How Chess.com became a $500M Business?

No UA. No App Store tricks. Chess.com - just 650 remote workers, a Netflix show, a cat bot named Mittens, and a $500M/year business. We dive deep into one of the most fascinating growth stories in mobile: chess.com. From Queen’s Gambit virality to Magnus Carlsen’s meme-worthy genius, we explore how chess.com built a mobile app empire on subscriptions, community, and strategic chaos — all without running a single ad campaign. 🎯 What You’ll Learn: Why Queen’s Gambit + COVID lockdown sparked the app’s hockey-stick growth How Magnus Carlsen, memes, and controversy drove global attention The insane monetization potential chess.com isn’t using (but could) Deep dive into subscriptions vs. ad revenue – and why purity might be expensive Why their retention, session length, and user time rival top-tier mobile games How they turn in-app education into a sticky, premium experience The role of community-driven UA powered by YouTubers, Twitch, and chess drama 👑 Whether you're a game dev, monetization lead, or just a fan of big plays in niche markets — this episode is your move. 🧠 Chess.com isn’t just a game. It’s a content engine, a learning platform, and a masterclass in scaling without spending. 🎧 Listen to how they turned 🐾Mittens the cat bot into a quarter-million downloads/day spike — and why we think they’re leaving $50M+ a year on the table. Get our MERCH NOW: 25gamers.com/shop -------------------------------------- PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers. Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/ They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it. - Scale fast - Keep your shares - Drawdown only as needed - Have PvX take downside risk alongside you + Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investors --------------------------------------- This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously. Panelists: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jakub Remia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠r,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric⁠ Podcast: Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-2um8eguhf-c~H9idcxM271mnPzdWbipg Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Chess and the Hosts 04:25 Chess.com: Growth and Revenue Insights 07:22 The Impact of External Factors on Chess Popularity 10:28 Chess.com Features and Community Engagement 13:22 Company Background and Strategic Moves 19:24 Monetization Strategies and Future Prospects 20:32 Monetization Strategies in Chess Apps 23:33 User Engagement and Learning Features 26:05 Ad Revenue vs Subscription Revenue 30:35 Potential for Increased Revenue 36:38 The Balance of User Experience and Revenue 39:43 Chess.com: The Dominant Platform --------------------------------------- Matej Lancaric User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant ⁠https://lancaric.me Felix Braberg Ad monetization consultant ⁠https://www.felixbraberg.com Jakub Remiar Game design consultant ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar --------------------------------------- Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it! Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple! Please share feedback and comments - [email protected] --------------------------------------- If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lancaric.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric Do you have UA questions nobody can answer? Ask ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Matej AI⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - the First UA AI in the gaming industry! https://lancaric.me/matej-ai