Ubisoft Introduces Quartz, A Platform For Playable NFTs

Ubisoft has announced its first step into bringing NFTs and blockchain technology into its games with the beta release of the Ubisoft Quartz platform. Starting on December 9, 12, and 15, Ghost Recon Breakpoint for PC will receive the first round of Digits, Ubisoft’s name for playable, in-game NFTs.

Quartz is a mobile app that will facilitate the connection between the goods in your digital wallets and Ubisoft’s games that will use the NFT cosmetics called Digits. It’s considered a test of the technology right now, but eventually, Ubisoft’s goal is to have these Digits move from game to game, allowing players to use and show off their unique gear outside of Breakpoint.

Digits are purely cosmetic items, with Ubisoft releasing them for free in limited quantities. Currently, the only game supporting Digits will be Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint on PC. Digits will be releasing unique skins for your character, with serial numbers visible on each item. There aren’t any boosts or buffs given to characters equipped with the Digit skins. However, Ubisoft does want to one day attach personal achievements and in-game stats to the skins so the actions of the players who used them will carry forward to subsequent owners of the Digit.

Ubisoft has put restrictions on the claims of these limited items. As a baseline, players can only acquire Digits if they are 18 years of age or older and have reached XP level 5 in Breakpoint, ensuring not just anyone can snag them upon release. The number of Digits per person, each Edition and unique item is also restricted. Some Digit drops, including two of the initial three, will feature other game-time play requirements to retrieve the items. The first items being given away for free by Ubisoft include skins for a gun, pants, and a helmet.

NFTs, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain technology are undoubtedly contentious topics at the moment, specifically considering the abundant energy consumption and the potential large scale negative environmental impact these can produce. The company’s current position on the use of this tech was made explicit in our presentation to the Strategic Innovation Lab members at Ubisoft. Therefore, Quartz and Digits are using the Tezos blockchain for these digital items, which is using the Proof of Stake method of verifying transactions and recording them to the blockchain ledger. Ubisoft states that Quartz transactions are 1 million times cheaper than Bitcoin transactions. This is quite a difference when compared with other crypto-tied goods. 

Ubisoft considers the first Digit drop an experiment. But the company has been trying to achieve this goal for almost four years. In that time, the Ubisoft Strategic Innovation Lab team has worked with a variety of blockchain-related companies like the developers of NFT game Axie Infinity to figure out the most appropriate way to implement NFTs into Ubisoft’s games. In this time, the Innovation Lab worked on concepts like interoperability of NFTs between games by building the game One Shot League, which uses digital items originally made for another game called Sorare, among other experiments.

The company wants Quartz to be a welcoming experience for consumers new to crypto-tied digital goods, where people can create their first wallets and collect Digits, NFTs, or other cryptos. The app will even set consumers up with a wallet to hold the first Digits they may claim – if they’re quick enough to get one, that is. It’s also worth noting that if you’re not comfortable using or supporting blockchain technology, no one has to participate in using Quartz or Digits to play Ghost Recon Breakpoint, as both are completely optional.

While I remain skeptical of cryptocurrency, NFTs and the general nature of it all, Ubisoft’s presentation of Quartz and Digits with Ubisoft is thoughtful about the main issues that the technology presents. It is important that I ensure the transaction platform does not cause harm to the environment. This will allow me to consider the technology more seriously. The other is the sometimes scummy, sometimes scammy nature of NFT creation and sales culture, an aspect that isn’t really a problem here since the items are essentially free from Ubisoft outside of the time spent in-game. Quartz’s approach to NFTs is more responsible than what I expected from an AAA publisher/game developer. It’ll be interesting to see how this is all received by the Breakpoint player base, and how or where Ubisoft decides to expand its Digits next.