Ubisoft thinks players don’t like NFTs because they ‘don’t get it’

techradar.com:

A Ubisoft executive says the publisher's scheme to integrate non-fungible tokens (NFTs) into its games received backlash because players simply “don’t get it”.

Speaking to Finder, Nicolas Pouard, VP at Ubisoft’s Strategic Innovations Lab, said Ubisoft would continue rolling out the Ubisoft Quartz platform to implement NFTs into its game, blaming its poor reception on the misunderstanding of players.

“It was a reaction we were expecting. We know it's not an easy concept to grasp,” Pouard said. “But Quartz is really just a first step that should lead to something bigger. Something that will be more easily understood by our players.”

“I think gamers don't get what a digital secondary market can bring to them,” he added. “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."

Ubisoft, though, according to Pouard, is more concerned with the “end game” and letting players resell items.

“So, it's really for them. It's really beneficial. But they don't get it for now.”

Pouard suggests Ubisoft’s next move is to “make sure what [they’re] doing will make even more sense to gamers”, doubling down on the idea that it is players’ misunderstanding of the technology that’s led to the backlash, rather than players’ concerns over the platform’s impact.

Elsewhere in the interview, he likens the potential for players earning money using NFTs to the possibility for games to teach them history and soft skills.

“We're interested in play-to-earn. For us it's the same logic to what we're doing today,” he says. “So, we are trying to think of Ubisoft games as a place where your experience can provide the most value possible. Meaning, there are