AAA studio Ubisoft to develop Web3 gaming experience with Immutable

November 9, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Blockchain gaming firm Immutable announces partnership with Ubisoft’s Strategic Innovation Lab to develop Web3 games.

AAA gaming studio Ubisoft has partnered with blockchain game firm Immutable to collaborate on developing Web3 games through its Strategic Innovation Lab.

An announcement shared with Cointelegraph said the two studios will combine their expertise to intertwine mainstream gaming development quality with Web3-enabled functionality.

Nicolas Pouard, who heads up Ubisoft’s blockchain initiative, noted that Immutable’s existing blockchain infrastructure and its experience integrating decentralized functionality into games was a vital driver of the partnership:

“We’re excited to partner with them and look forward to bringing that level of fluidness within a full-fledged game, so players only have to focus on the fun of the experience.”

Immutable co-founder and CEO James Ferguson added that the collaboration marks an important milestone for the Web3 gaming sector.

“We couldn’t be more excited to explore with Ubisoft the benefits of Web3 and digital ownership for players. We plan to bring the full weight of our ecosystem to bear to ensure the partnership’s success,” Ferguson said.

The partnership comes off the back of successful demos of Immutable’s flagship titles, including Guild of Guardians, Metalcore, Shardbound and Infinite Victory. These various titles offer gamers different genres to explore that incorporate defining Web3 aspects like immutable ownership of in-game assets.

Immutable also recently launched the test network of its zero-knowledge rollup (ZK-rollups) gaming solution Immutable zkEVM. ZK-rollups have been in the spotlight throughout 2023 as a significant layer 2 Ethereum scaling technology that enables high-throughput, low-cost transactions for decentralized applications, services and solutions.

The firm has rolled out two different ZK-based scaling solutions to date, including Immutable zkEVM which operates on Ethereum layer-2 Polygon, as well as Immutable X which is a separate rollup solution developed by ZK pioneers StarkWare.

Immutable’s gaming platform provides infrastructure for gaming studios to build games that run on the Ethereum blockchain.

Web3 games are beginning to break their way into the mainstream gaming space as 2024 looms. Cointelegraph exclusively reported that Illuvium Labs will have its flagship gaming title Illuvium listed on mainstream gaming publisher Epic Games Store on Nov. 28, which is home to hugely popular games like Fortnite.

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Individual creators will ultimately shape the metaverse: Sandbox founders

November 3, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Adidas

As the firm moves to open up The Sandbox Map, co-founder Sebastian Borget said he believes individual creators and brands will ultimately drive what the metaverse of the future will offer.

Individual creators and brands will ultimately determine the future of the metaverse as opposed to any centralized entity, according to the co-founders of The Sandbox.

On Nov. 3, the team behind the Ethereum-based metaverse announced on X it had made The Sandbox Map accessible to everyone, where “LAND” owners can publish their own experiences without needing to partake in an application process (which was previously required).

THE METAVERSE IS NOW OPEN

Starting today, LAND owners in The Sandbox can instantly publish experiences on the map!

We're accelerating user-generated content to unleash the creative potential of creators like you. Let's build the metaverse together. #UGC #CreatorsDayHK pic.twitter.com/A2E8gNI2it
— The Sandbox (@TheSandboxGame) November 3, 2023

“Now [anyone] can open their experience to the public [and] make it accessible, which will increase the amount of experience and content that people can play and discover on the platform,” Sandbox co-founder Sebastien Borget told Cointelegraph in an earlier Nov. 2 interview during Hong Kong FinTech Week.

#CreatorsDayHK is LIVE!

Livestream all the key events on X or our YouTube channel: https://t.co/83NqKyOTDr

We've got some exciting news that you won't want to miss. Stay tuned to see what's in store for the metaverse! pic.twitter.com/ReUQahbckP
— The Sandbox (@TheSandboxGame) November 3, 2023

The notion that users can create and own content and property in Web3 is at the forefront of Sandbox’s strategy, Borget iterated.

“They discover blockchain not because of the value of the asset, but because they can create content.”

Updates to Game Maker and a new fund

Sandbox said it will also update its Game Maker tool before 2024, its experience-building and testing tool that is set to introduce new gameplay mechanics, templates and social interactions to make content production even easier.

