Rumor: Ubisoft Has Canceled Its Animal Crossing-Like Social Sim Game

Back in 2024, rumors surfaced that Ubisoft was working on “Alterra”, a cozy life sim game to rival Nintendo’s Animal Crossing, although they never manifested into an official announcement from the publisher.

Insider Gaming, who originally reported on the rumor, has published a follow-up article on the rumored project. The publication’s update claims that the game has now been cancelled as of April 21st, with the staff being rotated out to other projects.

The news was broken to staff working on the game on Tuesday, and they were all sent home for the day.

There were no layoffs announced at the time of cancellation. Employees working on the game were put on availability for other projects within the company. That said, it’s unclear what all this means for the support studios that had been working on the game as well.

When fellow publication Eurogamer reached out to Ubisoft directly for comment, the publisher only had this to say:

“As part of our portfolio management approach and evolving creative house-led model, we continuously assess projects at every stage of development to ensure alignment with our strategic priorities, quality ambitions, and long-term market potential. Projects that no longer meet these expectations may be discontinued.”

The initial rumors said that “Alterra” would be a voxel-based game with resource gathering and crafting elements, along with islands of various biomes and NPC “Matterlings” to meet and interact with. Ubisoft’s comments suggests that if the game did indeed exist and was cancelled, the company ultimately did not have enough confidence in the concept to complete its development.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.