That’s right, Assassin’s Creed NFTs that bridge the gap between physical and digital collectibles are on the way, as Ubisoft partner Integral Reality Labs announces “smart collectibles” that will let you own both a real-world customized Assassin’s Creed figure and proof that the RPG game figure exists on the blockchain as well.
So, let’s break down exactly what these Assassin’s Creed NFTs are: Ubisoft partner Integral Reality Labs has developed what it calls “smart collectibles,” clear cubes with figures in them that act as both physical collectibles and NFTs minted on the Polygon blockchain. An upcoming app will let you track and authenticate the collectible too, which you can customize with different poses, weapons, and outfits related to Assassin’s Creed.
This customized figure is then put in the clear cube and shipped to you, but it’s also minted on the blockchain and fitted with identifiers so that you can, and I quote, “interact with your character and engage in a rewarding collector experience, complete achievements, and level up” in the companion app – whatever that means.
As a physical collectible, this sounds pretty cool, but then Integral Reality Labs talks about how these collectibles will have a “digital soul,” rarity tiers that offer more customization options, and a companion app that seemingly seeks to gamify the entire process of, let’s face it, owning a statue you customized that’s locked in a clear box.
I’m going to be honest, trying to understand exactly what the “soul” of a “digital collectible” even means hurts my brain. It sounds an awful lot like buzzwords for an idea that hasn’t even taken off yet. That’s right, the app and smart collectibles aren’t actually out yet, instead, they’re just “coming soon.”
There’s a lot of talk of a “rewarding collector experience” with these Assassin’s Creed NFTs and physical collectible hybrids, but as none of this is actually out yet, it’s incredibly difficult to quantify what the customization process, app, rarity tier system, and blockchain integration will even look like.
Integral Reality Labs has been partnered with Ubisoft for some time, making customizable figures for games like Rainbow Six Siege that seemed really interesting. These figures could be customized before purchase, kind of like those Xbox Design Lab controllers but for operator stances and gear – as these smart collectibles can be too.
If all this talk of Assassin’s Creed NFTs sounds familiar to you, that’s because it’s not been that long since Ubisoft Quartz, the publisher’s own NFT platform that let you buy and sell in-game items on the blockchain, crashed and burned. We already broke down exactly how flawed Ubisoft Quartz as a platform was at the time, but it’s back and ready for round two.
In fact, Ubisoft said last year that more NFT games and related projects were on the way, and this Assassin’s Creed NFT just looks to be proof of that. You can check out the collectibles for yourself on the website, and see if you understand exactly what it all means.
In the meantime, there’s a massive number of great stealth games you can play at the moment, and you can check out our picks for the best open-world games currently available on PC as well.
