Author: Mu Mu
Ubisoft, the game giant that has produced "Assassin's Creed," has made a new move in the Web3 gaming field.
After an unsuccessful attempt with NFT for the first time, Ubisoft's Strategic Innovation Lab has partnered with the Web3 gaming network Immutable to build a Web3 gaming platform using Immutable's experience in game development and ecosystem.
This is not Ubisoft's first exploration of Web3 gaming. In June of this year, Ubisoft announced its first Web3 game.
As a leading global traditional game developer, Ubisoft has developed many popular games such as the "Far Cry" series and the "Assassin's Creed" series, creating an industry myth of "releasing 5 AAA games in a year." However, in the past two years, the gaming giant has struggled with content production. Not only has it failed to produce another hit AAA game, but its stock price has also plummeted, and it has made unsuccessful attempts at acquisition.
In this situation, Ubisoft in 2023 has made many innovative attempts, including collaborating with external major IPs, expanding its own old IPs, actively introducing AI-assisted creation, and also setting its sights on Web3.
So, can this new move by Ubisoft bring in new traffic? Additionally, will the entry of the "regular army" of games bring changes to the blockchain gaming market of Web3?
Ubisoft to Build Web3 Gaming Platform
Ubisoft, headquartered in France, is known in the gaming industry for its "creative genius," with studios around the world. Its series such as "Assassin's Creed" and "Call of Duty" are still considered classics by gamers, creating an industry myth of "releasing 5 AAA games in a year."
In contrast to its glorious history, Ubisoft is currently struggling. In the past two years, the gaming giant has not produced a AAA game that can match the reputation and sales of "Assassin's Creed."
The decline is also reflected in its stock price. Starting in 2021, Ubisoft's stock price has fallen from a high of 86 euros to 19 euros in January 2023, almost reaching the level of 2015. Ubisoft's financial report for the 2022-2023 fiscal year shows that as of March 31, 2023, the company's operating loss reached 538 million US dollars, almost equal to the total net profit of Ubisoft in the past five years.
Ubisoft's stock price has returned to the level of 2015
Facing consecutive losses, Ubisoft has shown a strong will to survive. In addition to attracting external major IPs, Ubisoft has also relied on its own old IPs to turn the tide. "Rainbow Six: Siege" helped it achieve "significant growth." Thanks to the influence of its own IP, Ubisoft's financial report for the first half of the 2023-2024 fiscal year shows that the company's revenue was 8.36 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 14.33%, net bookings were 8.22 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 17.59%, and the profit finally turned from a loss to a profit on a year-on-year basis.
However, relying solely on past successes is not enough. Ubisoft has also realized this and has extended its reach to Web3.
In June of this year, Ubisoft announced its first role-playing game developed based on Oasys blockchain technology, "Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles." Based on the currently limited information, in this game, players seem to be able to use classic characters from mythology to form teams and battle other players.
Before the first blockchain game is officially released, Ubisoft has swiftly reached a partnership with the Web3 gaming network Immutable, planning to use the blockchain infrastructure provided by Immutable to build a Web3 gaming platform.
Ubisoft's first contact with Web3 dates back to 2021. At that time, NFTs were all the rage. Ubisoft introduced NFT virtual items based on the Tezos network for the PC version of "Ghost Recon: Breakpoint" and organized a series of activities for the appearance of these NFTs. However, after the activities ended, only 15 NFTs were claimed, with a total transaction amount of less than $400.
Players did not buy into it, and even NFT enthusiasts showed no interest. The main reason was that the NFTs in the game were not essential for the game progress, but required players to "grind" for 100 hours and 600 hours to claim them, making it a virtual item that was not worth the effort to obtain. For NFT players, the hottest trend in the market at the time was image NFTs, which could be minted and sold for profit without the need to navigate the high barriers in the game.
Having failed in the NFT market, will Ubisoft's use of the Immutable blockchain network to build a Web3 gaming platform be successful this time?
The Key is the Economic Model
Ubisoft's previous attempt with NFTs missed the industry's development trend. Making game NFTs when image NFTs were popular was a case of bad timing. Now, it may have encountered a rare market trend.
According to DappRadar data, as of the second quarter of 2023, the number of daily active wallets in the Web3 gaming sector is 699,956, accounting for 36% of the industry's total participation, far ahead of other types of applications.
The number of daily active wallets in Web3 gaming far exceeds other applications
Other game developers also seem to see the increasing activity in Web3 gaming. Game developers such as Square Enix, NCSOFT, and Jam City have begun strategic deployments, and Ubisoft is following suit. With its excellent production capabilities, as long as it can create a hit game quickly, it is likely to capture the Web3 gaming market.
Web3 chain games that are fun and profitable are indeed scarce in the market. From 2021 to the present, most Web3 games produced based on blockchain technology and economic models lack playability and their economic models tend to fail in the later stages.
Web3 games with few gameplay elements mainly attract players because game assets can be monetized: after purchasing basic items, players start the game, obtain game assets, and sell them on the market. This process is also referred to by Web3 players as "play to earn."
Therefore, Web3 games are also known as Play To Earn (P2E) games. However, the encrypted assets in P2E games will eventually fall into a cycle where production exceeds demand, leading to a fate of high initial prices followed by a decline. When game assets cannot be sold at a high price and the game itself lacks playability, players will abandon the game.
As a result, those in the Web3 industry who are optimistic about the gaming track always call for P2E games to enhance playability, hoping for a Web3 game with a perfect combination of game design and economic model to emerge. Some people place this hope on traditional game developers.
As a 3A game giant, Ubisoft clearly has mature production capabilities. But for Ubisoft to create Web3 games, it not only needs to bring games that meet Web2 user experience to a blockchain that can support game operation, but also needs to design a good economic model for game assets.
In its new Web3 gaming layout, Ubisoft has chosen Immutable, a company that has transitioned from the gaming industry to blockchain infrastructure. Its vision is to support the development of all Web3 games, and its approach is to build a Layer2 network that facilitates the trading of game NFT assets, known in the Web3 world as Immutable X.
Immutable X is a game-specific chain in the blockchain market, with zero transaction fees and the ability to support high-concurrency transactions. Just by eliminating transaction fees, it greatly reduces the barrier to entry for users. At the same time, Immutable X can process 9,000 transactions per second, supporting the rapid circulation of on-chain game assets.
In addition to the infrastructure, Immutable also has a game studio under its umbrella, independently releasing and operating several chain games.
In addition, Ubisoft's previous announcement of a Web3 game was built on the Oasys blockchain, which is also a blockchain infrastructure specifically designed for games. In addition to Ubisoft, SEGA is also developing its first blockchain game, "Three Kingdoms War" (Web3 Remake), based on Oasys, attempting to attract new fans to this old IP.
With the advantages of high performance and zero gas fees, both major game blockchain platforms have partnered with Ubisoft, with the former providing basic design and technical services, and the latter providing high-quality game content and design. Truly playable Web3 games are expected to emerge from this collaboration.
Currently, Ubisoft has not disclosed the specific details of its Web3 game. What can be certain is that the direction for the development of Web3 chain games is 3A-level game production, vivid game plots, and a good gaming experience, which is likely to attract traditional game developers to enter the market. The biggest challenge for game giants entering this space is how to combine game design with a good economic model.
In short, whoever can create a Web3 game that breaks free from the "play to earn" cycle and has strong sustainability will dominate the chain game market.
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