Ultra is one of a number of companies that believes blockchain and cryptocurrency can make the distribution of games more efficient and gamers more loyal. And today, the Paris company is announcing that French video game giant Ubisoft will help validate transactions on its blockchain for gamers.
Blockchain is a distributed ledger for transparent and secure transactions, and it is the foundation for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Ultra has created its own blockchain, UOS, a sister branch of EOSIO, and Ubisoft is the first major gaming company to serve as corporate block producer during a trial period on Ultra’s testnet. That basically means Ubisoft is helping Ultra verify that its blockchain technology works properly. That’s meaningful because most big game companies have been tiptoeing around blockchain, which has the potential to disrupt a lot of businesses.
Block producers will provide the computing infrastructure to validate transactions happening on Ultra’s blockchain. These transactions will include, for instance, in-game assets creation, ownership transfers between players, or payments. It is crucial for Ultra to onboard block producers who have both an interest and the capabilities to grow this new ecosystem, on top of being able to complete their technical validation task.
“Since Ubisoft is already a leader in the games industry and shows commitment to probe blockchain as a viable technology for games, we are very excited to be announcing our first cooperation of this kind with them” said Nicolas Gilot, co-CEO of Ultra, in a statement. “Ubisoft’s rich portfolio of world-renowned brands, including Assassin’s Creed, Just Dance and Far Cry, is a testament to their dedication to creating quality content for all, and their years long dedication to exploring blockchain technology ensures they have the knowledge and skills to be excellent block producers.”
Nicolas Pouard, Ubisoft’s blockchain initiative director, added, “Our team at the Strategic Innovation Lab strongly believes that all Blockchain use cases that bring value to players are important to support, and Ultra offers a solution that does just that. During this first trial period of collaboration, we hope to help them in bringing it to a larger scale and experiment with the possibilities this opens up for the industry.”
“We’re on a mission to shake up the gaming industry by placing power back into the hands of developers and players,” said Gilot. “We are paving the way for a first-class game publishing platform, and we couldn’t do it without the support of companies such as Ubisoft.”
UOS will have a mix of technical block producers and corporate block producers, each of whom understand the unique aspects of Ultra. Although Ultra’s blockchain mainnet launch date is to be announced, Ubisoft will start contributing to the testnet before the end of the year and, if successful, will be part of the launch team for the Mainnet.
Author: Dean Takahashi
Source: Venturebeat
