Just as it started to feel like the NFT hustle had gone theway of the dodo, Ubisoft pulled an NFT game out of its back pocket, with some big names, such asRayman, at the helm.
This new NFT game is titledCaptain Laserhawk: The G.A.M.E.and doesn’t have much going for it other than its many mindless ties to Ubisoft IPs.Captain Laserhawk is tied toFar Cry 3: Blood Dragonanda Netflix seriesof the same name, which actually scored a decent critical reception on release.
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The game itself is a top-down,old-school arcade actiontitle that, to be fair, would have done just fine with the Far Cry and Rayman IPs holding it down. But, thisentire NFT grifthas once again tainted something otherwise unremarkable with the grubby fingers of corporate greed.
This is all a part of the sameplan Ubisoft devisedyears ago, back when blockchain and NFTs wouldn’t get you immediately scorned by critics. They have nowrepeatedly triedto get the general public stoked on the little digital tokens that no one wants, always getting shunned by the fans they pander to.
If you go to theCaptain Laserhawk: The G.A.M.E. website, you’ll find a decent landing page advertising the new game.But before anything catches your attention, you’ll get a little popup telling you to “buy your ID card now!”These NFT ID cards, by the way, are needed to play the game.
When clicking on this link, which is prominently displayed all over the website, you’ll be forwarded to an NFT buying website, as shown in the image above. The page is filled with wallet connections, the current crypto market prices, and little cyberpunk-looking cards that feel entirelydisconnected from the gameitself.
Although I refuse to do so myself, ajournalist at Kotakusacrificed their sanity by going down the Captain Laserhawk NFT rabbit hole. They went through the entire process of checking the marketplace and later installing the game, only to find out that all 10,000 cards available had already been bought.
This means thatthe game Ubisoft is branding as finally out can not be played until cards are refreshed in 2025.
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The biggest reminder is that this is supposed to be a video game. Yet Ubisoft has notably hidden what the game looks like, with the website homepage showing only a screenshot or two of actual gameplay.
Thegameplay itself is unremarkablebut looks fine. But really, that’s the most infuriating part.Instead of releasing a mediocre top-down action game, getting their 7/10 score, and moving the team somewhere else, this became another step forward in Ubisoft’s crusade of NFTs.
The point of microtransactions in gaming is that a casual audience can financially support games they enjoy. Yet once companies discovered that 1% of consumers are cash whales loading hundreds of dollars into loot boxes or XP boosters for single-player games that take too long to beat, they couldn’t help themselves.
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With NFTs, Ubisoft can directly funnel the cash of the top 1% of gamers into their wallets.It’s all crypto, blockchain, and rare NFT collectibles, each as shiny as the firstholographic Charizardyou pulled out of a Pokemon pack.
Honestly, where we go from here isn’t too optimistic. Although the NFT grift has mostly crashed, and the general public is aware of the terms rug pull and pump & dump, the people making decisions are often in an entirely separate world. With all 10,000 NFTs being sold, Ubisoft is already cashing out on NFTs.
And the worst part? Through this sinking ship of NFTs, they’re putting beloved characters like Rayman on the frontlines.
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