French gaming giant Ubisoft has confirmed its interest in exploring the potential of blockchain technology in video games.

Rumours that Ubisoft has been looking into blockchain have been circling for some time, so Coin Rivet reached out to the company to learn more.

While the gaming firm was unable to provide details in great length, it did respond with the following comment:

“It is correct that Ubisoft is exploring the potential of blockchain to improve the gaming experience. We are aiming for a step-by-step approach with the ultimate goal to develop solutions that bring added value to players.”

The exciting thing to note here is not so much that Ubisoft is exploring blockchain, but rather that it is seeking a solution that can bring added value to players.

Although nothing else has been confirmed by Ubisoft, this added value could potentially be centred on non-fungible tokens and offering players the ability to own their virtual assets indefinitely. A secondary application could be to enable players to then monetise their virtual items.

The story so far 

Since April, it has been publicly known that Ubisoft is part of the Blockchain Game Alliance (BGA).

The board members of the BGA include Ubisoft, Enjin, Ultra, Consensys, Alto.io, EverdreamSoft, Gimbl, and B2Expand.

The BGA is a coalition of game and blockchain companies committed to advocating for blockchain technology within the gaming industry.

It’s primary goal is to promote the adoption of blockchain technology by raising awareness about its opportunities, creating common standards, and establishing best practices.

It’s two key missions are to raise awareness of how blockchain could transform and improve games and accelerating adoption by overcoming existing barriers through innovation and the creation of actionable industry standards.

Since then, further news emerged about Ubisoft’s interest in the blockchain sector, alongside speculation that it could be using the Ethereum blockchain.

While Ubisoft has since confirmed its interest in the technology to Coin Rivet, it seems the company is set on keeping its lips sealed regarding any other developments until further notice.

‘Develop solutions that bring added value to players’

One aspect that was recently reported is the possibility that Ubisoft could utilise non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to add digital scarcity and proven ownership into its games.

Blockchain technology has disrupted many industries already. In the scope of gaming, while it only offers a finite number of benefits, they are benefits that could greatly enhance the industry.

Fundamentally, blockchain is an immutable ledger that keeps records of all transactions. The information is often encrypted so as to not disclose the origin of a transaction.

NFTs are essentially a type of cryptocurrency, and as such are recorded on the blockchain. In gaming, this helps prove ownership much in the same way blockchain can prove provenance in the art industry.

This is because the NFT would be associated with the player’s wallet address indefinitely. This means that in theory, they will always own the item.

This then opens up the avenue to use NFTs across games – a concept which Enjin is championing in the Multiverse.

It is highly unlikely that this concept would be applied to Ubisoft’s current titles, but it does leave the door open for this to become a reality in any subsequent experimental titles.

True ownership and inter-game operability would be the primary avenue for Ubisoft to bring added value to players, with another option being digital scarcity and enabling players to monetise their in-game items.

However, with many mainstream gaming companies implementing pay-to-win type features or selling ‘packs’ to unlock skins and aesthetics for characters and weapons, it would seem improbable that a mainstream company would want to lose that revenue stream because it generates so much money for the game developers.

Regardless, having Ubisoft confirm its interest in blockchain should come as a positive for the entire blockchain gaming industry. Having such a key and critical player take a vested interest should help generate more hype and awareness.

Missed the most recent news relating to Ubisoft? Discover more about how the French gaming giant is reportedly interested in using the Ethereum blockchain.