The monkey’s paw curls as Rayman returns in Ubisoft’s new NFT game

By Patrick Hearn Published December 20, 2024

10 characters we want super smash bros for switch raymansmash — Rayman Ubisoft

Rayman is a beloved video game mascot that’s appeared in 45 different games since his debut in 1995, but he hasn’t made a mainline appearance since cameoing in Mario + Rabbids: Spark of Hope. When Ubisoft said Rayman would be in the new game Captain Laserhawk: The Game, fans got a bit excited — but that was quickly dashed as it became clear Captain Laserhawk is a new blockchain game featuring NFTs.

Captain Laserhawk isn’t a traditional Rayman game. In fact, he has little to nothing to do with the game. It’s a top-down multiplayer shooter, but before you can even play, you need to own an NFT. That’s right: Each player needs a Niji Warrior NFT, and they can only be purchased from Ubisoft. There are also only 10,000 of them, with a purchase limit of two per account. On the dimly-lit side, you can purchase a Rayman profile photo for 750 virtual coins.

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The game is based off the Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix TV show, which is in turn based on the Blood Dragon expansion for Far Cry 3. And here’s the ultimate kicker: Rayman isn’t even a playable character. While you can get him as a profile picture, most of his presence in the game is as the announcer for deathmatches.

Key art of a Rayman game from Ubisoft. He's running close to the camera in a purple shirt and red bandana. — Ubisoft

If you’d never heard of Captain Laserhawk, don’t worry. Ubisoft released the game with almost no marketing; in fact, it’s hard to find many details about the game at all outside of a few social media posts. Right now, you can try the game in early access on PC.

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While it’s nice to see a reminder that Rayman hasn’t been forgotten, it’s a bit disappointing to see the iconic character regulated to a cameo in a blockchain game. Ubisoft may want to consider taking some advice from Regina George: stop trying to make NFTs happen.

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Gaming

Ubisoft’s newest game is Final Fantasy’s Fort Condor with Rabbids

A Rabbid holds an umbrella gun in Rabbids: Legends of the Multiverse.

It's been a busy few weeks for Ubisoft. The publishing giant released a big shooter with XDefiant, launched The Rogue Prince of Persia into early access, and shook up the development team behind The Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake. That all happened ahead of the company's annual Ubisoft Forward live show next week. In the middle of all that chaos, you might have missed that the publisher snuck out another new game.

Rabbids: Legends of the Multiverse is out now exclusively on iOS devices via Apple Arcade. The new mobile title is a cross between a traditional deck builder and a strategy game where players have to fight off waves of foes by summoning allies via cards. Of course, it's infused with the hyperactive charm of Ubisoft's most chaotic mascots, making for a more kid-friendly version of its hybrid genres. While it may not be as strategically satisfying as the more tactical Mario + Rabbids series, this bite-sized oddity shows what kinds of games are a snug fit for a platform like Apple Arcade.
Fort Rabbids
In Rabbids: Legends of the Multiverse, players control an unlucky Rabbid who finds themself at the center of an intergalactic mishap. After a scientist gives them a camera that can take instant photos of any critter and spit it out as a card capable of summoning it, our little hero gets dragged across time periods in a spacefaring washing machine. It's a simple setup that mostly serves as an excuse to bring players to themed biomes like a fantasy realm and a Wild West world. It's cute enough for young players, even if the theming isn't terribly creative.

Gaming

Microsoft gives Activision Blizzard cloud gaming rights to Ubisoft

Microsoft's Xbox Cloud Gaming Service Enters Beta This Week

Microsoft announced its intention to grant Ubisoft, the publisher behind series like Assassin's Creed and Far Cry, the cloud streaming rights for Activision Blizzard titles if Microsoft's acquisition of the Call of Duty publisher goes through.
This deal was made in order to appease the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Microsoft has not had an easy time trying to acquire Activision Blizzard as it has run into heavy resistance from regulatory bodies like the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.K.'s CMA. The CMA's complaints centered around the potential monopoly Microsoft could have on cloud gaming if the deal were to go through. There was speculation that Microsoft would divest its U.K. cloud gaming efforts to appease the CMA, but it has now presented this new plan that would technically make it give up control of Activision Blizzard game-streaming rights worldwide for the next 15 years.
In a blog post, Microsoft President Brad Smith explainsed that if the Activision Blizzard acquisition happens, Microsoft will give "cloud streaming rights for all current and new Activision Blizzard PC and console games released over the next 15 years" in perpetuity following a one-off payment.
Essentially, Ubisoft will be the one deciding which cloud gaming platforms and services to put Activision Blizzard games on, not Microsoft. Smith claims that this means "Microsoft will not be in a position either to release Activision Blizzard games exclusively on its own cloud streaming service -- Xbox Cloud Gaming -- or to exclusively control the licensing terms of Activision Blizzard games for rival services," and that Ubisoft will allow them to honor existing agreements with companies like Nvidia.

Ubisoft has been cloud gaming friendly over the past several years, eagerly putting its games on services like Google Stadia and Amazon Luna. With this deal, Ubisoft says it plans to bring Activision Blizzard games to its Ubisoft+ subscription service. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick also commented on the deal, saying that he approves of the deal, but that "nothing substantially changes with the addition of this divestiture" for Activision Blizzard and its investors.
The current deadline for Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition is October 18.

Gaming

Rayman returns in Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope DLC later this month

Rayman, Rabbid Mario, and Rabbid Peach in Mario + Rabbid Sparks of Hope: Rayman in the Phantom Show

Ubisoft is finally bringing Rayman back as part of a new piece of DLC for Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope later this month. Called Rayman in the Phantom Show, this DLC releases on August 30.
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope - DLC 3 Reveal Trailer
For a long time, Rayman was Ubisoft's premier mascot and starred in a series of platformers that people who grew up in the late 1990s and early 2000s remember fondly. Unfortunately, Ubisoft's focus has primarily been on more mature series like Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Watch_Dogs as well as the Rabbids (which spun off from a Rayman game) over the last decade, so Rayman took a back seat to those series following the launch of Rayman Legends. That's why Rayman in the Phantom Show is a big deal for fans of this dormant franchise; it's the most prominent role Rayman has had in a console game in almost a decade.
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is a turn-based strategy game that launched on Nintendo Switch to critical acclaim last year. This latest (and final) piece of post-launch DLC for the game follows Rayman, Rabbid Peach, and Rabbid Mario as they take on the Phantom -- a boss from Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle -- in an otherworldly TV studio called the Space Opera Network. David Gasman, who voiced the titular character in Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc, reprises his role here.

It's not a full-on platformer, but the reveal trailer for the DLC does show how players can use Rayman's detachable limbs and helicopter ability to explore the Space Opera network. At least it's something that looks pretty entertaining for fans of classic Rayman, who Ubisoft hasn't appealed to in quite a long time. Hopefully, it's as good as Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle's excellent Donkey Kong DLC.
Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope is available now exclusively for Nintendo Switch. Rayman in the Phantom Show comes out on August 30, and it can be purchased individually or as part of Spark of Hope's season pass.