Musicians Polo & Pan remix chess with NFTs in Immortal Game collaboration
French electronic musicians Polo & Pan have teamed up with the popular “play-to-earn” chess video game, Immortal Game, to create a lively and unique twist on the classic board game.
The collaboration will feature a limited edition collection of 500 distinct digital chess pieces sold as NFTs on the Ethereum scaling network Polygon.
Immortal Game will allow players to earn while they play through a rewards-based system using CMT tokens, allowing chess enthusiasts to own a piece of history with a modern twist.
Collectors and fans can sign up on an allowlist on Immortal Game’s platform to purchase these unique Polo & Pan co-designed digital assets. The official sale will start offering 400 NFT pieces for $39 each as well as 100 special-edition pieces for $399 each beginning from May 19. The sale will run for one week starting from the launch date.
Music just met Chess! Immortal Game and @Polo_and_Pan team up to bring Music into Chess, through a unique and limited collection of Chess Pieces 🌈
Sign up to the whitelist 🔗 https://t.co/l7tbj8QUBt to get access to the drop! pic.twitter.com/goaW7qt2JT
— Immortal Game (@TheImmortalGame) May 12, 2023
Electronic music meets chess
Immortal Game enhances the strategic depth of chess by using Web3 technologies. The game features unique tokenized digital chess pieces known as “Immortals,” connected to optional quests promoting specific play styles.
The NFT chess pieces designed by Polo & Pan add another layer of excitement, offering new quests, access to private tournaments and captivating visual animations and audio soundtracks created by the DJs. Holders of these NFTs can enjoy real-world perks such as exclusive concert tickets, curated Spotify playlists, a chance to play online against Polo & Pan, as well as the right to vote on future collections.
Polo & Pan expressed their excitement in a prepared statement about their collaboration with Immortal Game. “We are thrilled to be a part of this exciting new project,” the duo said. “As longtime fans of chess and gaming, we’re excited to bring our music and aesthetic to this new digital medium.”
Co-founder and CEO of Immortal Game Thomas Zaepffel said in an interview with Decrypt, “Our vision is that chess is more than just a game. It’s a cultural phenomenon and a platform drawing inspiration from music, arts, sports, and entertainment.”
Zaepffel noted that their goal is to bring chess to a broader audience and create a unique intersection for artists and gamers in the digital realm. By using blockchain and NFTs, Immortal Game seeks to reinvent the online chess experience, which has existed for 15 years. The game is also designed to foster a sense of community, a goal that can be achieved with the help of Web3 technologies.
The rise of the digital chess game
Zaepffel said that various platforms have an estimated 800 million players and 20 million daily games played, making digital chess a game with a vast global audience. The game’s popularity surged during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. It gained further momentum thanks to “The Queen’s Gambit,” a Netflix series whose producer, Scott Frank, now advises Immortal Game.
Younger audiences are increasingly drawn to chess, with live-streamed games featuring young stars on Twitch. Elliot Papadiamandis, an international chess master and Immortal Game ambassador, highlights the game’s appeal to a new generation of players.
According to Papadiamandis, Immortal Game is an inclusive platform allowing anyone to play and earn money. The game’s introduction of quests, particularly in Blitz games, is a novel feature that enhances the gaming experience and makes chess fun and accessible even to non-experts.
