Ubisoft Will Add NFTs to Games Starting with Ghost Recon Breakpoint
Ubisoft is among the game publishers that invested early in microtransactions, which many would argue have made gaming worse. Well, get ready for microtransactions on steroids. There won’t be anything “micro” about the NFTs Ubisoft plans to add to Ghost Recon Breakpoint. These unique in-game items will give your characters a little more gravitas, and you will be able to buy and sell NFTs with the new Ubisoft Quartz platform. That could make special edition items into high-value assets that you won’t be able to afford.
NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are digital items that can be registered on a cryptographic blockchain. This can prove ownership or authenticity of a non-physical item, and you can buy or sell ownership of the NFT even if the content itself is easily reproduced. Yes, there’s nothing stopping you from right-click saving someone’s NFT, but you won’t “own” it on the blockchain.
The NFTs in Ubisoft games will be known as Digits. They can be guns, clothing items, helmets, or anything else Ubisoft decides to issue. Digits will have a unique serial number that’s visible in-game, allowing you to show off your fancy gear. Ubisoft says it will release the first NFTs in the Windows version of Breakpoint via the Ubisoft Connect platform.
This is just an “experiment” for Ubisoft, but NFTs have been a lucrative business in simpler games and online communities. I could see this becoming a core part of Ubisoft’s business if the Quartz platform takes off. That’s where gamers will go to sell their NFTs and shop for new ones.
Digits will be stored on the Tezos blockchain, which Ubisoft chose because it uses proof of stake rather than proof of work. A proof of work system like Etherium or Bitcoin requires nodes to contribute computing power, which wastes a lot of energy. A transaction on Tezos, however, only uses as much power as streaming a 30-second video, according to Ubisoft.
The first limited set of free NFTs will drop on December 8th at 1PM EST in the US and Canada. The Quartz platform will also go live at that time. There will be more free drops on December 12th and 15th. Ubisoft says these NFTs are being made freely available to reward early adopters. You can also bet Ubisoft is going to make more NFTs that it won’t be giving away. The freebies will just kickstart the Quartz market.
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