育碧区块链项目经理谈如何利用区块链技术提升玩家体验

育碧区块链项目经理谈如何利用区块链技术提升玩家体验

原作：Dean Takahashi 译者：Vivian Xue

许多人认为区块链不过是一种被大量炒作的技术。虽然有些人可能会厌恶这种炒作，但是一些大型公司却对它十分重视，其中包括法国巨头游戏公司育碧（Ubisoft），许多大型游戏比如《刺客信条》都是它旗下的作品。育碧的CEO Yves Guillemot在今年夏天的ChinaJoy展会上提到，未来区块链技术有可能会彻底改变电子游戏行业。

育碧今夏在巴黎举办了一个叫区块链英雄（Blockchain Heroes）的编程马拉松比赛（Hackathon，又名黑客松，参与者须在短时间内编写出可运行的程序，整个编程的过程没有任何限制或方向，游戏邦注）。他们的战略创新实验室团队也推出了一个区块链游戏Hashcraft，在这个游戏中，玩家向海里投掷一粒种子，接着种子会生成一个岛屿，玩家可以探索这个岛屿并创建任务邀请别的玩家来完成。这样一来，玩家们就通过创作行为创造了价值，而这将被记录在区块链上。

值得注意的是游戏玩家是加密货币和区块链技术最重要的采纳者之一。不过，育碧的主要目的是通过区块链提升游戏体验，并且他们有意识地与加密货币和货币投机保持距离。他们还赞助了9月25日至9月26日在法国莱昂举行的区块链游戏峰会。

育碧区块链项目副经理Anne Puck是参会人员之一。我和她就育碧对创新和区块链的想法进行了交谈。

以下是本次采访的文字版：

GamesBeat：我知道育碧在协助举办这次区块链游戏峰会。是什么使育碧对这项技术产生兴趣并参与研究？

Anne Puck：我们非常期待本次区块链游戏峰会，是的。自我介绍下，我是一名区块链项目经理。我两年前加入育碧，作为公司法务。法律出身的人参与技术工作不太常见，但是这正是区块链的独特之处，能够让不同专业的人们聚在一起工作。

如今我是公司战略创新实验室的成员。我们的工作主要是分析技术、社会和商业领域发生的变化。育碧正努力走在新技术发展的前沿，希望运用新技术为玩家创造更多娱乐方式。正如你所见的，区块链技术是继互联网之后最大的技术创新。我们认为我们不能错过这次机会，这也是为什么我们决定在今年初启动区块链计划。

GamesBeat：你会和那些不太了解区块链的人交流些什么，比如你为什么认为这项技术如此重要？

Puck：在育碧，我们认为以创新的方式使玩家从区块链中获益是至关重要的。我们认为区块链技术能够彻底改变游戏体验，甚至能让玩家成为游戏世界中真正的利益相关者。这也是为什么我们希望通过这个项目加速区块链技术与公司的融合。

GamesBeat：我写了许多关于区块链6游戏创业者的文章。迄今为止，似乎很多大公司仍在观望。他们对于区块链项目并不是很上心。你是否也这样认为？你认为为什么会这样呢？为什么育碧，作为最大的游戏公司之一，对这项技术产生了兴趣？

Puck：我们对区块链不只是感兴趣而已。Yves Guillemot在ChinaJoy上提到了区块链是推动电子游戏行业未来变革的潜在力量。我们想要建立对区块链生态系统的认知，并通过组织或赞助区块链活动对这个领域做出贡献——就像这次赞助区块链游戏峰会一样。

Hashcraft （from venturebeat.com）

这次峰会的主办方是B2Extend，它是我们在巴黎创业园Station F创立的公司之一。作为顾问委员会成员，我认为这次峰会是聚焦游戏与区块链结合的最高层次的集会。整个区块链生态系统中的成员都会聚集在一起，讨论未来的挑战和将发生的状况。

