Key Takeaways
- Ubisoft is reportedly developing a game similar to Animal Crossing, codenamed Alterra.
- Gotham Knights’ Patrick Redding is supposedly leading the project.
- The game will allegedly allow you to free build, similar to Minecraft.
According to a report from Insider Gaming, Ubisoft is currently working on a voxel-based social simulation game in the vein of Animal Crossing.
The project is codenamed Alterra and has allegedly been in development for 18 months following the cancellation of another title that used Ubisoft’s voxel generation technology. The latter title was in development for four years prior to its cancellation, the report suggests.
An Animal Crossing/Minecraft Hybrid
In Alterra, the player inhabits an island and interacts with denizens called Matterlings. You will be able to leave your home island and travel to different worlds, each with a unique biome, enemies, resources and Matterlings. Supposedly, Matterlings have large heads and smaller bodies, and are inspired by both mythical and real-world creatures. There are also multiplayer aspects where the player will be able to interact with other players.
According to Insider Gaming’s source, the building will be similar to that of Minecraft, with the player able to freely build using the resources they’ve gathered from different biomes. It’s unknown if this will include terraforming, or if an island’s landscape is static.
Ubisoft Montreal is developing the game, headed by Patrick Redding. Redding previously worked at Warner Bros. Games as creative director on Gotham Knights.
Ubisoft is currently going through a tumultuous time, with the company’s stock price having dropped 57 per cent over the last year. There has reportedly been discussions between the founding Guillemot family and the gaming conglomerate Tencent, which has significant investment in Ubisoft, to buy out the company’s other investors and take Ubisoft private. Ubisoft hasn’t explicitly denied this, saying it “regularly reviews all its strategic options in the interest of its stakeholders…”
The public’s perception of Ubisoft has been negative after a string of high-profile underperformance, with the most recent example being Star Wars Outlaws. The company’s next big release is Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which is set to release on February 14, 2024, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
The long-running series of cozy social simulators comes to Nintendo Switch with Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Build and shape your ideal island paradise, then draw from a pool of over 400 villagers to create a community others can be envious of. With real-time events and plenty of content updates, your new life awaits.