The firm will also “reignite” its new 100 million SAND Game Maker Fund (currently worth $36 million) next year to build on those updates.

Borget said this will drive engagement across a range of industries:

“[It will] drive more engagement, more replayability, more fun and new social interaction as we define the future of music, the future of fashion, sport, entertainment, art and culture on the platform.”

Borget said Game Maker’s tools have simplified the process for new creators to get started:

“Game Maker has been a gateway to bring a new breed of creators that then design new experiences and then over time monetize it by selling on marketplace and introducing their own.”

Meanwhile, Sandbox co-founder and CEO, Arthur Madrid, said the firm has helped connect brands to fans of late by running contests to rebuild New York’s Times Square and architectures in The Walking Dead, among other things.

The firm is working to incorporate multiplayer capabilities which will drive this audience engagement. But Madrid acknowledged the difficulty with integrating multiplayer capabilities in metaverses at scale, particularly on blockchains.

ROYAL FLUSHED Hold your breath and dive in the Sunken District. Find your way through this Bomkus-designed underwater maze and back to the surface.

Dive in TODAY! https://t.co/bK636FFLLW #DrBomkusTrials pic.twitter.com/8Nui4b1UKU
— The Sandbox (@TheSandboxGame) November 1, 2023

Over 400 partners have signed up to The Sandbox, including Warner Music Group, Ubisoft, Gucci Vault, Snoop Dogg, Invincible and Adidas.

Looking ahead however, Borget acknowledged that metaverse adoption won’t take off until more defined use cases are established in virtual worlds, as incoming users are ultimately looking for memorable experiences to gravitate towards.

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Reddit collectible avatars onboard nearly 10M into the crypto, NFT space

May 29, 2023 Coin Telegraph

avatars

The popular social platform is about to hit a big milestone in terms of collectible avatar holders after launching "Reddit NFTs" in July 2022.

Social platform Reddit is close to breaching 10 million holders of its collectible avatars, or “Reddit NFTs,” nearly 11 months after its launch in July 2022.

According to Dune Analytics, there are currently a total of 9,909,465 million Reddit collectible avatar holders. Around 7.7 million of these are identified as single collective avatar holders, or those that do not have multiple wallets.

Reddit Collectible Avatars - Source: Reddit

Reddit launched a collectible avatar marketplace on the Ethereum scaling network Polygon in July 2022. NFTs in the customizable collection have been designed by independent artists and Reddit content creators.

Avatar holders surged following the collection’s launch but reached a plateau at around 3 million in November. However, there has been a big growth spurt in 2023 with the number of wallets tripling over the past six months.

Since the beginning of 2023, the number of Reddit avatar holders has increased by 80%. The Reddit Collectible Avatars market capitalization is $38.4 million and there are 13.7 million NFT avatars in the collection.

Furthermore, there have been 303,033 total sales with a cumulative sales volume of $32.6 million, according to the data.

*RCA holders over time. Source:* *Dune Analytics*

On May 28, Redditor “ContextMelodic4212” congratulated the platform on the achievement but commented that bot activity may be responsible for some of that growth.

“Actually there are some issues here and there with Avatars getting scooped or botted by some, it's far from being perfect. However, I can't think of a better use case for this technology!”

Recently on May 26, Reddit announced support for gaming giant Ubisoft’s Rabbids NFT collection. Redditors can claim the free Rabbids NFT avatars for their profiles on the platform, and they are being scooped up fast.

Who knew a plunger was just what your Avatar needed? In partnership with Ubisoft, we’re bringing @RabbidsOfficial to Reddit! Get your Rabbids #RedditCollectibles now.https://t.co/e81Zn0Yr6S pic.twitter.com/1lKFUU0rrJ
— Reddit (@Reddit) May 25, 2023

Rabbids originated as a spin-off video game from the Rayman video game series, 2006's Rayman Raving Rabbids. Ubisoft was the first major video game publisher to release in-game NFT items in December 2021. It launched the Rabbids NFT avatar collection for the Metaverse game The Sandbox in February.

