Ubisoft on NFTs: Gamers just 'don't get it'

[midian182]

A hot potato: Do you think NFTs in games are about as welcome as an unidentified lump on your body? If that’s the case, Ubisoft says not to worry: you just don’t get it. An interview with two of the company’s executives behind the NFT push reveals that Ubisoft doesn’t think it should change its stance on non-fungible tokens, but it’s us who need to wise up and accept them. After all, they’re “really beneficial.”

While Ubisoft has been investing in blockchain titles through its Strategic Innovation Lab since at least 2018, and CEO Yves Guillemot is a founding member of the Blockchain Gaming Alliance, the studio was one the first major developers to shoehorn NFTs into its games by adding them to Ghost Recon Breakpoint through the Ubisoft Quartz platform launch last month.

The reaction from gamers was a flood of dislikes for the Quartz announcement video, and hardly anyone bought the NFTs, but Ubisoft doubled down and insisted it would stick to its principles. Now, in an interview with Australian site Finder (via Kotaku), it appears to be placing the blame on gamers' lack of understanding.

“I think gamers don’t get what a digital secondary market can bring to them. For now, because of the current situation and context of NFTs, gamers really believe it’s first destroying the planet, and second just a tool for speculation. But what we [at Ubisoft] are seeing first is the end game. The end game is about giving players the opportunity to resell their items once they’re finished with them or they’re finished playing the game itself,” said Nicolas Pouard, VP at Ubisoft’s Strategic Innovations Lab.

“So, it’s really, for them. It’s really beneficial. But they don’t get it for now.”

Many people consider NFTs in games to be nothing more than a cynical cash-grab by the companies implementing them, but Pouard reemphasized that they’re about helping players make money, “So, it's not just about Ubisoft, actually.” Ubisoft will get a cut from each item sold, of course, so it’s quite a bit about the company, actually.

Pouard was also asked about Stalker 2, a game that got so much backlash from its NFT announcement that the devs removed them. “It's saddening to see there's still some resistance based on misunderstanding,” Pouard added.

It’s not just Ubisoft that is diving onboard the NFT bandwagon. Square Enix, EA, Facebook, Coinbase, YouTube, and many more are embracing them, seemingly ignoring the huge amount of criticism and anger coming from the majority of people. But Ubisoft, which was found to be the most hated games company in the world last year (based on tweets), has been vocal in its defense—though blaming players who “don’t get it” is moving things up a level.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/93167-ubisoft-nfts-gamers-dont-get.html

 

[R00sT3R]

The only companies looking to exploit this NFT garbage seem to be publicly listed ones, CEO's desperate for yet another easy way to keep the parasite shareholders happy and ensure the boardroom isn't dispensed with through a failure to ensure ever rising profits each quarter.

 

[George Keech]

Can someone pass this man some toilet paper - Because he is so full of sh**.

Its basically saying, well we are charging you $10 for this special skin but its okay as when you are done with it you can sell it for $1 - we may also take a cut of that - what is not to like. I mean we could not sell you them and you could earn them but.......

 

[Beerfloat]

I don't want to resell items. I want to resell my games and my accounts. That'd really be beneficial. So I'm sure this Ubisoft guy would totally support that, right?

 

[winjer]

Gamers "get it". We just don't want to be scammed by you Ubisoft.

 

[Puiu]

I don't want to resell items. I want to resell my games and my accounts. That'd really be beneficial. So I'm sure this Ubisoft guy would totally support that, right?

Only if you pay a "small transaction fee"

 

[gigantor21]

Note that he didn't deny that NFTs are speculative nonsense or bad for the environment. He just says "focus on the money you might make" instead.

They're just hopping on the bandwagon to make shareholders happy.

 

[Geralt]

Gamers "get it". We just don't want to be scammed by you Ubisoft.

I wonder why they can't understand such a simple thing as NFT's being crap for gamers (and everyone else).

 

[winjer]

I wonder why they can't understand such a simple thing as NFT's being crap for gamers (and everyone else).

Like most psychopaths, they lack the ability to understand other people.
For the leadership at Ubisoft all that matters is their own profits.

 

[Austinturner]

When an executive gets that defensive you know he made some big promises, fell flat on his face and is now trying to get out of his own mess before he gets shown the door. Hopefully he doesn’t succeed.

 

[NightAntilli]

He's completely right. The backlash I've gotten trying to explain certain NFT features says it all. If your rare MMO item can be sold on the open market for actual money, instead of being limited to just the in-game virtual non-existent market, that's a huge benefit for the gamers. But for some reason, gamers still don't see it.

Once again the phrase "the majority is always wrong" rings true.

