We report the synthesis and characterization of a novel class of ionic semiconductor materials – inorganic chalcogenide perovskites. Several different compounds including BaZrS3, CaZrS3, SrTiS3 and SrZrS3 were synthesized by high temperature sulfurization of their oxide counterparts. Their crystal structures were identified by XRD and composition by EDX. UV–vis and photoluminescence measurements confirmed that they are direct gap semiconductors with band gap values consistent with theoretical predictions. By adopting an anion alloying approach, we demonstrate widely tunable band gap from 1.73eV to 2.87eV. These strongly ionic semiconductors provide a new avenue for engineering the semiconducting properties for applications such as energy harvesting, solid state lighting and sensing.