The Arbitrum Foundation and Sequence are collaborating with Ubisoft Labs on the Web3 game Captain Laserhawk: the G.A.M.E.
Expanding the universe of Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix series – produced by Ubisoft for Netflix – the new title will feature iconic characters from famous franchises including Assassin’s Creed, Rayman, and Beyond Good and Evil, among others.
The first activation and core of the Captain Laserhawk: the G.A.M.E. will be built on Arbitrum, leveraging the blockchain’s ability to handle the scale and speed required to foster a growing and active community. Sequence will provide critical blockchain tooling to the partnership.
Ubisoft and blockchain games
The move shows that, despite blockchain’s slow takeoff with Western mainstream gamers, Ubisoft is still supporting the experimental opportunities of Web3 for gaming despite its negative reception in 2021 for the non-fungible tokens launch in Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint. That became the subject of a fan uproar over blockchain games at triple-A game companies and it caused big companies to tread much more carefully with hardcore gamers on Web3.
Last spring, I spoke with this renewed commitment to blockchain games with Nicolas Pouard, vice president of the Ubisoft Strategic Innovation Lab and head of blockchain initiatives at Ubisoft Entrepreneurs Lab.
While blockchain gaming is just beginning to find a mass audience (think of Hamster Kombat on Telegram and Pixels), Ubisoft has moved on to various new blockchain gaming partnerships and startup relationships. It has expanded its blockchain gaming team and it is licensing its intellectual property to Web3 gaming companies including VeVe and Cross the Ages (a Watch Dogs card deck partnership).
And Ubisoft is working with blockchains Aleph, Flow and XPLA — as well as Sequence. Ubisoft is working on Champions Tactics with Oasys. By the end of the year, two Ubisoft Web3 games will likely be available to the public, Pouard said.
Captain Laserhawk: the G.A.M.E.
The G.A.M.E. is a transmedia gaming adventure where the community drives the narrative through innovative Web3 governance. Players step into the role of a citizen in the dystopian world of Eden – the totalitarian successor to the U.S..
By overcoming challenges across various channels inside and outside Ubisoft’s ecosystem, 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 by unlocking, creating, and sharing content.
“With Arbitrum’s supercharged blockchain infrastructure and Sequence’s full web3 stack as the foundation, Captain Laserhawk: the G.A.M.E. is poised to be a groundbreaking player-driven project,” said Nicolas Pouard, vice president of Ubisoft Labs. “Here, players can have fun and actively contribute to the lore and evolution of the game. Blockchain features on Arbitrum empower us to give the community a real voice in shaping the story, gameplay, and even side experiences. This fosters transparency and shared creation, paving the way for a truly collaborative future for Captain Laserhawk.”
This experience stands out for its unprecedented level of player influence over the game’s development, empowering the community to help craft its evolution. Over time, as players progress, their characters can transform from faceless individuals into influential leaders within Eden.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Ubisoft, one of the world’s most renowned game publishers, and Arbitrum, a leading and robust blockchain ecosystem, to pioneer a new generation of games,” said Peter Kieltyka, CEO of Sequence, in a statement. “Sequence’s easy-to-integrate web3 platform ensures seamless player journeys and unlocks endless creative gameplay and world-building opportunities for Captain Laserhawk and its players.”
“It’s exciting to see leading gaming studios, like Ubisoft, look to Arbitrum to support their ambitious community-driven project — a notable step towards increased adoption and accessibility in the industry. Arbitrum’s gaming ecosystem continues to flourish, and an increased focus from legacy studios will only expedite that growth,” said Nina Rong, head of ecosystem development at the Arbitrum Foundation, in a statement.
Ubisoft is committed to adhering to community feedback and will closely monitor the needs of players as they venture into the new Captain Laserhawk experience, the companies said.