During an AMA with r/India subreddit on May 25, Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal said he was a big fan of Reddit NFTs, adding:

“Reddit is perhaps the only well-known Big Tech company who has cracked the NFT code and they are able to drive a lot of engagement with Reddit NFTs.”

He suggested that having a secondary marketplace and an artist launchpad “could be some great additions to take Reddit NFTs to the next level.”

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Nifty News: Assassin’s Creed unveils ‘smart collectibles’, MechaFightClub winds down and more ….

May 13, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Assassin's Creed

NFT game MechaFightClub is shutting down due to the regulatory uncertainty in the U.S., while Yuga Lab’s new CEO has snapped up a BAYC NFT well over the floor price.

Assassin’s Creed, one of Ubisoft’s most popular gaming franchises, has announced a series of customizable “smart collectibles” featuring both digital and physical components.

The collectibles are set to drop on May 16 and consist of a transparent 3D-printed cube with a character figure inside, along with a Polygon-based NFT called a “Digital Soul” which provides proof of ownership.

End/ . . . It's that simple!

Our goal is to add new layers of collecting to allow fans to truly showcase their personality and rarity tastes. Digital identifiers pairing with physical identifiers will allow for this ✔️

Make sure you get involved with our project!
— Assassin's Creed Smart Collectibles (@ACSmartCollect) May 11, 2023

Fans of the series will need to purchase a Digital Soul NFT, which comes in two tiers of rarity. From there, they can then customize their character with different poses, outfits and weapons and have the final product shipped to their door.

The amount of available customizations is of course tied to the level or rarity the person buys.

*Assassin's Creed collectibles. Source: smartcollectibles.io*

The “smart” aspect of the collectibles comes via an embedded near-field communication (NFC) chip placed on the 3D cube, and an IRL companion app.

Upon scanning or tapping the physical collectibles, users can access the app to complete achievements and earn various “items, recipes, loot boxes” and other utilities.

The collection is part of a broader project in partnership with Integral Reality Labs which the Assassin's Creed team describes as a “co-reality platform.”

The platform will soon have a marketplace to trade Assassin's Creed collectibles, and it is also set to host the sale of the “Pieces of Eden Pass” NFTs.

The collection consists of 1,500 tokens that offer access to exclusive perks and experiences, along with a “unique limited edition” Digital Soul NFT.

". . no greater glory than fighting to find the truth.”

Discover iconic gear sets, personalities, and challenges that will test your mind more than the blade. Are you ready to explore deeper ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/TTtBmiQqhG
— Assassin's Creed Smart Collectibles (@ACSmartCollect) May 12, 2023

MechaFightClub ‘indefinitely pausing’ operations

Irreverent Labs’ Solana-based NFT game MechaFightClub announced on May 12 that it will be ‘indefinitely pausing’ due to the lack of regulatory clarity in the U.S.

It’s time for Sol 4 Cocks: we’re repurchasing your Mechabots and putting MFC into indefinite hibernation. This was a tough decision.

For more details, visit our official announcement here: https://t.co/TPfb1VP2C7 pic.twitter.com/6YnO4g50T4
— MechaFightClub (@mechafightclub) May 11, 2023

The game was intended to revolve around NFT and artificial intelligence-based fighting robot chickens, however the project has cited concerns with launching a blockchain-based in-game economy in the current regulatory climate.

*Robot fighting chicken. Source: MechaFightClub*

As part of the shutting down process, from May 15 MechaFightClub will start buying back the NFTs it sold to the community for 18 Solana (SOL).

“We are an American company, and a lack of clarity is making it difficult for blockchain companies to operate here. In the current regulatory confusion, we simply couldn’t create an in-game economy without concern about the regulatory ramifications,” the firm stated in an announcement.

New Yuga Labs CEO buys BAYC NFT well above floor price

Yuga Labs’ new CEO Daniel Alegre has splashed 50 Ether (ETH) on Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT #3575.

Th purchase on May 10 equated to $90,000, well above the floor price at the time of $78,000 or 44 ETH. The move indicates a strong show of faith from the CEO in Yuga Lab’s major project, considering the BAYC floor price has declined from 75 ETH to 44.5 ETH over the past 90 days.

