Slowly and surely the range of game styles and genres is growing on the Switch eShop, and now Chess Ultra is confirmed to be filling a very particular gap later this year.

It's being developed and published by Ripstone, which boasts that it's the "best looking chess game in the world". Based on the trailer and limited information to date there'll be tutorials, a range of offline modes and online play.

Ripstone has been here before, publishing Pure Chess by VooFoo Studios on the Wii U and 3DS eShop. That game was impressive as it supported crossplay between those systems and smart device players, too. It was a handsome chess game, though the lack of real-time online matches was a tad disappointing, as it was limited to a 'play by mail' approach of taking turns. Ideally Chess Ultra will support both time-limited live games and also longer turn-based matches in its online offering for Switch.

Update:

Thanks to the comments we now realise this has already been released on PC and other consoles, priced at £9.99 on Steam in the UK. Below is a feature checklist from a press release, too.

  • Stunning environments and beautiful chess sets, including a ‘Fire and Brimstone’ chess set that literally burns
  • 10 Grandmaster approved AI levels
  • Comprehensive time controls, including Classical, Blitz and Marathon, all available online
  • Intuitive local and online multiplayer with ELO ranking system
  • Over 80 chess puzzles
  • Re-write the past by winning the biggest historic matches
  • In-depth tutorials

Are you looking forward to this on the Switch?

With thanks to SLIGEACH_EIRE for the heads up.