French video game publisher, Ubisoft has announced its entry into the NFT space with a new platform, Ubisoft Quartz. Currently in Beta, Ubisoft Quartz allows players to purchase collectibles called “Digits”. According to a press release, these are “the first, energy-efficient NFTs playable in a AAA game.”
“Our long-term efforts led us to understand how blockchain’s decentralized approach could genuinely make players stakeholders of our games,” said Nicolas Pouard, VP of Ubisoft’s Strategic Innovation Lab. “Ubisoft Quartz is the first building block in our ambitious vision for developing a true metaverse. And it can’t come to life without overcoming blockchain’s early-form limitations for gaming, including scalability and energy consumption.”
More on Ubisoft Quartz
Ubisoft Quartz aims to merge the “thrill” of gaming and the “distinctiveness” of collecting unique in-game items. Keeping energy efficiency in mind, the platform is built on the Tezos blockchain. From in-game vehicles, weapons, pieces of equipment, and more, Ubisoft Quartz will offer players a slew of NFTs. As we have seen, weapons are already a popular NFT in blockchain games like Age of Rust and The Six Dragons.
Quartz will launch in beta in the US, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Brazil, and Australia at 6 pm UTC on Thursday, December 9. Furthermore, it will be first available in the PC version of Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint. As part of the first NFT drop, Ubisoft will launch three free Digits for early adopters on December 9, 12, and 15. More drops will follow early next year.
Ubisoft recently showed its interest in blockchain gaming by investing in the blockchain gaming company, Animoca Brands. The company, however, is not the only one in support of NFTs. EA Games recently made a series of blockchain and NFT hires. Undoubtedly, major gaming companies joining the bandwagon is a big win for the wider blockchain industry.
Why Tezos blockchain?
Tezos is a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain that consumes over 2 million times less energy than Proof-of-Work (PoW) blockchains such as Bitcoin or Ethereum. The best way to put things in perspective is to look at the energy consumption of a single transaction on the blockchain. A single transaction on Tezos, for example, consumes around the same amount of energy as streaming a 30-second long video. On the other hand, the energy consumption for a single transaction on certain PoW blockchains is equivalent to streaming videos continuously for a year.
For this reason, several NFT projects have consciously opted Tezos over Ethereum. Redbull Racing NFTs, for instance, was launched on Tezos. Similarly, curated art fair Art Basel in Miami Beach forayed into the NFT scene with this blockchain. McLaren Racing has also partnered with Tezos!
“Energy-efficiency is a key requirement to propel blockchain technology into a future where it can be widely used by millions of players,” said Didier Genevois, Blockchain Technical Director at Ubisoft. “We chose Tezos because of its original Proof-of-Stake network and its leadership on clean NFTs…This low carbon footprint means that both our developers and our players can prioritize innovation without compromising sustainability.”
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