Assassin's Creed 'Smart Collectibles' Pair NFTs With 3D-Printed Physical Items

Ubisoft has been the most active major game publisher to date in the Web3 world, and now the company behind game franchises like Far Cry and Just Dance is making another NFT play—this time based around its massively popular open-world action series, Assassin’s Creed.

Integral Reality Labs and Ubisoft have partnered to create Assassin’s Creed Smart Collectibles, which are NFT access passes minted on Ethereum scaling network Polygon that are paired with physical collectibles inspired by the popular historical action franchise.

Each minted “Digital Soul” NFT can be used to customize and redeem a physical collectible—a 3D-printed keepsake that depicts one of the heroes from the game series suspended within a transparent cube.

Owners can choose from multiple outfits, weapons, and poses before the physical collectible is printed and shipped. The NFTs come in various rarity levels, and those with a higher tier level will unlock greater customization elements for the associated physical collectibles.

The collectibles feature an embedded near field communication (NFC) chip. When tapped with a smartphone, owners can view a digital version of the character within a companion app, as well as access additional features and utility tied to the project.

Pricing details have yet to be released, although a representative for Integral Reality Labs told Decrypt that a pre-sale will begin today ahead of the official mint on May 16. A Ubisoft representative confirmed the licensing deal with Integral Reality Labs to Decrypt.

Integral Reality Labs previously collaborated with Ubisoft to release customizable, 3D-printed collectibles without the digital tie-in, based on game franchises including Assassin’s Creed, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, and For Honor. The Assassin's Creed game franchise has sold over 200 million copies since launching in 2007, per Ubisoft.

In addition to the “Digital Soul” NFTs that can be redeemed for a physical collectible, Integral Reality Labs will release 1,500 “Piece of Eden” passes that provide holders certain benefits, such as access to exclusive collectibles drops and priority access to 3D printing.

Ubisoft released the first in-game NFT items for an established major video game in 2021, with Tezos-based weapons and asset skins for Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint on PC.

The firm also created One Shot League, a spinoff of NFT-based fantasy soccer game Sorare, and developed an NFT experiment based on the Rabbids franchise that benefitted UNICEF. The Rabbids also recently appeared in the Ethereum-based metaverse game, The Sandbox.