Three years ago, Ubisoft promised to start producing its own blockchain games. Last week we stealth launched a full-fledged Web3 game called Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles on PC, and now it looks like it's a success.
Champions Tactics is advertised as a “PVP tactical RPG game on PC” and is developed and published by Ubisoft. It includes collectible figures of various warriors from the in-game fantasy world of Grimoria, where players are formed into teams of three and fight in turn-based combat. It's oddly reminiscent of Darkest Dungeon. It's not at all obvious from the trailer that this is a Web3 game, but even a quick look at the game's website or official site will tell you that. X/Twitter page This will become clear soon.
Web3 is introduced as a way to collect figures to fight. When you first start the game, you're given some temporary figures to play with, but eventually you buy real figures, aka NFTs, from other players using in-game gold or cryptocurrency. Or you should create your own figure using the following method: The “Forge” system also requires either in-game currency or cryptocurrency. As of this article, five days after release, the in-game marketplace sells figures ranging from about $7 to a whopping $63,000 for something called “Swift Zealot.” However, just because a figure is listed for that price doesn't mean people are paying that much. The next highest listed champion currently costs around $25,000, with a few more in the thousands of dollars, but most of the high-end ones seem to be capped at around $335.
Champions Tactics is free to download, but you'll need a Ubisoft account and a supported blockchain wallet to actually play. While technically it appears that you can use in-game currency to play the game completely free of charge without involving NFTs, the viability of this strategy is actually limited by the price of powerful characters in the game. It may depend on how it fluctuates over its lifetime. This is a PvP game and there is no PvE beyond the campaign or “training” mode. As such, free-to-play players will inevitably be at the mercy of those willing to participate in the NFT marketplace and spend real money to buy or forge the Absolute. The Greatest Champion — The real dilemma of paying to win.
Another limiting factor when playing Champions Tactics is the age restriction. Ubisoft lists the game as adults only, restricting play to players who have not verified that they are 18 years of age or older. Oddly enough, although Ubisoft uses the ESRB's rating categories, Champions Tactics does not appear in the ESRB's online database, which lists all games with ratings and the reasons why those ratings were issued. IGN has reached out to the ESRB for comment and clarification on what's going on here.
Updated October 30, 2024: An ESRB spokesperson responded to IGN, stating that Ubisoft has not submitted Champions Tactics for rating and that the Adults Only 18+ rating icon in the original launch trailer was “incorrectly included.” “I was there.'' The launch trailer posted on the game's official YouTube channel has been replaced with one without an AO rating. Although companies are not required to have their games evaluated by the ESRB and the process is completely voluntary, all console manufacturers and many retailers and storefronts in the United States require the ESRB to sell games on their platforms. Needs evaluation. Champions Tactics is currently available exclusively from Ubisoft's website. So you can avoid this problem. IGN understands that the AO rating is also featured in at least one online advertisement for the game.
Original story continues below.
Despite the fact that Ubisoft is basically doing exactly what it said it would do, it seems strange that the company is going all-in on Web3 like this right now. Whatever gamers' enthusiasm for NFTs and blockchain may be in 2021, companies like Mojang and Valve have rejected them outright, EA has backed off on its initial enthusiasm, Sega has found it boring, and GameStop's own The complete failure of the initiative resulted in a significant decline. Even Ubisoft's own past efforts with NFTs received little response and have since gone silent.
All of this may explain why Ubisoft has not necessarily been secretive, but not necessarily loudly promoting the game in front of what appears to be a mainstream gaming audience. Champions Tactics was announced in June 2023, and there has been a lot of news about its progress over the past year, primarily reported in outlets focused on web3 and NFT news. But it's not like this game made headlines at Ubisoft Forward or anything like that.
Our common goal is to explore new ways to play while creating more value for players based on empowerment and ownership.
Even the companies that are still pushing this technology are concerned about its frequent scams and use as a scam, its potentially huge environmental impact, and, perhaps most importantly for gaming, whether blockchain technology is a video game in the first place. It still doesn't answer the ongoing concerns of how it's good or helpful to the game. place. To Ubisoft's credit, Ubisoft has previously expressed concerns about the environmental impact of NFTs, and has stated that the blockchain used by Champions Tactics (Oasis) is “environmentally friendly.” ” claims. But fundamentally, Ubisoft's view on this technology seems surprisingly bullish. The vice president of the company's Strategic Innovation Lab seems to think gamers simply “don't get it.” Whether we can get them to “get it” through a game like Champions Tactics remains to be seen.
Prior to publishing this article, we reached out to Ubisoft for comment on the game. We asked them for information about the Adults Only rating and its absence on the ESRB website. We also asked for general comments on why Ubisoft continues to pursue its Web3 strategy and whether they intend to continue doing so in the future. François Bodson, studio director at Ubisoft Paris, responded:
The team within the Ubisoft Paris studio developing Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles has partnered with Ubisoft's Strategic Innovation Lab and Oasys to explore how blockchain will be used to deliver new and innovative gaming experiences to players. I have confirmed that it is. Our common goal is to bring more value to players based on empowerment and ownership, while exploring new ways to play. Champions Tactics offers deep strategic gameplay featuring unique in-game assets and some exciting innovations. These include millions of procedurally generated figures, each with different stats, assets shaped directly by player choices, and similar to physical trading card games, players can It includes an open marketplace where you can build teams on a peer-to-peer basis. For months, we've been working closely with the community through events and beta stages to build and refine champion tactics. We're excited to continue expanding and enhancing the experience together.
Ubisoft as a whole has had a rough few years, overcoming game delays, three layoffs last year, a series of AAA releases that didn't meet expectations, and general investor dissatisfaction. The company recently disbanded the Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown development team and moved the team to work on Beyond Good and Evil 2 (a game released in 2008), with series creator Michelle -Announced that they are considering a new Rayman game in which Ansel will participate. resigned from Ubisoft following reports (which he denied) that he contributed to a toxic workplace within the company. Ubisoft is scheduled to report quarterly results this Wednesday.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter at IGN. You can find her posts at BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Do you have any story tips? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