Games Beat：我遇到过几个做区块链游戏的创业公司。其中有一个游戏叫CryptoKitties，他们可以使用区块链技术确认游戏内资产或角色的独特性和真实性。使游戏资产变得更值得收藏也更容易世界范围内转移。另一个常见应用是关于实现在线游戏账户的安全及透明化管理。你可以在验证某人身份的同时保护他们的隐私。这些是在游戏领域的重大应用，但我很好奇你们是否还有一些其它的创新设想。

Puck：是的我也认为这些应用很棒。我们已经和CrytoKitties的人取得了联系。我们和他们一起组织了六月份的编程马拉松，并且其中一名评审是我们的人。我们特地为比赛冠军准备了Rabbids kitties作为参赛奖励。我们称之为“非传统代币”（untraditional token），这对玩家来说是一种全新的价值。把游戏内的物品等资产转化成代币，能够使玩家获得真正的所有权。我们可以利用元数据确定这些代币的来源信息——代币的转移情况、创造者和所有权。这样一来，它们对玩家来说就更有价值了。

同时我们在考虑实现游戏资产的互通。一些创业公司，比如B2Extend，已经在尝试实现这一点。一个代币只是某条区块链上的某个ID。它可以与某一款游戏内的一项资产挂钩，但我们可以让它与不同游戏中的两项甚至更多的资产挂钩。这将使玩家的参与度达到前所未有的水平。

我们还能思考如何利用区块链来减少恶性现象。在六月举办的编程马拉松中，我们让其中的一支参赛团队思考了这个主题——如何利用区块链来减少游戏社区内的恶性现象。我们得到了一些有趣的想法。

GamesBeat：有没有可能在不侵犯隐私的前提下利用区块链减少这些恶性现象呢？

Puck：隐私，谈到账户管理、隐私权和新的欧洲《通用数据保护条例》（GDPR）时——你说的没错，我们必须明确在区块链中应该储存什么和不应该储存什么，这很重要。隐私是我们关注的一个重要方面，我们需要继续探索这一点。目前所有与区块链相关的事物都值得研究。

GamesBeat：所以你的观点是，人们能够在使用区块链验证身份时保护自己的隐私？

Puck：我们仍处于研发早期。如今，我还无法确定。但是我们在思考它。法国的隐私保护部也在研究这个项目。我有幸能够与负责这个项目的学者们一起工作，当然这是育碧很重视的一方面。但是我们现在无法给出明确的答复。

GameBeat：谈到账户管理，你认为区块链能够帮助优化身份验证和支付交易吗？

Puck：当然。数字ID是区块链的另一个探索领域，还有交易的权威性。但这不是我们目前重点关注的领域。我们当前的首要目标是利用区块链为玩家提供新的关键的利益。我们目前还没到研究加密货币交易的阶段。但很明显，这是一个重要领域。

GamesBeat：Epic Games的Tim Sweeney曾提到过利用区块链摆脱应用商店。你可以将付款周期从60日缩短到几个小时，由此开发商们能够更快地从消费者手中赚取资金，并且不必向第三方平台支付30%的抽成。这一点似乎与游戏行业息息相关。

Puck：这个话题的确值得讨论。但是还是那句话，区块链交易不是我们现在的重点。我们没有任何改变游戏分销形式的打算。

GamesBeat：像这样的交易概念似乎适用于许多行业。您怎么看待区块链技术在游戏中的具体应用？

Puck：我们考虑的永远是玩家。我们如何才能为玩家提供更多更新鲜的事物？就目前分散式的区块链网络和技术状态来看，很难想象未来游戏和区块链会发展成什么样子，但我们希望利用区块链造福我们的玩家。

我们正致力于研发工作。通过逐步建模验证的方式来确定区块链如何为玩家带去最大的价值。我们的战略创新实验室的一个团队已经制作出了一个游戏模型Hashcraft。区块链为我们探索游戏的开放性提供了许多启发。

Hashcraft是一个寻宝和岛屿探索游戏，它的在线功能完全基于区块链。游戏由区块链上的玩家操控，玩家们能够通过创作基于区块链的用户生成内容并分享到社区来扩大游戏世界。玩家们可以创造新的岛屿，在上面埋藏宝藏并设置挑战，然后分享邀请更多的玩家来岛上完成任务。

