It feels so long ago that I wrote about how NFTs will be in AAA games for the first time. What made it worse was that back then, I had little in the way of evidence outside of the theoretical. But the gamers who had put the time into looking into blockchain knew there was something there and it was profound.
Ubisoft has been flirting with blockchain for some time now. In fact, in October, we highlighted that they have been rather open with their intentions in the company’s earnings report for the first half of 2021.
Ubisoft has been exploring blockchain since the early development of the technology, supporting and learning from the ecosystem…
Ubisoft First-Half FY Earnings & Sales Report
Ubisoft’s involvement has been outside of the limelight for the most part, but they were a founding member of the Blockchain Game Alliance, invested in the likes of Animoca Brands, and worked with Sorare. This newest move in the space is something different entirely, however.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint NFTs and Ubisoft Quartz
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint will be the first game in the Ubisoft ecosystem to test the water with blockchain, utilizing their new Quartz platform which utilizes the Tezos blockchain. The in-game NFTs — confusingly called Digits — will be initially free to players above level 5 and the drops will be happening on 9th, 12th, and 15th of December 2021, as well as more coming in 2022. These NFTs appear to be primarily limited edition skins.
The Quartz platform is disappointingly not available in many countries, the U.K included, but will be open to players in the U.S, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Brazil, and Australia. You can learn more about Quartz here.
Closing Thoughts
This is a moment of note for the gaming industry. While Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint has been poorly received, it’s nevertheless a major IP on Ubisoft’s roster. The announcement has also not been well received, with the usual loud outcry demonizing crypto at every opportunity, but they are far from representative.
Limited edition in-game skins as NFTs are the first use-case I dreamed of in an article in 2018. This is where the industry has been heading for years and Ubisoft are the first to leap across the void.
