In a recent interview with Finder, Ubisoft’s VP of Strategic Innovations Lab Nicolas Pouard talked about how players aren’t able to grasp the concept of NFTs and its benefits. During the interview, he also said that the negative reaction to Ubisoft Quartz was more or less expected.
Pouard says that players aren’t just able to understand the benefits of this digital secondary market. According to him, Ubisoft is betting on the future with NFTs, and wants players to gain something with this- for instance, selling their in-game items once they are done with a particular game.
“I think gamers don’t get what a digital secondary market can bring to them,” said Pouard. “For now, because of the current situation and context of NFTs, gamers really believe it’s first destroying the planet, and second just a tool for speculation. But what we [at Ubisoft] are seeing first is the end game. The end game is about giving players the opportunity to resell their items once they’re finished with them or they’re finished playing the game itself.”
Pouard also talked about how the executives at Ubisoft were more or less expecting the negative reaction Ubisoft Quartz and its NFTs received from fans and the press. He also says that Ubisoft will keep pushing for more initiatives such as this with a hope that players will understand them.
“Well, it was a reaction we were expecting,” he said. “We know it’s not an easy concept to grasp. But Quartz is really just a first step that should lead to something bigger. Something that will be more easily understood by our players. That’s the way we think about it and why we will keep experimenting. We will keep releasing features and services around this first initiative. And our belief is that, piece by piece, the puzzle will be revealed and understood by our players. We hope they will better understand the value we offer them.”
Despite the massive backlash against Ubisoft’s announcements, other big-name publishers such as the likes of Square Enix have gotten increasingly interested in explore this side of gaming.