French trade union says Ubisoft Quartz is “useless” and “ecologically mortifying tech”

Following the announcement of Ubisoft‘s NFT program, a French trade union representing Ubisoft Paris has criticised the company’s new move.

• READ MORE: Ubisoft Singapore under investigation by fair employment watchdog over allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination

Earlier this week, the publisher revealed Ubisoft Quartz, which the company is calling the ‘first playable NFTs’ and will debut in Ghost Recon Breakpoint. The announcement has since caused some controversy in the gaming space.

As reported by Eurogamer, the trade union said in a statement on Twitter that “Blockchain is a useless, costly, ecologically mortifying tech which doesn’t bring anything to videogames.”

“Ubisoft has recently entered the blockchain and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) market. A decision that has been widely criticised by our players, bringing no improvements or benefits to our games,” the statement reads. “Many of us in the company feel the same way and say that blockchain is harmful, worthless, and without future.”

UBISOFT and NFT

Blockchain is a useless, costly, ecologically mortifying tech which doesn't bring anything to videogames. pic.twitter.com/H3LPS94Q5y

— Solidaires Informatique Jeu Vidéo (@SolInfoJeuVideo) December 14, 2021

The statement continues: “You like dividends, subprimes, financial derivatives, crises, speculation, fast trading, money laundering, etc? This is the assured and unspoken promise of NFT. We are far from the enjoyment of videogames.”

An NFT is a non-fungible token and is a digital item that uses blockchain technology to allow people to pay and have ownership over them. They can be used to reproduce different types of digital files as “unique items” such as videos, photos and more. NFTs are also known to be extremely damaging to the environment due to the process of creating them.

Ubisoft isn’t the only gaming company getting involved in NFTs. Yesterday (December 15), GSC Game World announced that it will be selling an NFT that will enable one player to become the “first ever metahuman” in Stalker 2: Heart Of Chernobyl.

Meanwhile, Twitch streamer ‘lukeafkfan’ accidentally destroyed his expensive PC while streaming himself playing mini-golf.

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