Assassin’s Creed Mirage has raised fan concerns regarding Ubisoft’s potential inclusion of in-game NFTs, after the game was “mistakenly” rated ‘Adults Only’ for its supposed inclusion of real gambling.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage will apparently not feature real gambling, according to a Ubisoft statement clarifying that a recent ‘Adults Only’ ESRB rating — spied on the Xbox storefront and preceding the many all-new Assassin’s Creed games announced at Ubisoft Forward this week — was displayed “mistakenly.” However, this ‘mistake’ was enough to have fans asking: will Assassin’s Creed Mirage feature NFTs?
Ubisoft has not revealed whether Assassin’s Creed Mirage supports NFTs
Ubisoft stated to gamesindustry.biz that the harsh ESRB rating for gambling was an error, but the company did not elaborate as to why the rating appeared on its own Assassin’s Creed series announcement stream. The confusion has since led to a conversation online regarding what caused the rating, with many suggesting it points to Ubisoft considering the inclusion of NFTs for Assassin’s Creed Mirage.
Speculation over the matter has been sparked due to the nature of NFTs — or non-fungible tokens — as tangible, tradable goods. To illustrate the difference in regards to gambling when discussing NFTs, it helps to think about loot boxes in video games. While many have labelled in-game loot boxes as a form of gambling — with certain institutions like the Dutch government going so far as to have loot boxes banned earlier this year for this exact reason — the problem with regulating their inclusion in video games has always been limited by the fact that loot boxes merely pertain to fixed, in-game assets that do not inherently hold value outside the game economy that features them.
This differs dramatically with NFTs, however; which exist on the principle that they do represent tangible value and can be traded in markets outside of the in-game economy they were obtained from. This would constitute earning NFTs via any mechanics dependent on chance, like loot boxes, as real gambling. We know Assassin’s Creed Mirage will not have loot boxes, as Ubisoft has stated “no real gambling or lootboxes are present in the game.”
This does not rule out Mirage from containing NFTs, nor does it mean that the game will absolutely not have real gambling in it simply because loot boxes will not be included. While Ubisoft has stated that the game will not, that doesn’t explain how the ESRB landed on its ‘Adult Only’ rating, and it’s very possible Ubisoft is simply contesting the definition of ‘real gambling’ with the games rating board. If any chance element were to result in the rewarding of an NFT, that would be real gambling — though we can’t confirm whether Ubisoft agrees with that definition as of yet.
Regarding whether Ubisoft would include NFTs in future games, the company’s CEO Yves Guillemot stated to gamesindustry.biz: “We are testing ground with some games, and we’ll see if they really answer the players’ needs. But we are still in research mode, I would say.”
Last year, Ubisoft ceased development on Ghost Recon Breakpoint after disastrously loading the game with NFTs and compatibility with its Quartz trading platform. Responding to the closing of Breakpoint, Guillemot said: “We probably were not good at saying we are researching. We should have said we were working on it, and when we have something that gives you a real benefit, we’ll bring it to you.”
With these statements, we would like to believe Ubisoft fully intends to inform players whether NFTs will be included in Assassin’s Creed Mirage ahead of time. Hopefully, the company will also inform us in what capacity the player will be expected to interact with them — whether they’ll appear as something players can earn after having purchased the game, or whether it is something they can win by playing an in-game chance-based system. Either way, Ubisoft’s response to the ESRB rating leaves a little to be desired in regards to an explanation and has certainly raised more questions than it has answered.
For more Assassin’s Creed news, check out our breakdown on everything you need to know about Assassin’s Creed Infinity on PS5, and see if you agree or disagree with our ranked Assassin’s Creed series list. Also, we recently covered Neil Blomkamp’s Off the Grid NFT battle royale game — read that for more thoughts on this ever-growing trend in video games, and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.