Rabbids are cute, manic, recognizable… and indicative of Ubisoft’s continuing push towards the NFT and crypto space, despite the mainstream gaming public’s widespread apprehension — and occasional skepticism — about the technology.
The massive Montreal-based juggernaut is cementing its bullishness around the NFT industry as it announces its latest foray into Web3 — the release of Rabbids into the metaverse through The Sandbox.
Who are The Rabbids?
The Rabbids are a recurring set of lovable and unhinged little guys who have quickly become Ubisoft’s poster bunny go-tos when they need something cute and goofy, amidst a portfolio of serious franchises such as the Tom Clancy games or Assassin’s Creed.
The Rabbids first appeared in the classic platformer Rayman and quickly rose to fame due their adorable and mischievous demeanor, despite initially being the antagonists to the game’s titular character.
Due to their popularity, they starred in their first spin-off party game Rayman Raving Rabbids in 2006. More recently, the Rabbids were the center of a groundbreaking collaboration between Ubisoft and Nintendo with the kid-friendly tactical turn-based franchise Mario + Rabbids.
With their integration into The Sandbox, the Rabbids are incarnated in voxel form, a simplistic low polygon style of rendering that resembles early 3D gaming popularized by the game Minecraft. Voxel style customizations will be available to inhabitants of the Sandbox for use on their own games via the game’s Vox Edit and Game Maker creation suite.
Ubisoft will also be receiving its own LAND in the Sandbox metaverse, where it will be working on and showcasing new experiences for the platform. At the time of this writing there has been no word as to the launch date of the collaboration.
Ubisoft has been The Sandbox’s and by extension, NFT gaming’s, biggest advocate from the mainstream games industry. All this comes despite criticism regarding their awkward early efforts, other game publishers and figures decrying the tech, and other gaming NFT projects quickly pulling U-turns.
The French studio’s Rabbids join The Sandbox’s immense catalog of partnerships and integrations including The Walking Dead, Snoop Dogg, Adidas, Warner Music Group, Deadmau5, Steve Aoki, The Smurfs, Care Bears and Atari.
United Gamers Analysis and Perspective
There’s something commendable about the sheer unrelenting willpower that drives Ubisoft’s push towards the NFT and crypto spaces—even as its peers in the industry are given pause.
They haven’t wavered their support since they first announced their plans to join the space in December and are continuously offering new updates on the NFT front on a regular basis. I guess only the sands of time will tell if they’ll become the watchdogs of the new era… or a far cry from success.
Then again they haven’t exactly made the best decisions in recent years.
United Gamers writers offer their unique Analysis and Perspective as expert opinions to help readers understand the context of the facts. These opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publication or its principals.