Ubisoft's CEO Wants to Go With NFTs Despite Player and Developer Criticism
Ubisoft's CEO tried to calm the emotions caused by the introduction of NFTs to Ghost Recon: Breakpoint. According to reports, however, his arguments did not convince the developers.
Virtual items in the form of non-fungible tokens, or so-called NFTs, are growing in popularity, but they're also causing huge controversy. One of the companies looking to cash in on this emerging solution is Ubisoft, which introduced the Quartz platform for buying tokens in Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Breakpoint. Gamers were furious after the announcement. Emotions were so high that Ubisoft CEO, Yves Guillemot, had to set up a call with the developers to calm the moods. Judging by the account published by Kotaku, he was not successful and his arguments failed to convince many employees.
NFTs as lootboxes and microtransaction?
You can learn more about the Quartz platform in our article:
It is not surprising that such conversation took place. The reception of the addition of NFTs to the game is best reflected in YouTube stats - under the video announcing Quartz as much as 95% of viewer reactions were negative. The situation was similar at Ubisoft - internal communication systems were filled with comments from developers expressing their doubts about the publisher's offer going in this direction.
During the conversation, Yves Guillemot argued that the bad reception of NFTs is temporary. He cited examples of DLCs, microtransactions, and loot boxes, which initially also met with great resistance, but are now considered a standard in the industry.
These arguments did not convince many developers, especially since even today Ubisoft is criticized for some microtransactions, such as selling boosters to accelerate character progression in the Assassin's Creed series.
CEO cites Roblox as an example, but can't explain how NFTs will help
Guillemot assured that the introduction of NFTs will open new opportunities for players and developers, but he could not provide any particular example of how tokens could improve games. He cited only unconvincing generalities about the metaverse or the ability to buy and sell virtual houses.
Guillemot also cited the example of Roblox, whose devs are now worth $45 billion. The problem is that this success was achieved without NFTs, which shows that gamers can make money in games without using the non-fungible token technology.
The developers are concerned that NFTs will negatively impact their work and image
Kotaku reports that developers are worried about their image and that of their games. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Breakpoint launch was a disaster and the developers spent the next two years working on getting the game right. Now the game's reception is much better and the devs are worried that all this effort will now be wasted by the introduction of NFTs.
On top of that, Ubisoft's employees have raised issues about the lack of regulations related to non-fungible tokens, which can facilitate cheating and exploitation of players. The workload needed is also an issue. The publisher's games are already huge, offering huge worlds and a plethora of different gameplay systems, and adding another business model to them won't make developers' lives any easier.
Ubisoft developers complain, but the CEO has no intention of changing his mind
One developer summed up the problem well in a comment for Kotaku:
“I’m here to make games and promote fun and entertainment. And I don’t see how this is going in that direction, it’s just another way to milk money.”
The harsh criticism aimed at NFTs recently led GSC Game World to withdraw the idea for non-fungible tokens planned for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl. Unfortunately, we shouldn't expect Ubisoft doing the same. Not only are there no plans to remove NFTs from Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, but the company's authorities already have ideas for further initiatives of this type.
