Ubisoft exec defends NFTs, saying players ‘don’t get it’
A Ubisoft executive has said the company will proceed with its plans to implement non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in its games, claiming players just “don’t get it”.
In an interview with Australian financial comparison site Finder, Ubisoft’s Strategic Innovations Lab VP Nicolas Pouard defended the publisher’s plans to add NFTs to its games, despite huge player backlash.
“Well, it was a reaction we were expecting,” Pouard said of the large negative response to its Quartz NFT system. “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.”
Pouard continued to imply throughout the interview that the player backlash was due to their inability to understand the benefits of NFTs, rather than any legitimate concerns about the scheme.
“I think gamers don’t get what a digital secondary market can bring to them,” Pouard said. “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.
“So, it’s really, for them. It’s really beneficial. But they don’t get it for now.”
When asked about the news that Stalker 2 developer GSC Game World had u-turned on its NFT plans following player backlash, Pouard again put it down to a lack of player comprehension.
“It’s saddening to see there’s still some resistance based on misunderstanding,” he said. “But I’m not sure we can really compare what Stalker 2 was trying to do with
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