The gaming publisher Ubisoft has announced a new type of microtransactions for its shooter Ghost Recon Wildlands, which will operate through NFTs. This is just the beginning of a larger initiative. However, the reaction to the YouTube video has been so devastating that Ubisoft has now “delisted” the video. It is still accessible, but hidden.
What kind of announcement was that?
- Just yesterday, on 8th December, we reported on MeinMMO about the announcement from Ubisoft to introduce a new system called “Quartz”, through which Ubisoft aims to integrate NFT microtransactions into its AAA titles.
- The beginning was marked by the failed shooter Ghost Recon Breakpoint at release: Here, there were supposed to be 3 cosmetic items that would become “limited and tradable collectibles” through NFT technology – complete with serial numbers and a history of who has owned the item.
- The reaction to the video was already terrible yesterday. Many gamers outright reject NFTs and see this as a misguided development in the gaming industry. Now Ubisoft has responded.
20 dislikes to 1 like for controversial announcement
How bad were the reactions? While you can still give videos a thumbs down on YouTube, the number of dislikes is hidden now. However, there are still ways to see the number of dislikes.
According to the site vgc, the video had a like-dislike ratio of 1:20. There were about 23,447 interactions with the video, 22,429 were negative, and only 1,018 were positive. The reactions were thus devastatingly poor, which can also be seen in the comment section.
On Twitter, where there is no dislike option, the tweet on this topic has more than 10,000 likes, but also terrible comments, with Twitter users saying they will now uninstall everything from Ubisoft. They strongly reject NFTs.
This is how Ubisoft responds: Ubisoft has “delisted” the video with the NFT announcement – that means the video is still accessible, but no longer appears on the Ubisoft North America channel.
Gamers are bothered by the strong focus on cash shop and cosmetics that NFTs represent
What bothers gamers about NFTs? It is a mix of several arguments:
- NFTs are generally accused of being environmentally harmful due to high energy consumption – this plays a lesser role in the rejection. Ubisoft also states that they use “energy-efficient technology.”
- The main criticism is that NFTs shift the focus significantly towards microtransactions. Players wish for a greater focus on game development.
- For many players, the focus on NFTs reflects an increasing commercialization of games. It is said: “We participated in cash shops and loot boxes for years, but this is now a step too far.”
We have extensively dealt with the topic of NFT on MeinMMO:
NFT is the new trend in gaming in 2021, companies are worth billions $ – But why?
