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

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.

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.

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.