Between the abrupt game cancellations, lay-offs, and ongoing buyout talks, Ubisoft goes by means of a little bit of a PR storm in the intervening time. The beleaguered writer may actually do with one thing to regain a little bit of goodwill, so what with neon-soaked Far Cry 3 spin-off Blood Dragon being so fondly remembered by followers (in addition to Captain Laserhawk, the peerlessly first rate Netflix present set in the identical universe), you possibly can see why they’d look to this IP as their saviour.
Enter Captain Laserhawk: The G.A.M.E., a top-down shooter set within the Blood Dragon universe, and starring Rayman as a commentator (through Polygon). Here is the catch: it is a Net 3 sport that requires you to purchase an NFT to play. This NFT takes the type of your very personal ‘Niji Warrior’ card that improves as you play the sport, presumably making it acquire worth over time in order that at some point different gamers/NFT believers purchase it off you.
As is usually the case with these NFT video games, all of the promotion on the official site and X page (each of that are absent from Ubisoft’s fundamental social channels) focuses on the acquainted NFT guarantees reminiscent of “A world you possibly can form and rework”, “the possibility to earn unique rewards of nice worth,” and “your complete group may have the chance to affect the plot and take part in key decision-making moments.”
However what of the sport itself? Effectively, Ubisoft appears to be enjoying the entire ‘free-to-play cell MMO’ trick of concealing gameplay as a lot as attainable, as a result of neither the homepage trailer nor the separate trailer on ‘The G.A.M.E’ web page present any in-game footage. Actually, searching the location, I got here throughout only one screenshot of what the in-game motion seems like—a few avatars taking pictures one another in a plain gray enviornment; why is it that NFT video games at all times seem like these cheapie rush jobs that pop up daily on Steam for $5?
Ubisoft’s early forays into NFTs have been met with dismay from fans and French trade unions again in 2021, however that did not cease them persevering with to push into the house, last year entering a partnership with blockchain gaming platform Immutable. Clearly Ubisoft discovered one thing from all of the unfavorable suggestions round NFTs, as a result of at the very least now it has the self-awareness to maintain these items sequestered away from its fundamental channels.