这是我们认为的区块链在游戏中的用途之一：让玩家有机会参与到创作过程中。对于我们来说，最重要的不是什么加密货币，而是为玩家创造更多机会。

GamesBeat：那么玩家在游戏中创造的资产的数字所有权呢，这是你们感兴趣的事物吗？如果区块链技术能够验证玩家所创造的东西，玩家是否拥有它们并且能把它们带到另一个游戏中呢？你们希望资产在不同游戏间流通吗?比如说玩家创造的角色形象，他们能在不同游戏中使用同一个角色形象吗？

Puck：当然咯！我们目前正在考虑这一点，让玩家成为游戏世界中真正的利益相关者。也就是让游戏资产成为玩家们真正的资产，利益显而易见吧。

GamesBeat：但是发行商怎么会乐意干这种事呢？如果区块链真的实现了游戏资产互通，对玩家来说是皆大欢喜，但对发行商来说不一定是好事。

Puck：可我们拥有非常多的游戏。如果让玩家们能够在不同的游戏世界中穿梭，我们敢保证他们一定会很开心。显然我们不能把他们束缚在同一个系列中。我们希望他们能在整个游戏生态中游走。我说真的，这是有可能实现的。我们已经看到有人在这么做了，比如B2Extend。

GamesBeat：Tim Sweeney之前也谈到过这一点，他认为这是创造元界（Metaverse）的关键，也就是一个由虚拟世界集合而成的宇宙。你是否也这样认为呢？

Puck：我觉得就技术的普及速度来看——实现这一点还需要很长一段时间。这取决于技术的普及程度。就区块链来说，用户体验发展还很缓慢。很难说未来它是否真的能被普遍应用到各行各业中，包括游戏行业。目前来看，预测我们什么时候能生活在《头号玩家》这样的世界中还为时尚早。

GamesBeat：那么总的来说，我想我们还有很长一条路要走。

Puck：是的。但是探索这个领域是令人兴奋的。我们非常荣幸能够通过区块链游戏峰会进入到这个领域并与其中的新力量合作。我们的最终目标是找到技术的应用方式并为玩家创造新鲜的娱乐方式。

本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao

A lot of people are dismissing blockchain as a lot of hype. While that hype can be nauseating, some very big companies, including French video game giant Ubisoft, are taking it seriously. Yves Guillemot, CEO of the company that makes blockbusters, such as Assassin’s Creed, said at the ChinaJoy expo this summer that blockchain has potential to revolutionize the video game industry in the future.

Ubisoft held a blockchain hackathon, dubbed Blockchain Heroes, this summer in Paris. Its Strategic Innovation Lab team also created a blockchain game prototype, dubbed Hashcraft. In that game, a player tosses a seed into the sea, and the seed grows an island that the player can explore. Players can create quests on the island for other players to do. In this case, players create value through the act of creation, and the blockchain records that.

It’s worth noting that gamers are among the most prominent adopters for cryptocurrencies and blockchain. At the same time, Ubisoft is focusing on the player experience, and it is careful to distance itself from the cryptocurrency side of blockchain and currency speculation. But Ubisoft has also decided to sponsor the upcoming Blockchain Game Summit in Lyon, France, on September 25 to September 26.

Anne Puck, blockchain initiative associate manager at Ubisoft, is a board member for the Blockchain Game Summit. I talked with her about Ubisoft’s interest in innovation and blockchain.

Here’s an edited transcript of our interview.

GamesBeat: I know Ubisoft is helping with the Blockchain Game Summit. What made Ubisoft interested in participating and looking into the technology?

Anne Puck: We’re really excited about the Blockchain Game Summit, yes. Just to introduce myself, I’m a blockchain initiative manager. I joined Ubisoft two years ago as an in-house attorney. It’s quite uncommon to work on tech matters with a legal background, but this is what is unique about blockchain. People are coming from different backgrounds and working together.

