Ubisoft Invests In Crypto Startup, Has Play-to-Earn Plans
The French gaming giant discussed its blockchain plans in an earnings call.
Key Takeaways
- Game company Ubisoft discussed its plans for cryptocurrency in an earnings call that took place this week.
- The company has invested in blockchain startup Animoca Brands; it also plans to create play-to-earn features.
- Ubisoft has previously served as a node operator on public blockchains and created its own NFT series.
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French game developer Ubisoft discussed its plans for cryptocurrency in an earnings call that took place this week.
Ubisoft Has Invested in Animoca
During the call, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said his firm has invested in Animoca Brands, a company best known in the crypto community for operating the Ethereum game The Sandbox.
Guillemot also acknowledged one of Animoca’s racing projects titled REVV Motosport, which includes several games that use the REVV cryptocurrency as play-to-earn rewards in-game.
On Oct. 20, Animoca announced that it had raised $65 million from Ubisoft and other investors, bringing its valuation to $2.2 billion.
Ubisoft’s Entrepreneur’s Lab page lists other companies it has previously supported, including the dApp cloud service Aleph.im and the game company Horizon Blockchain Games.
Play-to-Earn Is Under Consideration
In addition to investing in startups, Ubisoft itself could also use cryptocurrency for in-game transactions. Ubisoft CFO Frédérick Duguet suggested that play-to-earn cryptocurrency rewards could be used in Ubisoft’s own games.
Duguet said that blockchain technology will allow users to “earn content [and] own content.” He added that the company is “starting to have a good know-how on how it can impact the industry” thanks to its earlier partnerships with small blockchain companies, and said that Ubisoft “wants to be one of the key players here.”
Ubisoft has previously leveraged blockchain by launching collectible NFTs for properties such as Rabbids and One Shot League. It has also served as a node operator for blockchains such as Tezos and Ultra. However, it has not used crypto transactions to monetize its mainstream games to any significant degree.
The news comes just after Steam announced a ban on games featuring cryptocurrencies and NFTs, and after Epic Games’ assertion that it was open to the technology.
Disclaimer: At the time of writing this author held less than $100 of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and altcoins.
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