Ubisoft’s New NFC Collectible Game Is a Desperate Attempt to Get Back on Track Following Its Recent Challenges
Ubisoft's foray into blockchain-based gaming highlights its deperation in the aftermath of several obstacles that it has had to face this year.
- Ubsoft has released a new NFT collectible game for PCs titled Champions Tactics: Grimora Chronicles.
- The new release is the latest in a series of attempts by the French studio to salvage its failing reputation.
- The new title may come as a surprise to many despite Ubisoft expressing interest in blockchain-based games in the past.
It’s been a challenging year for Ubisoft, to say the least. With a lot of backlash against it for a string of underperforming titles that have it scrambling to regain the faith of players and investors alike, its latest attempts at damage control point towards a hint of desperation for the French developer.
It is a sad state of affairs for a studio that has been a part of modern gaming for many years with a string of successful titles and franchises that saw it rise to prominence among other giants in the gaming industry over the years, Prince of Persia and Assassin’s Creed being prominent among them.
Ubisoft Turns to NFCs in Its Attempts to Redeem Itself
Ubisoft’s woes may be a reason for the rather quiet launch of its NFC collectible tactical RPG titled Champions Tactics: Grimora Chronicles for PCs. In the aftermath of XDefiant’s failure to assist the studio in making a dent in the competitive first-person shooter space and the underwhelming performance of Star Wars Outlaws, it would seem that the studio is looking at unconventional methods to recapture its former glory.
While Ubisoft has expressed interest in blockchain-based gaming in the past, Champions Tactics comes as a surprise to those who may have expected the studio to double down on other projects that could better serve its interests in the long term such as the purported Rayman remake or its sequel to 2008’s Beyond Good and Evil.
Can Champions Tactics Be Ubisoft’s Lucky Charm?
Set in the brand-new world of Grimora, Champions Tactics is a risky move from Ubisoft considering that most of the gaming world has moved on from the potential of blockchain-based experiences in the wake of several growing concerns about the technology alongside a general waning of interest in its potential applications.
While Champions Tactics could essentially work as a free-to-play experience that does not require its players to fork out whopping amounts of money on some of its higher-priced collectibles, its potential as a game-changer for Ubisoft must be considered against the studio’s larger concerns which may point towards the need for a more focused approach on more well-established IPs.
With the delay of Assassin’s Creed Shadows causing the studio more than a few problems, Ubisoft’s response to concerns about its ill-timed foray into NFT-based gaming highlights the studio’s attempts to regain some of its lost ground as it aims to deliver an experience in which lets its players “players compose their teams on a peer-to-peer basis — much like a physical trading card game.“
While it remains to be seen if Champions Tactics could allow Ubisoft to achieve a little momentum in the coming months, the studio is sure to bank on the success of Assassin’s Creed Shadows as a means to get back on track over the course of next year.
