Earlier this week, Ubisoft announced that Ghost Recon Breakpoint would no longer receive updates. Many fans hoped this was also a death knell for the publisher’s controversial NFT platform Ubisoft Quartz, but that’s looking unlikely.
GamesIndustry.biz reached out to Ubisoft for clarification, and while there will be no additional NFTs made for Ghost Recon Breakpoint, the company will add more to other games. There’s no word on what those titles might be, but it’s only a matter of time until Ubisoft lets everyone know.
According to Kotaku, the Ubisoft Quartz team has gone silent internally following the massive backlash. In January, Ubisoft’s strategic innovations lab VP Nicolas Pouard insisted that fans don’t understand NFTs.
According to Kotaku sources, Ubisoft is developing a new Ghost Recon game codenamed OVER that is slated to launch in FY 2023
Also: "according to two sources […] the team behind Quartz has gone mostly quiet internally"https://t.co/Xwlyx4gUq6 pic.twitter.com/iVfOrAQDma
— Nibel (@Nibellion) April 6, 2022
Ubisoft stated last year that it wasn’t finished investing in NFTs, and that stance obviously hasn’t shifted.
By this point, virtually every company within the games industry that’s toe-dipped into NFT integration has seen massive pushback from fans. Some examples are Behaviour Interactive, GSC Game World, and Team 17. Similarly, actor Troy Baker’s NFT endeavors ended with him quickly walking back the decision.
Cryptocurrency and NFT integration will probably be a hot-button issue in the games industry for quite some time. Valve’s Gabe Newell recently said the company removed Bitcoin support on Steam since more than half of purchases made with the currency were fraudulent.
Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.
