According to a recent Insider Gaming report, prolific developer Ubisoft is working on a game inspired by Animal Crossing. The game, known currently as Alterra, will apparently feature Minecraft-like building mechanics coupled with light social sim features, with players fostering relationships with various elemental NPCs.
What exactly the final build of this game will look like, or if the project will even come to fruition, remains to be seen, but Ubisoft could very well pull out something special. While the developer has had a history of both controversy and underwhelming releases, games like Mario + Rabbids, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, and Immortals: Fenyx Rising prove that it still has fun and creative games up its sleeve. Worth noting is the fact that all those games are, generally speaking, outside Ubisoft’s wheelhouse, suggesting that experimentation and new ideas could be the key to success for the company. With how different Alterra sounds—for a Ubisoft game, anyway—it could wind up sitting alongside those aforementioned titles. But it still faces some obstacles.
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Alterra Is Going To Have To Compete With Animal Crossing
Alterra Is Seemingly Early in Development
News of Alterra is just breaking now, but not by Ubisoft’s doing. In other words, the game is likely a ways away from an official reveal, let alone a release date. Insider Gaming alleges that Alterra is about 18 months into development, indicating that it is perhaps two and a half to three years away from releasing, given average AAA development timelines.
Animal Crossing: New Leaf launched in 2013 (2012 in Japan), with New Horizons coming seven years later, in 2020. If Alterra is ready to come to market in, say, three years, then that could place it right around the same time as the next Animal Crossing, putting the two in even more direct competition than they would have been otherwise. If Alterra comes out slightly before the next Animal Crossing, then it runs the risk of being quickly usurped while it is still building up a player base. Alternatively, if it arrives a bit after Animal Crossing, there’s a solid chance that it will be missed entirely.
Going Toe-to-Toe With Animal Crossing Could Be an Uphill Battle for Ubisoft
Whether or not Alterra has any inherent promise, it will definitely have a tough time if it is indeed “like Animal Crossing.” While it may not be the series for everyone, Animal Crossing‘s dominance in the cozy game space is essentially unchallenged, at least when it comes to the AAA scene—indies like Stardew Valley have thus far been the only contenders for AC‘s crown. Decades of consistent quality have made Animal Crossing one of the most beloved game series of all time, and a AAA game looking to build upon or evolve its formula simply doesn’t have that advantage.
Then there’s the elephant in the room: Ubisoft’s history and reputation. Any AAA developer would have a hard time throwing down the gauntlet against Animal Crossing, but Ubisoft’s less than favorable public image certainly doesn’t help its case. Copy-paste game franchises, rampant microtransactions, allegations of severe workplace misconduct, and questionable business choices like its infamous NFT push from a few years ago have all contributed to a sense of consumer distrust and wariness. When it comes to an already oversaturated genre like cozy gaming, soured credit with audiences could cripple a game like Alterra.
It would be unwise to write Alterra off entirely. After all, virtually nothing has been revealed about the game, so it could very well be something special. But it has some undeniably robust competition, and it’s hard to imagine many players choosing it over Animal Crossing, especially if they release around the same time.
Ubisoft
Ubisoft is a well-known video game developer and publisher with a main headquarters in Saint-Mandé, France. Current CEO Yves Guillemot runs an array of teams responsible for some of the most iconic and well-known series in video games, with franchises like Assassin’s Creed, Farcry, The Crew, Just Dance, and more. Ubisoft also acts as a parent company for an array of other video game developers, including names like Massive Entertainment, Ubisoft Paris, Blue Mammoth Games, Red Storm Entertainment, and more.
- Date Founded
- March 28, 1986
- Headquarters
- Saint Mandé, France
- CEO
- Yves Guillemot