A rumor has recently surfaced of a potential Ubisoft games that take clear and deliberate inspiration from both Minecraft and Animal Crossing. Such a prospect is sure to leave many gamers scratching their heads, so it's worth going into everything that is currently known about this rumored cozy game from Ubisoft, however scarce information about it is.
News about this Animal Crossing-inspired title was first broken by Tom Henderson at Insider Gaming. According to Henderson, he was in contact with anonymous contacts at Ubisoft who provided him with anecdotal information about the title, which is currently called Alter. This contact is explicitly described Alter which is similar to both Animal Crossing and Minecraftwhile describing some of its gameplay and structural components. At the time of writing, Ubisoft has not provided any official comment on Alterbut if the project is indeed in development, it's probably only a matter of time before further news emerges.
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Ubisoft is allegedly making Alterra, a mix between Minecraft and Animal Crossing
Alterra will reportedly have social sim and crafting games
According to Henderson's report, Alter is planned to feature a number of friendly anthropomorphic NPCs, known as Matterlings, representing various natural elements. The way players interact with these Matterlings seems to be similar to the dynamic between the player character and the villagers Animal Crossingand it is likely there Alters rumored social simulation mechanics will come into play.
Matterlings have been described as similar to Funko Pops in appearance.
The social simulation game will be paired with Minecraft-similar resource gathering and crafting mechanics, as players will be tasked with gathering element-specific materials in order to build new structures, et cetera. Apparently players can interact with each other in these outer biomes, which sounds like how multiplayer works Animal Crossing: New Horizons. There will also be “enemies” in these zones, suggesting that the game will have some sort of combat system. Alter will reportedly be voxel-based, meaning its visuals will consist of cube-shaped elements arranged over a grid, contributing to Minecraft similarities.
Insider Gaming's report states that it will be “different [Matterlings] added during the game's lifecycle,” points to some degree of live-service elements in the
Alter
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Alters reported development conditions
Insider Gaming's report also sheds some light on the factors surrounding Alters development. In part, it will be led by Patrick Redding, who was previously responsible for Gotham Knightsand comes from Ubisoft Montreal, the studio behind Ubisoft's biggest franchises, including Assassin's Creed and Far Cry. The report noted that Alter has been in development for about 18 months, indicating that it may be relatively early in development, depending on its scope and potential obstacles the studio faces.
That's what Insider Gaming also claims Alter was born from an earlier voxel-based game that Ubisoft canceled after four years of development. How much, if any, of that game's content is reused for Alter is currently unclear. Alter is reportedly “still probably a few years away,” so it could be a while before more information is revealed.
In the meantime, Alter is really an interesting project to speculate about. Cozy gaming and Ubisoft aren't exactly the most natural fit, but there's always a chance the company could do something special with a project that emphasizes social simulation and crafting over open-world exploration, action, and other well-worn AAA staples. It's also worth noting that Ubisoft rarely releases its games for a single platform, meaning that Alterif successful, could function as one Animal Crossing competitor on non-Nintendo hardware.
Ubisoft
Ubisoft is a well-known video game developer and publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé, France. Current CEO Yves Guillemot runs a series of teams responsible for some of the most iconic and well-known series in video games, with franchises such as Assassin's Creed, Farcry, The Crew, Just Dance and more. Ubisoft also serves as the parent company for a number 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
- Head office
- Saint Mande, France
- CEO
- Yves Guillemot
