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Ubisoft is one of the few major video game companies that took early yet strong efforts to dabble with blockchain technology. But the company is now saying that it is still in research mode, notably after launching its own platform for NFT buy-and-sell.
The AAA game publisher recently held a press conference at its headquarters in Paris. It was not surprising that its drive into the NFT market was one of the topics Ubisoft was asked about at the event.
When asked about its NFT efforts, Guillemot implied that it is not giving up on this front. But the company appears to be taking a slower pace.
Guillemot said they are looking into all new technologies, including the possibilities that come with Web3 tech. "We tested a few things recently that are giving us more information on how it can be used and what we should do in the universe of video games," the Ubisoft CEO told Eurogamer in a Q&A session with the press. "So we are testing ground with some games, and we'll see if they really answer the players' needs. But we are still in research mode, I would say."
NFTs, as well as other blockchain technologies, have been criticized mostly for their environmental impact. But some fans — even gaming executives — are still questioning the utility of NFTs in video games. And while other major companies in the industry have taken a somewhat neutral stance on including NFTs in their games, Ubisoft was one of the earliest to take quite an aggressive approach.
The publisher launched the Ubisoft Quartz platform last year, where players are supposed to trade NFTs that the company calls "Digits." Ubisoft even used "Ghost Recon: Breakpoint" as its first IP to have NFTs that players can use as in-game cosmetic items.
The response from fans did not favor Ubisoft, though. The company even delisted the launch trailer for Ubisoft Quartz on YouTube shortly after the platform was announced. Transactions made in the NFT platform did not look promising either. Ars Technica reported in April — four months after Quartz launched — Ubisoft only saw 96 NFT sales despite the thousands of Digits available on the platform.
Photo by Gage Skidmore from Flickr under CC BY-SA 2.0 license
