Remember Ubisoft's Planned NFT-Based Tactical RPG? Yeah, It Launched With Almost No Fanfare

Look, Ubisoft has never made a secret of their desire to get into NFT or web3 content. This is a company that even tried to launch its own Quartz NFT program, one that basically killed Ghost Recon Breakpoint and Ghost Recon Wildlands after the NFT system was added to those games.

In June of last year, Ubisoft announced another attempt to enter the web3 market was on the way. Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles was a "PvP tactical RPG" that would allow the purchase of the figurines you actually battle with on the field. Champions Tactics is free-to-play and they start you with a few temporary figurines to get started, but you will need to link your account to a crypto wallet and eventually you'll need to either buy figurines in game with cryptocurrency or in-game currency. You'll be buying them from other players or making your own with the game's "Forge" system, but require the use of in-game currency or cryptocurrency.

Sure, you don't HAVE to use cryptocurrency to get the NFT figurines...but this is a 100% PvP-based game, so free players will be completely at the mercy of how powerful a figure they can make using JUST in-game currency.

Honestly, I totally missed the launch as there was no fanfare surrounding it. There is a bit of a weird situation with the game's ESRB rating, though. The initial trailer showed an 18+ Adults Only rating, but that trailer has since been updated with a new version that doesn't include the rating. Why? Well, apparently Champions Tactics never submitted for an ESRB rating. In a statement to IGN, the ESRB did point out that submitting for a rating is optional, but since most digital storefronts and retailers require it, most games submit. Since Champions Tactics is only available via the Ubisoft digital store, they could skate around a rating with few repercussions.

Ubisoft, for its part, likens the game to physical trading card games. "These include millions of procedurally generated figurines, each with distinct stats, assets shaped directly by players' choices, and an open marketplace letting players compose their teams on a peer-to-peer basis —much like a physical trading card game. For months, we have collaborated closely with our community through events and beta phases to build and refine Champions Tactics. We’re excited to keep expanding and enhancing the experience together," reads their reply to IGN.

Sigh. Look at that, there's already figurines on the market with people trying to get thousands of dollars for them. Imagine that. To see anything else on the site, though, you're going to have to log in, information isn't exactly flowing on the site.