Ubisoft Announces Plans To Develop Play-To-Earn, Blockchain And NFT Games

French game developer and publisher Ubisoft has shared its plans to be the key player in the industry when it comes to developing projects based on the play-to-earn concept.

Blockchain technology and NFTs have begun disrupting the gaming industry. Though Valve previously removed blockchain and NFTs on Steam, other platforms like Epic Games have become more welcoming.

Now it looks like Ubisoft wants to take part in the action. The company did not only invest in Animoca Brands, a blockchain gaming company, but also announced its plans to integrate blockchain technology into its video games releasing in the future. It is worth noting, however, that the company's plans remain vague to this day.

Play-to-earn is a hazy concept that allows game developers to give away cryptocurrency in exchange for playing a game. Ubisoft Chief Executive Officer Yves Guillemot shared more about this at the company's most recent earnings call.

The executive, who believes blockchain is "very attractive for the long term," said the company is interested in creating digital economies.

"As you see, this industry is changing regularly with lots of new revolutions happening. We consider blockchain one of those revolutions. It will imply more play-to-earn that will enable more players to actually earn content, own content, and we think it's going to grow the industry quite a lot," Guillemot said during the earnings call.

"So we have been working with lots of small companies going on the blockchain, and we're starting to have a good know-how on how we can impact the industry. We want to be one of the key players there," the CEO added.

The company aims to employ a new method of monetization, which Ubisoft Chief Financial Officer Frederick Duguet referred to as play-to-earn.

"[Blockchain] will enable more play-to-earn that will enable more players to actually earn content, own content, and we think it's going to grow the industry quite a lot. We've been working with lots of small companies going on blockchain and we're starting to have a good know-how on how it can impact the industry, and we want to be one of the key players here," Duguet stated.

Unknown to many, Ubisoft has been tinkering with blockchain for years. The company's Strategic Innovation Lab, a division looking into new technology like machine learning, AI crypto and blockchain, has been investigating blockchain since 2018.