Now, I’m a member of our strategic innovation lab. Our job is to analyze the changes happening in technological fields, in society, and in business practices. Ubisoft is working to remain at the forefront of emerging technologies and provide players with new ways to have fun. As you know, blockchain is the biggest thing on the market for technology since the Internet. We feel that we can’t miss this opportunity, and that’s why we decided to launch the blockchain initiative at the beginning of this year.

GamesBeat: What would you communicate to people who don’t know too much about blockchain as far as why you think it’s this important?

Puck: At Ubisoft, we think it’s crucial to be part of pioneering the ways players can benefit from what blockchain has to offer. We think that blockchain has the potential to transform the gaming experience and even maybe to empower players as true stakeholders in their worlds. That’s why our job is to accelerate the integration of blockchain at Ubisoft with this initiative.

GamesBeat: I’ve written a lot of stories on blockchain gaming startups. So far, it seems like a lot of the big companies are still sitting on the sidelines. They’re not as enthusiastic about launching blockchain projects. Do you see that and understand why that might be happening? Why does Ubisoft, one of the biggest companies in gaming, have an interest already?

Puck: We’re more than interested in blockchain at Ubisoft. Yves Guillemot, at ChinaJoy, mentioned blockchain as a potential revolution for the video game industry in the future. We want to build our knowledge of the blockchain ecosystem and contribute to it by either organizing or sponsoring blockchain events — like the Blockchain Game Summit.

The summit is organized by B2Extend, a company that was part of our startup incubation process at Station F here in Paris. As a member of the advisory board, I can say that this is one of the only high-level events bringing together gaming and blockchain. The whole ecosystem will be there to discuss challenges and things that will be coming in the future.

GamesBeat: I’ve run into a couple of different kinds of startups in blockchain related to games. One is games like CryptoKitties, where they can verify the uniqueness and authenticity of a digital asset or a game character using blockchain. Game assets can be more collectible and also more portable across worlds. The other common application has to do with secure and transparent account management for online games. You can verify that someone is who they say they are and protect their privacy at the same time. Those are some big applications for games, but I wonder if you see other categories of innovation for games that you also see.

Puck: I totally agree. We’re connected with CryptoKitties. We organized a hackathon with them in June, and one of the jury members was from here. We’ve also featured some Rabbids kitties that were a participation gift for the winners of the hackathon. What we call a “nontraditional token,” it’s a new proposition of value for players. The tokenization of assets like in-game items allows players to have true ownership. We can attach metadata to those tokens to be able to handle provenance, and with provenance — the history of a token, its creation, and its ownership — we can make them more valuable to players.

We can also look at things like interoperability between games. Some startups, like B2Extend for example, are already experimenting with that interoperability. A token is just an ID on a blockchain. It might be connected to an in-game asset in one game, but potentially, it could be connected to two or more assets in different games. It would allow a level of involvement for players that’s very different from what we have now.

We can also think about using blockchain to reduce toxicity. During our hackathon in June, we had the chance to have a team thinking about that — how to reduce toxicity in gaming communities with blockchain. There were some interesting reflections on that subject.

GamesBeat: Is it possible to use blockchain to reduce toxicity without infringing on privacy?

Puck: Privacy, when it comes to account management, privacy and the new GDPR rules here in Europe — you’re right, it’s important to be clear about what you store in a blockchain and what you don’t. Privacy is definitely a matter of concern that we have to investigate in this area. But still, the idea is there and needs to be explored. At this point, everything around blockchain is worth investigating.

GamesBeat: In your view, then, you can still have privacy while using blockchain for verification?

Puck: We’re still at an early stage in the R&D process. Right now, I don’t have a certain answer. But we’re thinking about it. The French privacy authorities are working on this as well. I’ve had the opportunity to work with the academics who are in charge of their project since, of course, it’s a matter of concern for Ubisoft. But we don’t have an answer right now.

