Psst. Ubisoft just released a new game. (It has Rayman and NFTs)

You wouldn’t know it from Ubisoft’s Twitter/X feed, their Instagram nor their official company news page, where they may have forgotten to mention it, but the publisher of Assassin’s Creed and Rainbow Six Siege released a new game this week.

It’s called Captain Laserhawk: The G.A.M.E. It’s a top-down multiplayer shooter for PCs, and it’s a spin-off of a spin-off of a spin-off of Far Cry 3.

It even guest stars Ubisoft mascot Rayman.

The likely reason Ubisoft has been so mum is that it’s a Web 3 game, meaning CLTG.A.M.E. uses cryptocurrency and blockchain, those buzz technologies about digital ownership from three years ago.

This isn’t Ubisoft’s first time around the blockchain, but their past Web 3 gaming efforts went a way that’d make you hesitant to talk about the new ones.

Back in 2021, when blockchain gaming was a magnet for millions of dollars of investment into the video game industry, Ubisoft was calling the tech “an evolution of real-life possibilities in digital spaces.” Digital ownership would be transformative, they said. Couldn’t people already buy things in games? Not the really real way the blockchain would enable it, they and other proponents said.

Fans panned Ubisoft’s early crypto gaming foray. In late 2021, the company started offering Web 3 guns and armor in its open-world shooter Ghost Recon Breakpoint, so players could sell those items to other players via the blockchain (which they barely did).

No big deal. Ubisoft was merely “in research mode” for Web 3, company CEO Yves Guillemot would say in September 2022.

It was easy to scoff, but it wasn’t absurd to give them some benefit of the doubt. The open-minded optimist who was familiar with Ubisoft’s past had reason to expect Ubisoft could make something better, maybe even figure this Web 3 gaming thing out.

In the past, when Ubisoft went into research mode involving odd, new tech, they produced some quality games. Ubisoft’s early zeal for the weird Wii U back in the day resulted in a (no snark) smartly-designed game about fighting zombies while managing your backpack on a second screen. They chased the trend of virtual reality gaming and generated a multiplayer game about piloting Star Trek spaceships. They hopped onto the bandwagon of toys-to-life-you-know-like-Skylanders and produced a nifty sci-fi game that, on Switch, doubled as a terrific new Star Fox adventure.

What might Ubisoft cook up for Web 3 gaming, with ample time put into research mode?

I discovered the answer after spending an hour jumping through the hoops needed to play my second* Web 3 game of 2024 (Disclosure: My first entailed a fully sufficient minute or two with the crypto-powered revival of Flappy Bird).

Ubisoft’s Captain Laserhawk: The G.A.M.E. crypto game is, unfortunately, the most basic top-down shooter imaginable.

You are a contestant in a futuristic battle arena. Most kills wins.

Use WASD to move. Move the targeting crosshairs with the mouse. Left click to shoot. Right click to rush-and-stun opponents. Deathmatch and team deathmatch modes available. There’s a weapon/gear/emote locker and a battle pass.

That’s about it, though it’s technically in early access.

I’m not sure many people are playing, because, after three matches yesterday, I became the world’s 10th highest-ranking Captain Laserhawk player–out of a leaderboard showing 78 names (it’s showing 19th of 94 now).

What about the Web 3 parts? Where’s Rayman?

You need an NFT to play – for now, at least. I learned this through Ubisoft’s parallel universe of Captain Laserhawk promotion, which involves a dedicated Twitter feed and some posts on Medium.

On December 11, Ubisoft began offering 10,000 Niji Warrior NFTs. I think I’m a Niji Warrior in this game. The NFT looks like a virtual ID card. Initially, you could grab one of these cards for free (minus Web 3 transaction fees).

Then, between December 16 and 20th, people who own a Niji Warrior NFT ID card can access a virtual photo booth on the official Captain Laserhawk: The G.A.M.E. website (which, naturally, is edenonline.ubisoft.com) and use that to “reveal” the card.

I confess that I missed the free NFT offer. So I had to buy one from the marketplace. I did so this week when I snagged the cheapest one available for .0055 ETH, which Google told me would not break my spending budget. I had never purchased anything crypto-related before, so I got to discover the joys of setting up my very own crypto wallet and then using a plain old Visa card to buy the NFT (total charge: $25.63).

