The Huge Blockchain Game News No One Is Talking About
Ubisoft is looking to get into the blockchain game. Is that a good thing?
Covered:
- Ubisoft Knew About Blockchain Before You Did
- Play-To-Earn Game Potential With Big Companies Throwing Their Hat In
- Not Everyone Is Happy About Ubisoft Entering The Space
Ubisoft Knew About Blockchain Before You Did
.@Ubisoft is a legend in the #gaming world and we are honored to have them as our strategic investor at @animocabrands to push #NFTGaming #blockchaingames #playtoearn forward it is still just the beginning #WAGMI #OpenMetaverse https://t.co/dcDvzh0aVk
— Yat Siu (@ysiu) October 30, 2021
Ubisoft announced recently that they plan to create their own blockchain games. Little is known exactly what their plan is, but they do plan to use some version of the “Play To Earn” model. “[Blockchain] will enable more play-to-earn that will enable more players to actually earn content, own content…” said Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft.
Headquartered in Montreuil, France, Ubisoft is one of the largest video game publishers in the world. It boats 19,000 employees in over 40 studios around the world. The company is best known for the Far Cry and Assassins Creed games. Entering the blockchain game arena isn’t the only surprising move from the gaming company. Ubisoft is also the producer of the popular Apple TV+ sitcom Mythic Quest.
Ubisoft also revealed that they participated in a funding round for Animoca Brands. The raise brought in $65 million USD for Animoca. Ubisoft’s investment level was not disclosed. Animoca Brands invests in various NFT-related properties like The Sandbox and Axie Infinity.
Moreover, in their recent earnings report, Ubisoft noted that it’s kind of a blockchain hipster. “Ubisoft has been exploring blockchain since the early development of the technology, supporting and learning from the ecosystem…,” Ubisoft said, before adding “This long-range exploration ties in with Ubisoft’s constant search for innovation and new ways to empower players as true stakeholders of its worlds.” Ubisoft totally heard of blockchain before you did.
Is This Just A Blockchain Game To Ubisoft?
To be fair, Ubisoft does sound like they know what they are talking about, but are they just using buzzwords before inevitably drinking blockchain’s milkshake?
Recommended: To Learn More About Players As Stakeholders, Check Out Our Piece On Blockchain Games.
Empowering stakeholders is a major factor in the growing popularity of Play-To-Earn games. Famously, blockchain game Axie Infinity has grown enough to become a significant source of income for players in the Philippines. It remains to be seen if blockchain games can scale to the size where they can be relied upon by more people as a source of income, but the early results are encouraging.
That said, games like Axie Infinity have a barrier of access to them. It’s very expensive to get in. Scholarships are available, but you have to split profits with existing owners.
How will a company like Ubisoft change that? I honestly don’t know. But my best guess is it probably won’t scale for different reasons. I would point to the video game’s industry predatory ways and fine money extractions skills as reasons why the exchange between stakeholder and companies like Ubisoft probably won’t be that equitable.
That said, if I could make even a little bit of money while wasting my time playing Madden, that’d be nice.
Not Everyone Is Happy About Ubisoft Entering The Blockchain Game Space
Time to never buy a Ubisoft title again https://t.co/ukBzGUbcJO
— Gopir da floof (@GopirFox) October 29, 2021
Ubisoft’s announcement didn’t really make waves in the crypto world. I guess with Bitcoin dominating headlines, blockchain games are taking a backseat. But it’s pretty big news.
Video games are perpetually overlooked as one of the most dominant modes of entertainment in the world. For example, the industry generated $155 billion dollars USD in revenue in 2020. Compare that to the global film industry which reached 100 billion in 2019.
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Funny enough, the news seemed to hit people who hate blockchain harder.
this isn't new news but yeah, Ubisoft's really into messing up the environment with blockchain too pic.twitter.com/taBpEkNJIK
— Rebekah Valentine (@duckvalentine) October 28, 2021
On Twitter, the usual environmental FUD that ignores the senseless energy waste that is Christmas lights ensued. And, a bunch of gamers took the chance to be angry about something, like they always do.
Namely, the video game equivalent of Gawker, Kotaku, got in on it too, writing about how “Ubisoft Is Getting Into The Blockchain Grift.” It’s not unfair to mention the various grifts in the space at all — they’re real, and they’re spectacular — but it’s not all bad. Which, Kotaku makes the entire blockchain space out to be.
In particular, the blockchain game space has one very specific example that complicates, “the whole thing is a boondoggle” narrative: Axie Infinity. To write an article about how blockchain is a grift and not mention what Axie Infinity has managed to accomplish is just straight-up malpractice.
Just a simple Google search brings up this piece from the Manila Standard entitled, “Axie Infinity Philippines: Changing Lives for the Better.”
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