“Assassin’s Creed” Game Director Sheds Light on Blockchain Gaming

The gaming world is filled with a myriad of pioneering figures who helped shape the industry into what it is today. These are people who are willing to push the boundaries of gaming whilst also understanding and satisfying their audience along the process. One of these figures is Marc Albinet, a true veteran of the industry. Albinet joined the gaming world during its inception in 1988, where he began his career at Ubisoft. One of the first games he worked on was Unreal (1990), a genre-fusing game that incorporated side-scrolling levels along with rail shooting mechanics. The game received high acclaim, being named the second-best shooting game of its year by the magazine Amiga Joker. This was just the beginning of Albinet’s career, as he worked his way up to become game director for Assassin’s Creed Unity in 2017, and the more recently acclaimed title, Dying Light 2. 

As of lately, Albinet has been working to find new methods of creating and building games, driving him into the world of blockchain technology. He joined Darewise Entertianment as Creative Director, a game development studio focused heavily on web3 tools and infrastructures. Albinet is the company’s creative director, where he is spearheading an MMORPG named Life Beyond– powered by blockchain tech. With a career spent interlocked within the gaming world, Albinet has many important insights on the industry, especially on the web3 wave of games currently being created. Let’s delve into his thoughts and see what he makes of the future of this industry. 

Marc Albinet’s Vision of the Future

The following is an interview with Marc Albinet regarding the intersection between gaming and web3 technologies. 

1- What role does Blockchain play in the gaming industry?

Currently, blockchain is used in Play-to-Earn games, which represents a small market that is essentially mobile (with some PC involvement). The console side is not proposing any blockchain elements at the moment. Not only this, but most of the big titles targeting massive audiences are not blockchain related at all. The reasons are that the Web3 market is small and cryptocurrency is not really popular inside traditional game development communities. But despite that, things are moving forward with several big publishers like UbiSoft and Square Enix seriously considering areas like player-ownership– offered by blockchain technology. Therefore, we can expect more important movements to occur in the near future.

2- Do you think that AAA games are the answer to Blockchain Games’ sustainability? If so, why?

Blockchain sustainability will come when the core value of these games will have evolved from a pure speculative reason to invest, into long-term value via the experience provided by games in the industry. The answer is less a question of scope and ambition than a question of core value and experience quality.  AAA publishers are slowly considering injecting blockchain concepts into their games. But there is no need to wait for AAA to act when any studio can make great games using blockchain technology, and offer great options such as true ownership and reward mechanisms. 

3- In your opinion, what’s the best way to build a sustainable game economy using NFTs?

A game is sustainable when you want to come back in the long run. Investing in fast speculation is not sustainable. So the question is, what is it about a game that makes people come back? The quality of its experience, the quality of its immersion, and the possibility to share it with other people where you can interact and have fun with them in an often constructive manner. For NFT-based games to make an impact, they will have to propose this type of value. NFTs will need to become meaningful to be part of the experience. The reflection of it will become meaningful and gain value because this value will be shared by the community. That is our philosophy and direction: creating an experience that is not only in the game but also in our lives, so that we can build with our community so every time we release an NFT, it is part of what we share and all like: the World of Dolos (the planet which players will explore in Life Beyond) and all experiences related to it. 

4- What is LifeBeyond doing differently than current NFT games?

After building the first bricks of the game and its World, we are now focusing on building the whole World and experience. Our previous alpha was created to demonstrate our ability to deliver good gameplay and our next steps are now to build the whole experience, which is the development of a whole new society on another planet. We propose people become part of the journey and build it with us; both in-game and out of the game itself.

5- Are in-game NFT’s going to outbalance non-NFT holders? How do you Balance NFTs in-game so that the experience doesn’t turn into a Pay-To-Win game?

NFT owners will never unbalance the game. This is for various reasons, but here are the main ones. First, we will release NFTs that have in-game utilities but these will never be attached to a challenge, so we will never release NFTs that offer better stats. We will provide NFTs alongside other in-game functionalities like a robot that is able to guard your Land or house when you’re IRL and able to warn you IRL if someone is entering it. Players will also have the ability to upgrade their tools, equipment or weapons and sell them via NFTs. 

Another important aspect is that we are building the game over the concept of expertise. Every player will have the opportunity to become an expert in at least one domain (possibly several, just a question of playtime). Some players will be experts in mining, some in building, some others in surveying underground, etc… We will build a whole economy so dozens of expertise options will be available. For every expertise, a tool will be needed. Working on your expertise will level up the tools. Your avatar will also level up but in only one stat. For combat, it will be your life. So leveling up your avatar by playing combat will provide you a better weapon level (with better stats) and a bigger life gauge. Your own skills in combat will also be important; like in any other game. The more you play the more you develop your skills. Weapons (expertise tools) will be possible to sell or buy via NFT, while your avatar won’t and obviously neither will your skills. So any of your friends will be able to play with you by buying the top-notch weapon even in difficult missions, but they will still have a short life gauge and bad skills in combat. That’s the way we will prevent the Pay-to-Win aspect. We let NFTs coming from players have a buyable value in the challenge, but it’s only a part of the equation. 

A Blockchain-Based Gaming Industry

It is clear from Marc Albinet’s ideas that he believes the next evolution of gaming will be brought about by blockchain and web3 tech. The significance of these tools has been fully realized in the financial world, and it is now beginning to be realized in the entertainment industry. Pioneers such as Albinet are trendsetters in this space, using next-gen technologies to provide greater user experiences.

Right now, web3 games appear to lie on the fringes of the gaming sphere, but as the technology matures, and as individuals such as Albinet continue to utilize it, these types of games will become a fully ingrained part of the gaming space. They may even become the norm. 

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.