We probably never imagined that things would go so quickly. While Ubisoft recently expressed great interest in NFT and their integration into video games, the publisher is unveiling Quartz, its place of sale dedicated to these digital objects.
This is a very cautious test bench for the publisher, who has chosen to wet his neck a game of questionable popularity: Ghost Recon: Breakpoint.
In-game objects registered in the blockchain
Quartz's concept is simple. Imagine the Steam marketplace, on which weapon skins for Counter Strike: GO can be exchanged, but where the items sold would be in limited quantities, and not exclusive to a single game. animates Ubisoft with its platform which, in order not to frighten the refractory, prefers the term "Digit" to that of NFT.
But make no mistake, all the ingredients are there. Rarity, certificate of ownership registered in the blockchain, freedom of resale. The originality of the maneuver (which is also unprecedented in the video game industry) is that a "Digit" can then be exchanged for money on NFT platforms such as OpenSea or to third parties (Ubisoft will not charge no commission). In other words, it's a play-to-earn model taking shape. The more you play, the more you can claim to acquire "Digits", which you are free to keep or resell to make a nest egg.
But, since Non-Fungible Tokens currently represent nothing less than a huge speculative bubble, there is obviously a risk that the price of the few items offered for sale on Quartz for Ghost Recon: Breakpoint will skyrocket in the coming weeks. However, according to Ubisoft, this will not be the case.
All the safeguards would be in place
During a presentation which Le Figaro was able to attend, Baptise Chardon, blockchain product director for Ubisoft, assures that measures have been taken upstream to prevent Quartz from changing into a crypto-asset speculation platform. Certainly, the "Digits" will be offered in limited numbers, but can only be collected by real players.
We explain. Starting this Friday, owners of the PC version of Ghost Recon: Breakpoint will be able to pick up a free NFT assault rifle. Will follow a helmet and pants to dress his character in game. But, to obtain them, “you must be of legal age and have a Ubisoft Connect account, which allows you to withdraw a single copy of these NFTs. And the player will have to prove a certain level of play, ”says Baptise Chardon. In this case, only people who have accumulated at least 600 hours of play will be able to obtain a copy of the helmet.
Also, to prevent these items distributed for free from gaining too much value on OpenSea and others, Ubisoft plans to put some of them back online to break the upward momentum and limit their rarity. Other "Digits" dedicated to Ghost Recon: Breakpoint will be posted on Quartz in 2022, but Nicolas Pouard, director of the Blockchain Initiative at Ubisoft's Innovations Laboratory, assures "that there will be no NFT brick in all our future games”.
And, to guard against the expected criticisms concerning the disastrous ecological impact of NFTs and crypto-assets in general, the publisher adds that Quartz mobilizes the Spanish protocol Tezos, which is very much less energy-consuming than the Ethereum blockchain, for example.
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