Ubisoft has announced the impending shutdown of Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles, a Web3-enabled turn-based strategy game that launched earlier this year. The game's servers are scheduled to go offline on October 30. The decision to sunset the game was communicated through official channels on the game's website and Discord server.
Players had anticipated this move for months, particularly after Ubisoft revealed in May that the game would transition away from its Web3 functionality. This change was attributed to unspecified alterations in the game's Oasys blockchain infrastructure. Champions Tactics originally allowed players to mint and trade in-game units on a blockchain marketplace, utilizing either real-world currency or the Oasys cryptocurrency, OAS.
Despite a general player base skepticism towards NFT technology, Ubisoft had previously explored integrating it into several titles. In an effort to reach a broader audience, the company launched Champions Tactics Reforged, a free-to-play version of the game on Steam last year that removed the core NFT components. However, this iteration of the game received mixed reviews and did not appear to attract a significant player base.
Ubisoft is now directing players towards its new collectible card game, Might and Magic Fates, which entered early access in February. High-ranking players from Champions Tactics are being offered exclusive in-game rewards for transitioning to the new title. Might and Magic Fates, which shares similarities with Hearthstone, also features a marketplace for buying and selling cards using cash or cryptocurrency. Nevertheless, sentiment within the Champions Tactics community suggests a lack of optimism for the success of Might and Magic Fates.