The Arbitrum Foundation and French gaming giant Ubisoft have announced Dec. 18 as the official launch date for “Captain Laserhawk: The G.A.M.E.” a web3-enabled top-down shooter. 

The game is set in the Ubisoft gaming universe and features a cast of characters from titles including Far Cry: Blood Dragon, Rayman, Assassin’s Creed, Beyond Good and Evil, The Crew, Rainbow Six, Splinter Cell and Watch Dogs.

Captain Laserhawk’s gameplay combines classic top-down shooter mechanics with competitive leaderboards and Web3 features. Story-wise, it’s a media spinoff of the 2023 Netflix-based television show “Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix.” The title is among the slate of Ubisoft games exploring Web3, blockchain, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

NFTs and Web3

Captain Laserhawk: The G.A.M.E. is launching on the Ethereum layer-2 Arbitrum network with a coinciding NFT mint via Magic Eden to begin on Dec. 11. 

A social media post from the official Captain Laserhawk game account on X.com explained that the free mint players will receive is “packed with utilities” including governance votes and “exclusive collectibles inspired by Ubisoft legends like Rayman and Splinter Cell.”

According to a statement from Nina Rong, head of partnerships at Arbitrum Foundation, the game’s launch marks a pivotal point for the space:

“Today’s mint, and next week’s launch, will be a cornerstone moment as we look towards the future of game development and player experience. Forever, players have followed the storylines, character arcs, and game designs that were given to them. Now, that changes.”

Blockchain gaming

The Web3 gaming space continues to show signs of growth. As Cointelegraph recently reported, NFT sales across the board have shown steady increases since October, with the first week of December recording an estimated sales volume of $187 million.

Meanwhile, the Beam Foundation is set to debut a $150 million dollar fund to spur Web3 gaming in Abu Dhabi.

Despite the sector’s struggle in the wake of the 2021 NFT boom and subsequent market destabilization, Web3 gaming and blockchain-based entertainment apps continue to demonstrate bullish indicators as 2025 approaches.