Yesterday, Ubisoft announced that its first Web3 game, ‘Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles,’ will launch on October 23rd. The game will debut on HOME Verse, the gaming ecosystem on Layer 2 blockchain Oasys.
Champions Tactics is a PC role-playing game where players engage in player-versus-player battles. Three ‘Champions’ make up a player’s team, with each Champion a digital collectible with varied traits. There are 75,000 Champions total, and Ubisoft offered them as a free mint back in July. In addition, players can create Champions using a system called ‘The Forge,’ resulting in characters with different traits.
Nicolas Pouard, VP of Ubisoft’s Strategic Innovation Lab, said in a statement that the company aimed to have the Web3 technology fade into the background, allowing players to immerse themselves in the fun and strategy of the game. With The Forge, Ubisoft is recreating the joy of playing with physical toys and miniatures, bringing that excitement into the digital realm.
Ubisoft announced it was working on Champions Tactics back in the summer of 2023. To date, the X account for the game has amassed more than 107,000 followers and the Discord for the game has over 50,000 members. The first mint for the game, called ‘The Warlords,’ sold out in under 20 minutes, and the mint for the playable ‘Champions’ broke records.
Sylvain Loe-Mie, executive producer for the game, said in a statement that the company’s focus is on delivering a high-quality gaming experience. They are not interested in another “GameFi” project, but rather a deeply engaging and immersive game. An aim is to give players the ability to own their assets and shape the future of the game.
Ubisoft Experiments in Web3
Although the pending launch of Ubisoft’s first Web3 game is big news, perhaps it should come as no surprise: The company has been experimenting with crypto technology for years. As other publications have reported, Ubisoft launched a series of NFTs for its ‘Ghost Recon: Breakpoint’ in 2021 and has another blockchain game pending. Here are some of our stories involving Ubisoft and the next iteration of the internet.
- Ubisoft is teaming up with Abritrum for a blockchain game based on Captain Laserhawk
- The company has partnered with Animoca Brands for a Web3 gaming push
- It has also partnered with Web3 game giant Immutable to enhance crypto gaming
- It launched ‘smart collectibles’ for its Assassin’s Creed game
- Ubisoft partnered with The Sandbox to bring Rabbids into the metaverse
That, on top of the two Champions Tactics mints, which broke records and created hype in the Web3 community. It’s easy to see why degens are excited as well. A major game studio, Ubisoft’s titles include the aforementioned ‘Assassin’s Creed,’ ‘Far Cry,’ ‘Just Dance,’ and ‘Tom Clancy’ games. It is one of the only game studios to stick around in Web3 after pushback from mainstream gamers.
Time will tell if Champions Tactics is successful, but given the amount of time Ubisoft has spent producing this game, we think there’s a good chance it will be.