Assassin's Creed Valhalla studio Ubisoft Montreal is reportedly working on a new Animal Crossing-inspired social sim that features Minecraft-like building elements, and former Gotham Knights creative director Patrick Redding is said to be to the head.
This is according to Insider Gaming, which states that the title, currently codenamed Alterra, has been in development for approximately 18 months. Alterra is said to have risen from the ashes of a previous Ubisoft Montreal project, canceled after four years of development, and the two games supposedly share a focus on voxel creation.
Insider Gaming's source describes Alterra as an “Animal Crossing-inspired social simulator” in which players inhabit a home island populated by NPCs known as Matterlings. These Matterlings are “kind of like Funko Pop figures,” with large heads and designs that combine fictional and real-world creatures, from polar bears to dragons.
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The social aspect of Alterra is reportedly combined with the aforementioned voxel crafting element, which features “somewhat similar” building mechanics to those seen in Minecraft, with players able to create items using resources found in the world beyond your home.
Here, it is stated that you will find different biomes containing specific resources and different types of Matterling, as well as unique enemies, materials, and more. An example is an ice biome, inhabited by ice and snow Matterlings, where players can craft items. of snow and ice. Apparently it will also be possible to find other players in the world.
Insider Gaming adds that Ubisoft veteran Fabien Lhéraud serves as lead producer on Alterra, and that the project's release is “probably still a few years away.”
Ubisoft's release slate is, of course, a bit confusing beyond the delayed Assassin's Creed Shadows and next year's Anno 117: Pax Romana, although the publisher has confirmed that a new Rayman project is currently in the “exploration phase.” That's on top of the very long development process for Beyond Good & Evil 2 and Ubisoft's troubled Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake, with the latter now aiming for a 2026 release. In more recent news, Ubisoft has released its first blockchain game, with NFT figures costing up to £50,000.