Ubisoft, the renowned creator of successful gaming franchises like Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry, has become a node validator on the XPLA blockchain. This move, facilitated by Ubisoft’s Strategic Innovation Lab, signifies the company’s commitment to contributing to the XPLA network in addition to its primary validation responsibilities.
As part of the partnership, Ubisoft will actively participate in governance proposal decisions, as stated in a press release from XPLA. XPLA is an open-source blockchain built on the Tendermint platform, designed to facilitate the transition from Web2 to Web3 gaming. Its mainnet was launched in August 2022, with the primary objective of empowering players in a “play-to-own” gaming model.
The XPLA blockchain hosts popular games such as The Walking Dead: All-Stars and Summoners War: Chronicles. This collaboration with Ubisoft is a significant milestone for the network, as highlighted in a blog post by XPLA.
Ubisoft, headquartered in Rennes, France, is one of the largest gaming companies globally. Its games have received numerous awards and collectively sold approximately 800 million copies. With a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, it is the second-largest gaming company in Europe, after Poland’s CD Projekt Red ($2.99 billion).
The company has been an early investor in Web3 and blockchain technology, evident from its 2021 manifesto outlining its plans in these spaces, emphasizing player agency and ownership. Additionally, Ubisoft is a major investor in Animoca Brands, a blockchain games developer based in Hong Kong.
Blockchain gaming is gaining popularity as the Web3 ecosystem expands. While it has yet to fully deliver on its promises of decentralizing gaming assets and transforming the perception of nonfungible tokens (NFTs), the involvement of major gaming companies like Ubisoft and Square Enix indicates a promising future for the sector.
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