Ubisoft scraps secret 'Animal Crossing' rival as Black Flag takes stage

Ubisoft has cancelled Alterra, an unannounced social simulation game that had been in development at Ubisoft Montreal for nearly three years. Staff working on the project were informed of the cancellation on April 22 and sent home for the day. No layoffs have been announced, with affected employees being reassigned to other projects within the company.

What Alterra was meant to be

First reported by Insider Gaming in 2024, Alterra was a social sim built around Animal Crossing-style gameplay, voxel art, and Minecraft-inspired building and gathering mechanics. Players would have explored different biomes, collected materials, and encountered a cast of NPCs called Matterlings, characters described as resembling Funko Pop figures.

The project was led by creative director Patrick Redding, known for his work on Gotham Knights, and producer Fabien Lhéraud, both of whom listed an unannounced project on their LinkedIn profiles at the time of reporting.

Another cancellation in a difficult year

Alterra marks the seventh Ubisoft game cancelled in 2026 alone. In January, six titles were axed as part of a broader restructuring, including the long-in-development Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake and an Assassin's Creed multiplayer title. In March, Ubisoft ended game development entirely at Red Storm Entertainment, the studio behind multiple Tom Clancy franchises.

Ubisoft did not confirm the cancellation directly but issued a statement to third-party media: "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 timing is notable. The casual life sim space has seen real momentum lately, with Pokémon Pokopia drawing strong numbers and Animal Crossing: New Horizons still holding a dedicated player base years after launch. Whether Ubisoft felt Alterra could not compete in that space, or whether internal milestones were simply not being met, has not been disclosed.

For now, Ubisoft's public focus remains on Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, which received its worldwide reveal showcase, and a pipeline that still includes multiple Assassin's Creed and Far Cry titles confirmed to be in development.