According to a recent Insider Gaming report, prolific developerUbisoftis working on a game inspired byAnimal Crossing. The game, known currently asAlterra, willapparently featureMinecraft-like building mechanicscoupled 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, butUbisoftcould very well pull out something special. While the developer has had a history of both controversy and underwhelming releases, games likeMario + Rabbids,Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, andImmortals: Fenyx Risingprove 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 differentAlterrasounds—for a Ubisoft game, anyway—it could wind up sitting alongside those aforementioned titles. But it still faces some obstacles.
Alterra Is Going To Have To Compete With Animal Crossing
Alterra Is Seemingly Early in Development
News ofAlterrais 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 thatAlterrais 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.
WithAlterrabeing fundamentallydifferent from so many other Ubisoft games, it’s less likely to reuse assets or code from other projects, potentially prolonging its development timeline.
Animal Crossing: New Leaflaunched in 2013 (2012 in Japan), withNew Horizonscoming seven years later, in 2020. IfAlterrais ready to come to market in, say, three years, then that could place it right around the same time as the nextAnimal Crossing, putting the two in even more direct competition than they would have been otherwise. IfAlterracomes out slightly before the nextAnimal 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 afterAnimal 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 notAlterrahas any inherent promise, it will definitely have a tough time if it is indeed “likeAnimal Crossing.” While it may not be the series for everyone,Animal Crossing’s dominance in the cozy game spaceis essentially unchallenged, at least when it comes to the AAA scene—indies likeStardew Valleyhave thus far been the only contenders forAC’s crown. Decades of consistent quality have madeAnimal Crossingone 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 againstAnimal 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 likeAlterra.
It would be unwise to writeAlterraoff 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 manyplayers choosing it overAnimal 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.
