Ubisoft CEO claims NFT launches were simply ‘research’

[Mr Jt (Gog is king)]

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has described a move away from NFTs and blockchain in a new interview.

In a new interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has discussed the future of NFTs and blockchain technologies at the company, describing their implementation in games like Ghost Recon Breakpoint as simple ‘research’. It appears Ubisoft is now moving away from this space, after a brief hype period in 2021 that saw several NFTs launch via the company’s ambitious Ubisoft Quartz blockchain platform.

We probably were not good at saying we are researching,’ Guillemot told GamesIndustry.biz. ‘We should have said we were working on it and when we have something that gives you a real benefit, we’ll bring it to you.’

‘As a company, we went into VR early, into the Wii early. We always try new things. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t work, but it’s always to make sure we can bring a new experience to players that will be innovative and interesting. The goal of the company is always to create the best experience and new technologies are always good for that because there’s less competition and people are more interested to try new things on new technology.’

According to Guillemot, exploring isn’t the same as launching – and it appears the NFT and blockchain implementations in Ghost Recon Breakpoint fit simply into that ‘exploring’ period.

‘This industry is evolving quickly and it’s very cautious about the impact it will have. Like so many things, at the beginning, it’s not as good as it could be, but like other new technologies, they will find the right way,’ Guillemot said.

This is a fairly sound conclusion for Ubisoft’s major foray into the NFT space, with Guillemot appearing to admit the technology does not currently work as intended, and does not provide a worthy value add for players.


In reality, the Ghost Recon Breakpoint NFT experiment went rather poorly for Ubisoft, with few players purchasing the game’s NFTs, and the online marketplace for these items stagnating very early on. According to a Kotaku report, very few transactions took place on Ubisoft Quartz, even at the height of NFT fever. As of December 2021, reseller markets had reportedly recorded only a handful of sales, totalling 94.49 Tezos – worth just AU $540.


Following an entirely new platform launch, and the loss of player goodwill – NFTs have been highly contentious online, with many pointing out their lack of value and impact on the environment as extreme negatives – it appears Ubisoft has concluded the technology is no longer worthwhile.

While Guillemot reportedly told staff that NFTs were ‘just the beginning’ in late 2021, it now appears the CEO is backtracking on the company’s NFT ambitions. The early foray into the NFT space was reportedly a result of ambitious research and development, but the enthusiasm for the technology now appears to be waning. Guillemot did not completely rule out a return to NFTs in future, but his assessment of the company’s NFT ‘research’ project is fairly damning.

‘Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t work,’ according to Guillemot – and it looks mightily like the Ghost Recon Breakpoint NFT experiment has been placed in the ‘doesn’t work’ pile. It’s unlikely we’ll be seeing more Ubisoft NFTs in future.

Ubisoft is just one of the worst companies out there. The ceo reflects that perfectly

https://www.gameshub.com/news/news/ubisoft-ceo-nfts-research-claims-29402/

[Under there]

Escrito originalmente por Mr Jt (Gog is king):

Ubisoft

lmao ubisoft don't care what else you said that ♥♥♥♥ gay

[|ツ-ColeTrunks]

Escrito originalmente por beetrout:

Escrito originalmente por |ツ-ColeTrunks:

When did gaging interest in a product become a bad thing?

Because in this case its code for "we all got duped by a load of hucksters and spent lots of money on a totally unfeasible project with no motive other than the hope it would make us more money"

edit: didn't even do any marketing research, or tech or software research, they just did it and then made the excuse up after the fact. How can I tell? Lol its Ubisoft LMAO

its called gaging interest. The nft market is more popular than you think why would a billion dollar company pass up on the option to make more money? They did a 180 because of public opinion which is a good thing no?

[Kayhan]

Escrito originalmente por |ツ-ColeTrunks:

When did gaging interest in a product become a bad thing?

Did you become Steam Mod btw?

[Elucidator]

NFTs are coming to Ubisoft’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint as unique, collectible, in-world cosmetics, the publisher announced Tuesday. Ubisoft described the implementation of NFTs in its game as a “experiment,” heading off concern about the environmental impact of the technology by calling its new venture as “energy-efficient” and “environmentally sustainable.”

That was from an article from last year.
The thing is, they didn't lie about it being an experiment... but its about them making money not about delivering a game.
Its about gaslighting players into making them think its fun to invest and lose money, or make the next generation lose money. (Someone else is going to lose money. You can call it profit for yourself, but, usually its extremely negative for the next generation)
Anyone with empathy wouldn't partake in this.
that said, if you lack of that and feel okay playing parasite, then sure, you do get rich if it goes well I guess.

[Out Of Bubblegum]

Research. So was the horse armor.

[lukaself]

Escrito originalmente por Out Of Bubblegum:

Research. So was the horse armor.

Not ominous at all.

[Mailer]

Imagine if Valve had also justified their brief introduction of paid mods into the workshop as "research"; then people would have probably begrudged them for a lot longer than they ended up doing.
But no, they actually came out to admit that "it was clear they didn't know what they were doing" with that decision, and people are still happy to contribute to the workshop this way.

Seriously, is it so much to ask for a company to genuinely admit that they did something wrong? What does Ubisoft actually get out of dancing around the question?

[Lochlann]

Just wanted to do it for research purposes

[Fostin4]

When boomers become CEOs, you know where the company would be headed.