Ubisoft has quietly released an NFT game by the unfortunate name of Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles. Yes, you read that right, and no, you haven’t blacked out and woken up in the year 2022.
The tactical RPG was released last week as a free-to-play PC game, but you’d be forgiven for missing its launch completely, because Ubisoft doesn’t seem like it’s particularly eager to market the game.
There’s no mention of its launch on the studio’s X (formerly Twitter) feed from around launch day, nor does it appear on Ubisoft’s YouTube channel, despite the fact that this is a game that was developed in-house by Ubisoft and not farmed out to a third party.
As noted by IGN, Champions Tactics‘ NFT system comes in the form of buyable figurines, which you can technically also craft using in-game currency. This being an NFT game, though, I’m assuming its in-game economy will incentivize you to buy NFTs.
According to IGN, figurines (i.e. characters) in Champions Tactics‘ NFT marketplace range from around $7 to an eye-watering $63,000, although whether the seller actually expects players to pay that much is another matter.
You haven’t turned over two pages at once here, either; this is absolutely a full-blown, honest-to-goodness NFT game launching in the year of our lord 2024.
Of course, Ubisoft isn’t the only company that’s still got some skin in the NFT game. In August, Sony launched its own blockchain for NFT and play-to-earn games, and last year, Sega declared its intention to create an NFT Web3 game based on an “immensely popular” franchise.
Still, NFTs don’t exactly feel like the place Ubisoft needs to be in right now, especially given that the company is having a pretty rough year so far thanks to investor threats, major game delays, and a lawsuit, among other things.
That’s not to mention the very public failure of Skull & Bones, the long-awaited pirate MMO that limped out of the gate back in February to a lukewarm reception, not least from us.
Whether or not Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles (and don’t blame yourself if you immediately forget that name after you close this article) goes anywhere remains to be seen, but if you want to, you can check it out here.
