Nobody understaaaaaaaands me.
So Ubisoft Quartz, a.k.a. their NFT service, didn’t go over too well. And Ubisoft Strategic Innovations Lab vice president Nicolas Pouard, in an interview with Finder, implied that the reason for that is that gamers just don’t understand.
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.
So, it’s really, for them. It’s really beneficial. But they don’t get it for now.
Also, this is part of a paradigm shift in gaming. Moving from one economic system to another is not easy to handle. There are a lot of habits you need to go against and a lot of your ingrained mindset you have to shift. It takes time. We know that.
Nicolas Pouard
To put things bluntly, nobody really sees it this way. Which is part of why Ubisoft Quartz went over as it did. The other is that the first game to implement it, Ghost Recon: Breakpoint had some requirements to qualify to get these first NFT items. The rifle requires you to be level 5, the pants required 100 hours of playtime, and the fugly helmet required 600 hours of playtime.
Pouard, however, doubles down on you, dear reader, not understanding the way this whole thing is meant to work.
Well, it was a reaction we were expecting. We know it’s not an easy concept to grasp. But Quartz is really just a first step that should lead to something bigger. Something that will be more easily understood by our players. That’s the way we think about it and why we will keep experimenting. We will keep releasing features and services around this first initiative. And our belief is that, piece by piece, the puzzle will be revealed and understood by our players. We hope they will better understand the value we offer them.
Nicolas Pouard
They have, however, gone on record stating they’ll pull the plug if there truly are environmental concerns. Which, I’m going to be honest with you, the environmental impact is probably on par with most websites when it comes to energy consumption. The real problem is that the whole thing, like other crypto before it, always smacked of being a grift. Even more so, here, where a sizeable company is pushing it.
Moreover, these first NFTs aren’t really going to appreciate in value, because they’re giving them away for free (hundreds of hours of your time aside). For a good example, see trading cards on Steam; at best, you’re typically getting a few cents per card. It’s hard to imagine you’ll get much for that 600-hour helmet in the future. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think so.
Source: IGN
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