Tezos Jumps Following Partnership With Gaming Developer

Open-source proof of stake blockchain Tezos (XTZ) received a boost this week from a partnership with the gaming company behind hits like Assassin’s Creed, Tom Clancy, and Far Cry.

In a press release, French video game company Ubisoft announces a partnership with Tezos to create Ubisoft Quartz, a platform for playable and energy-efficient non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in AAA games.

The new platform utilizes a type of NFT that Ubisoft calls ‘Digits’. According to Ubisoft, Digits are “a new way to experience cosmetic items, combining the fun of playing with AAA quality assets and the thrill of owning NFTs that represent unique, collectible pieces of Ubisoft game worlds.”

To operate the NFTs, Ubisoft Quartz will leverage Tezos’ consensus mechanics, primarily for its energy efficiency.

"Energy-efficiency is a key requirement to propel blockchain technology into a future where it can be widely used by millions of players. We chose Tezos because of its original Proof-of-Stake network and its leadership on clean NFTs,” says Didier Genevois, Blockchain Technical Director at Ubisoft. “One transaction on their network uses the same amount of energy as streaming 30 seconds of video, while the previous generation of blockchain networks can consume the same energy required for one year of non-stop streaming. This low carbon footprint means that both our developers and our players can prioritize innovation without compromising sustainability.”

Nicolas Pouard, Ubisoft’s VP of strategic innovation lab, said that the company has been looking at integrating blockchain technology into its gaming infrastructure for some time, and highlighted its importance for the latest project.

“Our long-term efforts led us to understand how blockchain’s decentralized approach could genuinely make players stakeholders of our games, in a way that is also sustainable for our industry, placing back into their hands the value they generate through the time they spend, the items they buy or the content they create online. Ubisoft Quartz is the first building block in our ambitious vision for developing a true metaverse. And it can’t come to life without overcoming blockchain’s early-form limitations for gaming, including scalability and energy consumption.”

Tezos responded to the news with a quick 44% pump from about $4.09 to $5.93, and has since began to give up some gains as the overall crypto markets turn red.

While crypto investors view the integration of blockchain and gaming as bullish for the space, many in the gaming community have been critical of it. Ubisoft decided to delist the announcement video on YouTube after being hit with a 96% dislike ratio and a host of negative comments. Although YouTube got rid of dislikes, there are plug-ins available to view them.

Many gamers believe that NFTs are bad for the environment, push a false sense of both ownership and decentralization, are subject to market manipulation, and are generally a breeding ground for unnecessary money-grabs.