To my kids: meet a new member of the family. Proud to Ape into BAYC #3575.
Does #ApeFollowApe still work? pic.twitter.com/OSH8jsVDXS
— Daniel Alegre (@dalegre) May 10, 2023

Alegre joined Yuga Labs on April 1 and he is the former president and chief operating officer of gaming firm Activision Blizzard.

As part of the announcement in April, the CEO stated that “the company’s pipeline of products, partnerships, and IP represents a massive opportunity to define the metaverse.“

Pudgy Penguins raises $9M

Just a few days after signing a Hollywood representation deal with WME, Blue chip NFT project Pudgy Penguins has closed a $9 million seed funding round.

The round was led by early-stage investment firm 1kx, with participation from Big Brain Holdings, Kronos Research and the Founders of LayerZero Labs to name a few.

The funds will be used to scale the project’s intellectual property and expand its offerings within its community and ecosystem.

“We are thrilled to be able to continue the strong momentum we’ve built over the last year, even in a bear market,” noted Pudgy Penguins head of investor relations Vi Powils, as part of a May 9 announcement.

We’re not waiting for mass adoption…

We’re creating it. May 18th. pic.twitter.com/FjCS0WgTtd
— Pudgy Penguins (@pudgypenguins) May 7, 2023

Other Nifty News

South Korean tech company LG Electronics has filed a patent application for its blockchain-based Smart TV that allows users to trade NFTs.

On May 10, American business magnate Elon Musk tweeted a meme created using imagery from the Milady NFT collection. Shortly thereafter, the floor price of Milady NFTs spiked from 3.8 Ether (ETH) to as high as 7.3 ETH before falling to 5.69 ETH apiece at the time of publication.

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Ubisoft cools off on NFTs and blockchain, says it’s in ‘research mode’

September 13, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot appears to be walking back some of the company's enthusiasm for NFTs, months after receiving strong pushback for its NFT project Quartz.

Yves Guillemot, the CEO of French gaming giant Ubisoft appears to have cooled the rhetoric behind the company’s NFT gaming project Quartz, noting in a recent interview that it was merely in “research mode” concerning Web3 tech integrations.

It’s a relatively different take from other Ubisoft execs in the past, including chief financial officer Frédérick Duguet who in October stated that blockchain integrations will enable users to own and earn content and the firm wants to “be one of the key players here.”

During a Sept. 10 interview with gamesindustry.biz, Guillemot appears to be walking some of those comments back, emphasizing that at this stage, Ubisoft is primarily looking to discover how NFTs can be applied to games and whether they will benefit gamers or not.

"We are very much on cloud, on the new generation of voxels, and we're looking at all the Web3 capabilities. We tested a few things recently that are giving us more information on how it can be used and what we should do in the universe of video games,” he said, adding that:

“So we are testing ground with some games, and we'll see if they really answer the players' needs. But we are still in research mode, I would say."

Ubisoft announced its first foray into NFTs in December, after launching a beta version of Ubisoft Quartz, aimed at offering gamers playable NFTs that could be utilized in games such as Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint.

The move was met with strong pushback from some members of the NFT-hating gamer community, with some accusing the firm of “milking” every cent possible out of its popular game franchises by introducing NFTs into the mix.

Nicolas Pouard, the vice president at Ubisoft's Strategic Innovations Lab defended the company’s NFT efforts in January, stating: "I think gamers don't get what a digital secondary market can bring to them."

Reflecting on Ubisoft’s NFT rollout, Guillemot says the firm ultimately didn’t communicate the company’s approach to the project effectively enough.

"We probably were not good at saying we are researching," he said, adding that "we should have said we were working on it, and when we have something that gives you a real benefit, we'll bring it to you.”

The Ubisoft CEO was also questioned about the environmental impacts of blockchain tech, something which is often highlighted by gamers who generally confuse energy-intensive Proof-of-Work (PoW) chains as the industry standard for all projects.

Guillemot noted that while he’s “very cautious” about the environmental impacts of the sector, he’s optimistic that these issues will be ironed out over time.

"Like so many things, at the beginning it's not as good as it could be, but like other new technologies they will find the right way."

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Updates to Game Maker and a new fund

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