Ubisoft drinks Kool-Aid crypto, announces plans to develop blockchain games

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Ubisoft has officially announced its intention to develop “play-to-earn” NFT and blockchain games, the publisher revealed during the second quarter earnings call last week.

Executives have raised the topic of blockchain games several times in its earnings report and during the call itself (thanks, IGN). The French publisher is one of the main investors behind the recent $ 65 million windfall from crypto game company Animoca Brands. But Ubisoft has been interested in blockchain technology through its strategic innovation lab since 2018 and is a founding member of the Blockchain Gaming Alliance.

“This industry is evolving regularly with many new revolutions,” said CEO Yves Guillemot during the call (via IBTimes). “We see blockchain as one of those revolutions. It will involve more play to win that will allow more players to win content, own content, and we think that’s going to develop the industry a lot.”

Crypto gambling has been a controversial topic lately. Steam categorically banned all games featuring NFTs or cryptocurrencies from its platform last month. And while Epic boss Tim Sweeney had previously expressed a similar thought, he chose to counter Steam’s announcement by saying that NFTs were allowed on the Epic Games Store, in fact. It’s still too early to guess what Ubisoft’s contributions to crypto games will be, whether it’s integrating NFTs into the rewards structure of its open-world behemoths or creating brand new blockchain games.

Pressed on the well-documented environmental impacts of cryptography, Ubisoft CFO Frederick Duguet reportedly said the publisher was still in the early stages of exploring the technology, and that of course includes “the impact on environments “. But it’s also worth remembering that NFTs aren’t just devastating to the environment, they’re terrible in what they’re set to fix, creating a glorified Steam marketplace that doesn’t provide security for digital artists.

The announcement comes amid internal tensions at Ubisoft, as workers over the weekend demanded faster concessions from executives after Activision appeared to finally give way to its own workers. 16 months after the abuse and misconduct allegations began, some Ubisoft employees believe the publisher has made little or no effort to remedy the corporate culture.

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