None of this was intuitive, and I don’t get the idea that the Captain Laserhawk experience is designed for people like me who’ve never dipped a toe into crypto nor desired to.

The game’s website informs potential players they need to be 18, live in a part of the world where the game isn’t forbidden. The requirement to connect with a crypto wallet assumes you know what that means and which wallet is worth using. Any failure to set up the wallet, buy the NFT and link everything correctly blocks Captain Laserhawk from loading.

Back to the virtual photo booth part of this: You take your NFT and then reveal it, which means customizing it with a cartoon headshot (based on some selections of favorite aesthetics). You enter a gender, an age and, for some reason, your favorite pro wrestler (options include the real wrestler Kenny Omega and the slightly-not-real “Diamond Dallas Pey’J”).

All these steps introduce scarcity, since the backdrop of any Web 3 project is that it will produce rare things for users to buy and sell. We’re already working from a base of 10,000 user ID Niji Warrior IDs, which are limited at two per account. The photo booth ID process is available for just five days, after which Niji Warrior ID cards are customized randomly rather than by player choice.

The push here is to get in early and set up something in a way that would make it stand out in the marketplace. Once you start playing, according to one of the game’s Medium posts, your progress in the game will further alter the card, potentially making it even more special:

Moreover, your Niji Warrior NFT is dynamic — it evolves by capturing your in-game accomplishments, growing in uniqueness and value, and showcasing your dedication and skill.

 

The allure of this, as best I can tell, is that playing the fairly simple game and excelling it will result in a rarer Niji Warrior NFT which other people might want to buy because… I’m not sure why, honestly.

Captain Laserhawk also has a battle pass or schedule of unlockable virtual rewards that are doled out as you earn experience points and rack up wins. Some of the rewards can be turned into NFTs, too. I unlocked a “Happy 2025” emote that I can turn into an NFT. Anyone want to buy it?

A perusal of the Captain Laserhawk menus and marketplace suggests some interest in the game but no gold rush. A Marcus Holloway (Watch Dogs 2!) alternate outfit for your character is obtainable today for 6750 virtual coins. Five out of 600 of them have been claimed.

Some of the battle pass’ unlockable emotes, gun skins and outfits (such as a Santa Claus suit), can be minted into NFTs and sold to other players; so it’s not pay-to-win, but it can be pay-to-look-special.

As for Rayman: He’s the announcer for the game’s deathmatches. Players can also grab a “legendary” Rayman profile pic for 7500 virtual coins and then attach it to their Niji Warrior NFT (9 of these have been claimed out of a supply of 425).

There’s also a free side-scrolling runner game starring Rayman that you can play on Captain Laserhawk’s website while your card is in the process of being revealed.

When I first stumbled across this whole Captain Laserhawk project a couple of months ago, I was intrigued about what Ubisoft might do.

I am skeptical of Web 3 games, but I hoped that the company that made a Wii U zombie backpack adventure and a Star Trek VR game might have a good idea in them for this tech. Otherwise, why bother?

In the scant official descriptions I’d found of Captain Laserhawk, Ubisoft didn’t brag about any gameplay innovation, but they did talk about players shaping the narrative of the game, of having choices in its direction. They also promoted player governance, the idea that users will shape the future of the game.

The project’s description on the official website, and, buzzwords aside, sounded a bit interesting…

The G.A.M.E. is a transmedia gaming adventure where the community drives the narrative through innovative governance.

 

Players step into the role of a citizen in the dystopian world of Eden - the totalitarian successor to the US. By overcoming challenges across various channels inside and outside the game, players can raise their citizen score and increase their power to shape the narrative.

 

As the story unfolds, the entire community will have the opportunity to influence the plot and participate in key decision-making moments.

Almost none of that is evident in the early access game that is playable now. The results, so far, are underwhelming.

As with other Web 3 games I’ve seen, Captain Laserhawk’s development seems to have focused more on the Web 3 ecosystem without necessarily finding a gameplay hook to make people want to play out of fascination with the game itself.

I had hoped Ubisoft could do better. The company has bigger issues to resolve, but, so far, Web 3 research mode is not panning out.