Sam Reynolds

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                <li>On-chain data shows that Ubisoft has had less than $500 in volume on its gaming NFTs</li>
                <li>Ubisoft has faced immense backlash from its developers as it tries to push NFTs as a new companion for games — along with many of the world’s other larges studios</li>
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<p>Ubisoft’s much hyped in-game NFT system, which <a href="https://twitter.com/Blockworks_/status/1468286074220945410?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">launched earlier this month</a> on the Tezos blockchain alongside <em>Ghost Recon: Breakpoint</em>, hasn’t caught the interest of gamers, according to on-chain data from trackers Objkt and Rarible.</p>



<p>A look at on-chain data via a Tezos block explorer shows that there has only been $435 (100tz) worth of volume on the platform. While Ubisoft Quartz has minted 3,000 of these NFTs so far, it has <a href="https://rarible.com/ubisoft-quartz/activity" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sold fewer than 20</a> according to data from Rarible.</p>



<p>Of the 86 transfers of <em>Ghost Recon</em> themed NFTs between users, 49 of them involve transfers to the same account, and a further 24 involve transfers <em>from</em> that same account suggesting wash trading.</p>



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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">There aren&#39;t a lot of sales on Rarible, but there have been lots of &quot;transfers,&quot; which appear to not require an actual sale, best I can tell. <br><br>86 transfers total.<br><br>Fun fact: 49 of them involve transfers to the same account; 24 of them involves transfers FROM that same account</p>&mdash; Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) <a href="https://twitter.com/stephentotilo/status/1473104369574891531?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 21, 2021</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<p>These NFTs can only be sold between players of the specific <em>Ghost Recon</em> game and are only useable in said game. Thus, if the popularity of the game is effectively the market maker for the NFTs themselves. <em>Breakpoint</em> doesn’t appear to be the best reviewed entry of the <em>Ghost Recon </em>franchise, with <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/10/10/tom-clancys-ghost-recon-breakpoint-review" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mediocre review scores</a> from the gaming press.</p>



<p>EA Games and Square Enix have also expressed interest in developing in-game NFTs, with EA CEO Andrew Wilson calling NFT and &#8220;play-to-earn&#8221; games the &#8220;the future of our industry,&#8221; on a recent earnings call. </p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Do gamers want NFTs?</strong></h3>



<p>Ubisoft’s decision to push for in-game NFTs hasn’t been popular amongst its developers. The trade union representing the company’s Paris-based employees denounced the pivot to NFTs in a <a href="https://twitter.com/SolInfoJeuVideo/status/1470765908851310596?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1470765914106826761%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eurogamer.net%2Farticles%2F2021-12-16-french-trade-union-calls-ubisoft-nft-scheme-a-useless-costly-ecologically-mortifying-technology" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement published</a> earlier this week.</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"><p><strong>&#8220;Ubisoft has recently entered the blockchain and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) market. A decision that has been widely criticised by our players, bringing no improvements or benefits to our games,&#8221; the statement reads.</strong> </p></blockquote>



<p>While Ubisoft continues to push ahead with its NFT integration plans, the company behind the game <em>S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl</em> has decided to cancel its NFT plans based on negative feedback it received from fans. </p>



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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/mffnmpiQiw">pic.twitter.com/mffnmpiQiw</a></p>&mdash; S.T.A.L.K.E.R. OFFICIAL (@stalker_thegame) <a href="https://twitter.com/stalker_thegame/status/1471620399997886472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 16, 2021</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<p>The company behind <em>S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2</em>, a follow-up to the critically acclaimed 2006 sci-fi horror game <em>S.T.A.L.K.E.R </em>had said publicly that the rationale for minting NFTs was to have a new revenue source for funding the game, as it is an indie-studio without large pockets.</p>



<p>Still, it’s not quite clear if the market has made up its mind on NFTs or if anti-NFT voices are drowning out the rest on social media platforms.</p>



<p>A recent survey from insight agency Opinium showed that 58% of its surveyed 197 video game developers are now beginning to use blockchain technology, with 64% saying that blockchain technology will become prevalent in video gaming within the next two years, and 53% believing that NFTs would be more common by then too.</p>



<p>But this data is for developers and not gamers themselves, so until some comprehensive data from gamers comes along, on-chain data will be the best proxy on the actual interest for NFTs in games.</p>



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