The gaming company Ubisoft has been flirting with the idea of using the controversial technology blockchain for years. Now they have released their first game utilizing this technology. Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles (PC). The in-game micropayments are NFTs: The most expensive one costs nearly 59,000 euros, the price of a mid-range BMW.
What kind of game is this? Ubisoft announced three years ago that they would develop games with NFTs. Back around 2021, “NFT” was a buzzword in gaming.
The technology suggested that players could create “real values” in a game, acquiring uniquely signed digital items that could be traded and increase in value. However, NFTs turned out to be a short-lived trend that was sharply criticized by gamers. Even showcase projects saw massive losses and proved to be a money pit.
Nonetheless, Ubisoft has now launched Champions Tactics. According to Ubisoft, it is a “tactical RPG for PC focusing on PvP.”
The game revolves around collecting figures of various warriors in the fantasy world Grimoria: With three of these warriors, players embark on a journey and fight in turn-based combat against other players.
Game reflects the look of tabletop miniatures
What does the trailer show? In the trailer, it is clear that the look of the game and how the game figures are represented resembles a digitized version of tabletop miniatures, as seen in Warhammer: digital miniatures. Little of the actual gameplay is visible.
The idea of simulating miniatures in a video game has been utilized by other games: Moonbreakers received some applause at Gamescom back then, but ultimately failed as a game.
Shop poses ridiculous prices for miniatures, but no one buys them
This is the idea behind the game: The in-game marketplace (via championstactics) of the new game from Ubisoft sells miniatures that cost between a few euros and 59,000 euros. For that money, you could get a new BMW 5 Series sedan.
However, for 59,000 euros you also get the “Swift Zealot” in the game.
In principle, the game is free to acquire. However, the expensive miniatures do not seem to be selling well. At first glance, the most expensive limited miniature sold so far appears to be the figure “Thorned Diviner,” available for about 300 euros.
Is anyone interested? There is often an initial gold rush sentiment at the release of such games because this is where the lines between game and investment blur. Potential investors see these games as opportunities to make quick money if they hit gold. The Twitter account of Champions Tactics has a rather impressive 108,000 followers.
However, the launch trailer has only about 3,200 views – that is very low. The comments are correspondingly vicious.
Ubisoft seems to be investing significantly in influencers to promote the ultimate Web3 turn-based RPG by Ubisoft
.
However, one must warn against investing in such projects: Often, players who enthusiastically jump into such projects lose their money after an euphoria-filled initial phase and do not get it back.
What lies behind it. NFTs are actually an idea that seemed buried in the mothballs of the video game industry. The entire system was harshly criticized. The gaming industry wanted to explain to players that they could only create real digital values with NFTs and blockchain.
But players mainly saw it as a way for game companies to get richer with little effort and outright rejected the idea. However, Ubisoft has defended the idea of NFTs early and vigorously: Ubisoft states about NFTs: “They are truly beneficial. But you just don’t get it right now”