 

[Dimitriid]

Yeah Yves, cry more: all you will accomplish is tank your value so you get devoured by the grey goo blob collective of unstoppable AAA gaming known as Microsoft as their next target for buyout.

 

[trparky]

The only companies looking to exploit this NFT garbage seem to be publicly listed ones, CEO's desperate for yet another easy way to keep the parasite shareholders happy and ensure the boardroom isn't dispensed with through a failure to ensure ever rising profits each quarter.

Proof that truly infinite growth is impossible, eventually you hit the brick wall and here we are, Ubisoft has hit the brick wall.

 

[veLa]

Oh we get it. We get that it's nothing more than a money grab.

 

[Puiu]

He's completely right. The backlash I've gotten trying to explain certain NFT features says it all. If your rare MMO item can be sold on the open market for actual money, instead of being limited to just the in-game virtual non-existent market, that's a huge benefit for the gamers. But for some reason, gamers still don't see it.

Once again the phrase "the majority is always wrong" rings true.

Except that in this case the majority is right. This kind of "get rich" schemes can only do one thing: games will stop being games.

Most of the p2w games I've seen so far (and actively played) are a kind of ponzi scheme where you have to invest big bucks and play like your life depends on it to make the money you invested back. Anything that is "free" is either insanely difficult to obtain or just another way of making people "invest". These aren't "games" they're a second job.

 

[Nobina]

Gamers don't have to "get it". They can just keep "not getting it". What now?

 

[Theinsanegamer]

He's completely right. The backlash I've gotten trying to explain certain NFT features says it all. If your rare MMO item can be sold on the open market for actual money, instead of being limited to just the in-game virtual non-existent market, that's a huge benefit for the gamers. But for some reason, gamers still don't see it.

Once again the phrase "the majority is always wrong" rings true.

NFTs bring nothing of value to games and exist solely to try to wring more cash out of gamers.

If you want to speculate on stocks, go play the stock market. Leave that kind of BS out of video games.

 

[emmzo]

If "we don't get it", buy your games yourself and fxck off!

 

[Faelan]

He's completely right. The backlash I've gotten trying to explain certain NFT features says it all. If your rare MMO item can be sold on the open market for actual money, instead of being limited to just the in-game virtual non-existent market, that's a huge benefit for the gamers. But for some reason, gamers still don't see it.

Once again the phrase "the majority is always wrong" rings true.

I don’t care whether I’m right or wrong, nor whether I fall into the majority or minority. I don’t want that crap in my games. Period.

I play games to get away from RL crap like that and I’ve been playing MMOs since 1999 and seen countless in-game economies ruined by farmers and bots trying to make money, so excuse me if I’m a bit dubious about this.

Those companies can ultimately do what they want, but they should not act surprised when I put away my wallet and walk away. They have been warned.

 

[Ashford]

He's completely right. The backlash I've gotten trying to explain certain NFT features says it all. If your rare MMO item can be sold on the open market for actual money, instead of being limited to just the in-game virtual non-existent market, that's a huge benefit for the gamers. But for some reason, gamers still don't see it.

Your comment is actually a major reason why the genre imploded and exchanged millions of people sharing an experience to a few thousand paying for one.

Do you think the MMO experience has improved in the last 15-20 years?

 

[fps4ever]

The bottom line is NFT's are great but ONLY if they get a cut from each sale. I'm pretty sure the insult to gamers is they think we are to stupid to realize that.

 

[GoldenGoat]

Non-gaming NTF's are supposedly selling for millions of dollars. He probably doesn't care if most people don't ever use it. If he can get a cut of a few million dollar sales then he made some money.

 

[Faelan]

I think these companies should look at themselves in the mirror and ask themselves why gamers have lost faith in them and become so jaded. Maybe, just maybe, it goes a little beyond “they don’t understand NFTs“?

 

[QuantumPhysics]

" The end game is about giving players the opportunity to resell their items once they’re finished with them or they’re finished playing the game itself,”"

So basically what you're saying is that I could possibly resell the Blood Dragon uniform and Auto-9 pistol I used while I played through Far Cry 6 to someone else who waited long beyond the game's release to play it?

That doesn't sound too bad.

Just don't expect me to put any real money into the secondary sales market.

 

[captaincranky]

He's completely right. The backlash I've gotten trying to explain certain NFT features says it all. If your rare MMO item can be sold on the open market for actual money, instead of being limited to just the in-game virtual non-existent market, that's a huge benefit for the gamers. But for some reason, gamers still don't see it.

Once again the phrase "the majority is always wrong" rings true.

And, as per usual, you're always right.