Ubisoft have announced a new platform called Ubisoft Quartz that will allow players to acquire Digits, the first NFTs available in a AAA game yet, starting with Ghost Recon Breakpoint. The Quartz beta will roll out later this week for select regions. Breakpoint players on PC will be the first to receive random free Digits drops thereafter.

Ubisoft Quartz will become available this Thursday, 9 December for the USA, Canada, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Australia, and Brazil. However, it’s not available in South Africa yet. Ghost Recon Breakpoint players who use Ubisoft Connect via PC will start receiving free Digits drops on 9 December, 12 December, and 15 December as a reward for early adopters.

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Ubisoft detailed how these Digits will work via the Quartz platform:

• Uniqueness: Each Digit is a unique collectible that features its own serial number for others to see in-game, also keeping track of its current and previous owners for years to come, making players an integral part of the game’s history.
• Playability: Digits are high-quality in-game collectibles with active utility value. As playable cosmetic items, Digits provide players the ability to personalise their experience and complete their missions with style.
• Control: Each Digit comes with a certificate of ownership stored on blockchain, a decentralised, community-driven technology independent from Ubisoft, which grants players more control than ever. With Digits, items are no longer bound to a player’s game inventory since they can be put on sale for other eligible players to acquire on third-party platforms outside of the Ubisoft ecosystem.

Of course, the discourse surrounding NFTs in video games has been a controversial topic since it was announced, with many for and against it. It looks like Ubisoft are officially the first gaming publishers to implement NFTs in their AAA games. Ghost Recon Breakpoint seems like a test platform for Quartz, though it’s possible Ubisoft will take this idea to their numerous other IPs in the future.

As a side note, only players above the age of 18 will be able to access Quartz. Additionally, Ubisoft is also touting Digits as being “energy efficient.” Didier Genevois, Blockchain Technical Director at Ubisoft, explains:

“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. 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 prioritise innovation without compromising sustainability.”

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Source: Ubisoft Quartz (via Wccftech)