Ubisoft's NFT tactics game, Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles, will be shutting down on October 30. The developer announced the closure on the game's official website and Discord server, signaling the end for the strategy title that launched in early 2024.
Champions Tactics was one of two NFT games released by Ubisoft in 2024, a period where many industries had begun to pivot away from Web3 technologies towards AI. This move followed earlier criticisms of Ubisoft's "pay-to-earn" features, which had led the company's VP of Strategic Innovations Lab to state in 2022 that the value of NFTs was not being understood. Despite assurances from CEO Yves Guillemot in September 2022 that the publisher was merely researching Web3 integration and would only pursue it when it offered a tangible benefit to players, the publisher continued its efforts.
"Today, we’re sharing an important update regarding the future of Champions Tactics. After careful consideration, we have made the decision to sunset the game," Ubisoft stated in its announcement. "The Champions Tactics servers will officially shut down on October 30. Until then, the game will remain fully playable, and our goal is to ensure that players can continue to enjoy the experience during these final months."
Earlier this year, in May, Champions Tactics had already begun to move away from its blockchain functionality. Ubisoft announced a progressive transition away from Web3 features due to "upcoming changes to the blockchain infrastructure." This transition included the removal of the ability to mint and sell NFT characters, some of which were reportedly listed for over $63,000 shortly after the game's launch.
It remains unclear how many of these NFT characters were actually sold or for what final price. Following the removal of Web3 features, players' NFT characters were converted into standard, fungible in-game assets. For players who had achieved Divine rank at least once in the last three seasons, Ubisoft offered compensation in the form of free items for Might & Magic Fates, a digital collectible card game launched in February that utilizes an external marketplace powered by Immutable's technology for player-to-player trading.
Prior to its closure announcement, Champions Tactics had not frequently been in the news cycle. Its previous notable appearance was due to a matchmaking bug that caused ranked players to repeatedly connect to and lose against an unkillable opponent during the game's initial launch weekend. Discussions among the remaining player base on Discord have largely centered on whether the game constituted a scam, with the impending closure seemingly providing a de facto answer for many.