Ubisoft takes a step ahead of the competition in the marriage of blockchain technology and the traditional video game industry.
It was just a matter of time until Ubisoft disclosed its new blockchain and NFT bet. It started with Axie Infinity, then it moved on to the new Thetan Arena. Now it has come with Ubisoft Quartz, the first platform where users can earn Digits playing AAA games.
This large-scale experiment is the next phase in Ubisoft’s four-year investment in blockchain technology, which has included in-house research and development as well as close engagement with recognized experts in the startup community.
What are Digits?
Digits are a novel way to interact with cosmetic goods, mixing the excitement of playing with AAA-quality assets with the pleasure of owning NFTs that represent unique, collectible parts of Ubisoft game worlds.
Digits are a fresh depiction of what NFTs stand for and what they may provide. The three main bases of all NFTs are uniqueness, playability, and control. The French company has made sure to take this formula and perfect it, in order to achieve a correct, non-invasive implementation in a video game industry where great figures such as Phil Spencer have made statements against NFTs and their implementation in AAA games.
“Our long-term efforts led us to understand how blockchain’s decentralized approach could genuinely make players stakeholders of our games, in a way that is also sustainable for our industry, placing back into their hands the value they generate through the time they spend, the items they buy or the content they create online,” said Nicolas Pouard, VP of Ubisoft’s Strategic Innovation Lab.
“Ubisoft Quartz is the first building block in our ambitious vision for developing a true metaverse. And it can’t come to life without overcoming blockchain’s early-form limitations for gaming, including scalability and energy consumption,” he added.
Powered by Tezos
This has been a long time coming, but no one knew when or how they would accomplish it, because no crypto provides the stability and confidence that big firms want for the integration of cryptos in such a huge industry as video games. Although many NFT games, such as the aforementioned Axie Infinity, used to function with Ethereum, it is a currency that continues to fail today, being one of the cryptos with the most frauds and security concerns.
Ubisoft Quartz uses Tezos, a blockchain that runs on a Proof-of-Stake consensus process and consumes far less energy than Proof-of-Work blockchains like Bitcoin to power the first energy-efficient NFTs playable in a AAA game.
Digits will be published as part of limited editions, each consisting of a defined amount of cosmetic items, and will be available in beta with Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint on Ubisoft Connect for Windows PC. To ensure that users can fully utilize Digits, Ubisoft Quartz will only be available to those who match the following qualifying criteria:
- Ubisoft Connect for Windows PC allows you to play Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint.
- Attain at least XP Level 5 in the game.
- You must be at least 18 years old.
Ubisoft Quartz will go into beta on December 9 at 6 p.m. UTC in the United States, Canada, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Australia, and Brazil. The trial will begin with three drops of free Digits on December 9, 12, and 15, to reward gamers who are early adopters.
Additional drops are anticipated for 2022 as well as the release of new AAA games from Ubisoft.
