Summary
Ubisoftis continuing its NFT gaming push, having just announced a new partnership to that effect. The move signals thatUbisoftis still unwavering in its pursuit of the technology that has already received significant pushback from its fans.
The company’s NFT foray began in late 2021 with the launch of Ubisoft Quartz, a platform for buying and selling Digits, its jargon for non-fungible tokens. While the service exists to this day, it never expanded beyondTom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint. It also incurred a barrage of public criticism, with many consumers proclaiming it to be pointless and solely geared toward selling simple digital items at unacceptable prices, thus concluding how it would be bestif Ubisoft’s NFT initiative would crash and burn.
Ubisoft Continues NFT Push With Double Jump.Tokyo Partnership
That backlash seemingly did little to dissuade the company from pursuing new NFT projects. Another such undertaking was announced on July 4 in the form of a partnership with Double Jump.Tokyo. The collaboration will see the Japanese developer provide support for integrating Web3 technologies intoUbisoft’s first blockchain-based game,Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles. The first step in that endeavor will be to implement the proprietary gaming blockchain Oasys Layer 2 HOME Verse into the PC-only game.
The two companies did not provide a timeline for when exactly the integration is meant to be completed. The game, which is touted as a competitive multiplayer turn-based RPG, is still waiting for a release date. It’s currently unclear what implications this partnership may have on the future of Ubisoft Quartz, which the company insisted still existed as an “underlying infrastructure” in a late 2023statementissued to PC Gamer. But this newly announced collaboration implies Dobule Jump.Tokyo will be the one in charge of providing the blockchain infrastructure forChampions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles.
Looking at the bigger picture, it would appearUbisoft’s stance that players just “don’t get” NFTs yetremains unchanged. The company previously touted Web3 technologies as having a future in gaming by providing an avenue for creating experiences that support owning, trading, and controlling in-game assets using NFTs and other blockchain solutions. Gamers, for their part, remain largely unimpressed and even outright hostile to the idea.
In between the launch of Ubisoft Quartz and this Dobule Jump.Tokyo collaboration, theAssassin’s Creedmaker struck another Web3 partnership with Sydney, Australia-based developer Immutable. Announced in November 2023, the initiative has yet to yield any consumer-facing content. Ubisoft’s latest blockchain partner has previously also been attached to some of Sega’s NFT projects, including an as-of-yet-unreleased Web3 game calledBattle of Three Kingdoms – Sangokushi Taisen. While that title is still said to be in development at Dobule Jump.Tokyo,Sega itself dropped its wider NFT ambitions back in 2023.
Ubisoft
Ubisoft is a well-known video game developer and publisher with a main headquarters in Saint-Mandé, France. Current CEO Yves Guillemot runs an array of teams responsible for some of the most iconic and well-known series in video games, with franchises like Assassin’s Creed, Farcry, The Crew, Just Dance, and more. Ubisoft also acts as a parent company for an array of other video game developers, including names like Massive Entertainment, Ubisoft Paris, Blue Mammoth Games, Red Storm Entertainment, and more.
