“I still don’t really understand the ‘problem’ being solved here”
Can you explain the Ubisoft NFT strategy debacle? No? I don’t think the company can either, and its own employees are questioning it, according to a report from Kotaku.
A little over a week ago, Ubisoft got on the bandwagon and unveiled their plans for Ghost Recon NFTs. Immediately the gaming community lashed out, amid all of the other things going on at Ubisoft, and emphatically said “uh, no.” The Ubisoft Quartz video showcasing NFTs was delisted (and has still not returned to their general video list). It was also ratioed, as the video has 210,894 views and only 1.6K likes, with a previously mined amount of 15.4K [now over 40K] dislikes. It stands to reason that the reaction has been poor from the outside. But it’s also been met with confusion and trepidation from the inside.
According to the report, gathered via the internal Ubisoft social media site MANA, employees are wondering why NFTs are being injected into their games and potentially sullying their reputation. One stated, “Is it really worth the (extremely) negative publicity this will cause?” Another espouses “I normally try to stay positive on our announcements but this one is upsetting.” One employee questions why “artificial scarcity and egoism” need to be put into art.
Ubisoft Paris French union Solidaires Informatique is also supporting the negative reaction to the Ubisoft NFT strategy, stating that NFTs bring “nothing” to the video game arena, while questioning all of the classic issues NFTs bring to the table in general.
It’s a sticky situation. Investors and money handlers at the top see this as essential; but the company’s own employees that Ubisoft benefits from, and the consumers the concept is supposed to allegedly serve, have responded with their claws out. It’s going to get worse before it gets better, unless the bubble pops or this is eventually regulated.