GamesBeat: When it comes to account management, do you think blockchain has potential there for things like better verification of identity and better payment transactions?

Puck: Absolutely. Digital identity is another area of exploration for blockchain, as well as transaction authority. That’s not entirely something we’re focusing on right now. At Ubisoft, our priority is on how to use blockchain to provide players with key new benefits. We’re not looking as closely at crypto transactions right now. But obviously, it’s a major area.

GamesBeat: Tim Sweeney at Epic Games has been talking about using blockchain to bypass the app stores. You can cut payment times from 60 days to a few hours, so developers can get their money from consumers more quickly and avoid the 30 percent fee from the platform holders. It seems like that’s relevant to the game industry.

Puck: There certainly [are] some discussions in the ecosystem around that topic. But again, we’re not yet focused on the transactional aspects of blockchain. We don’t have any intentions to change anything around the distribution of our games.

GamesBeat: Transactional concepts like that seem to apply to a lot of industries. How would you say that blockchain specifically applies to games?

Puck: For us, it’s always about players. How can we offer them more, offer them something new? The distributed nature of the blockchain network and the current state of the technology make it hard to envision what exactly will be the future of gaming and blockchain, but what we want is to use what blockchain has to offer for our players.

We’re working on our R&D. We have a step-by-step approach through prototyping to determine how blockchain can bring the most value to our players. We have a game prototype in the works from a team at our Strategic Innovation Lab named Hashcraft. It’s giving us ideas around how open a game can become thanks to blockchain.

Hashcraft is a treasure-hunting and island-exploration game, and its online features entirely rely on blockchain. The game is operated by a player on a blockchain, and the players are given the opportunity to expand the world of the game by creating blockchain-based user-generated content and sharing with their community. Players can create additional islands in the game and share them with the larger network. Other players can visit and explore those additional islands. The creators of the game can hide treasure on their islands and set up challenges so players can try out a new game they’ve created.

This is one of the things we think blockchain can do for players: It gives them an opportunity for involvement in the creation process. For us, the big deal isn’t about cryptocurrency. The big thing is about giving more opportunities to players.

GamesBeat: When it comes to players’ digital ownership of assets that they create in a game, is that something interesting for you? If you can use blockchain to verify that a player created something, can they own that and take that with them to another game? Do you want to make assets portable across games — like avatars? Maybe you could take your avatar from one game to another game.

Puck: Yes, definitely. That’s part of what we’re thinking about around making players true stakeholders in our worlds. With true ownership, the stake is obvious, if you can hold and own your assets — not from an IP standpoint, but from, let’s say, a virtual material standpoint.

GamesBeat: Wouldn’t a publisher normally get upset if a player could take something out of a game and bring it to a different publisher’s game, though? If blockchain allows people to take something like an avatar to another game, that’s good for the player, but it’s not necessarily good for the publisher.

Puck: We have so many different worlds, though. We’re sure we can keep players happy, jumping from one world to another. Obviously, we can’t keep players within a franchise. We want them to move across our whole ecosystem. Speaking seriously, though, it is possible. We know people that are already doing this, like B2Extend.

GamesBeat: Going back to Tim Sweeney, this is another feature he’s talked about because he thinks it’s key to creating a metaverse, a universe of virtual worlds that are all connected. Is that something you see as well?

Puck: To that I’d say that the rate of adoption of this technology — it’s looking like a long time. It depends on the accessibility of the tech. With blockchain, the user experience is quite slow at present. It’s difficult to predict when and how blockchain will actually become a common ground for any industry, including the game industry. Right now, it’s early to predict when we’ll live in something like Ready Player One [laughs].

GamesBeat: In summary, then, I guess we have a long way to go.

Puck: Sure. But it’s an exciting puzzle to work on. We’re really happy to be connecting with the ecosystem at the Blockchain Game Summit and collaborating with all the startups there. Our ultimate goal is to find use cases and develop content that have a purpose within the game experience. This will be the perfect place for all of us to think about that together and find new ways to entertain our players. （source： VentureBeat ）