Ubisoft: An Unicorn In The Gaming Industry On The Path To Explore Blockchain Games

Gaming industry enthusiasts know the contributions of Ubisoft. 

The French Game publisher Ubisoft has created reputable brands in the industry. Some of its popular games include Prince of Persia, Rayman, Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, Assassin’s Creed, Rabbids, Watch Dogs and more.

These are some of the finest games with millions of daily active players. Gamers and developers went gaga on the release of these games.

Ubisoft has been an undeniable force within the gaming industry. 

Now, with the entry of blockchain into the gaming scene, the company has been active in this gaming revolution.

Ubisoft has been experimenting with blockchain and NFT even before these terms became mainstream. 

Strategic Innovation Lab 

• In 2017 the company formed Strategic Innovation Lab. 
• The aim was to research, identify and build next-gen blockchain games. Further, the company was also focusing on integrating NFTs into its game titles.

Ubisoft’s director of Insights and Trends, Lidwine Sauer, said:

• Shortly after, we see Ubisoft participating in blockchain conferences and summits. 
• To kickstart its blockchain endeavours, the company went as far as founding Blockchain Game Alliance in 2018.

Hashcraft

• 2018 was a crucial year for the gaming company. The Strategic Innovation Lab built a blockchain game, Hashcraft. 
• Though they never officially released the game, it shows what the future of gaming could be.
• Hashcraft is a prototype, an experimental game inspired by Minecraft. It is a treasure hunting and island exploration game powered by the computational power of its players.
• The players can build teams or compete against each other individually on the gaming island. 
• In Hascraft the players will have the freedom to make communities and define the rules of the game and gaming community themselves.
• The brain behind the game was a team led by Ubisoft’s Blockchain Initiative Manager Nicolas Pouard and Senior R&D Programmer Robert Falce.
• It might be that Ubisoft never releases the game to the public. 
• But the gaming community is excited about the company’s experiments on blockchain and awaits what it could mean for the future of gaming.

Entrepreneurs Lab Program

• At one time Ubisoft decided to move its entire backend to blockchain. It planned to license the microsoft-xbox-nft-guide Xbox Enterprise Blockchain Platform from Microsoft.
• However, surprisingly, Ubisoft went on to introduce the Entrepreneurs Lab program within the Strategic Innovation Lab. 
• The program envisioned identifying and supporting game startups in the Web3 space.
• In the process of supporting startups, Ubisoft contributed to the development of game studios like Dapper Labs, Sky Mavis, Starchain Gazer and Sorare.
• The company also partnered with Sorare to launch a fantasy NFT game based on Belgium’s Jupiter Pro League. It was One Shot League.

Ubisoft & Quartz

• Ubisoft made a significant impact in the AAA games industry with the launch of its NFT-related project, Quartz, on December 7, 2021. Quartz, an NFT platform, introduced a new type of NFTs called Digits, taking the gaming community by surprise. 
• However, the project had been in development for a long time before its official release.
• Quartz was launched as a beta experiment, and Ubisoft initiated it with a limited run of three skin NFTs connected to the game Ghost Recon: Breakout. 
• To prevent speculative trading, gamers had to play a substantial amount of the game before they could acquire a Ghost Recon NFT. 
• The head of the product, Pouard, emphasized the platform’s aim to give players a stake in their games, creating a sustainable ecosystem where players could benefit from the value they generate through their time spent, in-game purchases, and content creation.
• With Quartz as the first step, Ubisoft expressed its ambitious vision of building a true metaverse, bridging the gap between blockchain technology and gaming, and fostering a sustainable and player-centric gaming ecosystem.

Ubisoft & NFT Game Endeavors

• The next milestone for Ubisoft was investing in Animoca Brands. It is a reputable Australian company making strides in NFT, blockchain and P2E gaming space. 
• Then, in February 2022, Ubisoft partnered with Hedera to join Hedera governing council.
• Ubisoft also invested in MMORPG Nine Chronicles and Dogami.

Conclusion

Undoubtedly, Ubisoft is all in to explore blockchain, NFTs, metaverse, and web3 integration in the games. With the company reaching every milestone, we are getting closer to an advanced gaming experience.

When it comes to AAA games, no one can beat Ubisoft.

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