, UK, Germany, France and Canada (in order of revenue generated). US counts for more than half of revenue generated (51%), followed by the UK (13%), Germany (4%), France (4%), Canada (4%), Russia (3%), Australia (3%), Netherlands (3%), Switzerland (2%) and Norway (2%).

• According to GameRefinery data, the following countries spend the most on the game per download. Norway ($4.15), Switzerland ($3.88), Netherlands ($2.43), Finland ($2.34), and UK ($2.30).

Best Wishes,
Luke

--
Luke
Senior Account Executive

[Roger de Coverly]

I was sent the following PR

Isn't the chess.com app they are promoting just the means of playing, watching etc, at chess.com using a phone or tablet rather than a browser on a pc ?

[John Upham]

I was sent the following PR

Isn't the chess.com app they are promoting just the means of playing, watching etc, at chess.com using a phone or tablet rather than a browser on a pc ?

I wasn't sure so I thought I would throw it open to this place.

[Joey Stewart]

Worse then just being an App version of the website - any games you start on it can only be played on the app and don't appear on the main chess.com site.
Presumably they are trying to more aggressively force players away from the web only browser so they can dig their grubby paws into people's phone data now intrusively and monetise it more heavily - definitely to be avoided, like all phone apps.