Minecraft-Like Social Sim Game “Alterra” In Development by Ubisoft

Minecraft and Animal Crossing-inspired game is reportedly being developed by Ubisoft Montreal called as "Alterra." Read on to learn more about this new voxel-based game!

Minecraft and Animal Crossing-Inspired Voxel Game In Development

With Building and Social Sim Mechanics

Ubisoft Montreal, developer of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Far Cry 6, is developing a new voxel game with the codename "Alterra," according to Insider Gaming’s article on November 26. The game reportedly rose from the ashes of a previously canceled voxel game, which was in development for four years.

Following the report, the sources claimed that this new project’s "gameplay loop will be akin to the likes of Animal Crossing." Instead of friendly anthropomorphic NPCs, the game will have "Matterlings," where players can interact with them on a home island. Though not much information has been shared, Animal Crossing is known for its coziness, where players can design their homes, catch bugs and other wildlife, and socialize with other villagers.

Players can also leave their home island and explore other biomes to gather different materials and interact with various Matterlings. However, the journey isn’t safe as enemies will stand in their way. The Minecraft-like mechanics also come into play, as players can visit different biomes, each tied to specific building materials. For instance, a forested biome contains an ample supply of materials for wood-based structures.

The report also includes the appearance of Matterlings as "somewhat like Funko Pop figures in their design with large heads." Moreover, they are inspired by fictional creatures like dragons and animals such as cats and dogs. Each species type also has variations, depending on their clothes.

"Alterra" has been in development for over 18 months with Fabien Lhéraud, who’s been with Ubisoft for 24 years, as its lead producer. His LinkedIn page states that he is working on a "Next Gen Unannounced Project," and the development started in December 2020 continuing to the present. Patrick Redding is also reportedly working on this game as creative director. He previously worked on games like Gotham Knights, Splinter Cell Blacklist, and Far Cry 2.

Despite this exciting news, take this information with a grain of salt as "Alterra" is still under development and is subject to change.

What are Voxel Games?

Voxel games have a unique way of modeling and rendering objects in their world. These games use tiny cubes or pixels, group them together, and render them in 3D. In simple terms, they are like LEGO bricks, combined to create new and more complex objects.

One popular voxel game today is Teardown, where players must pull the perfect heist by carefully interacting with the environment, destroying walls or other objects pixel-by-pixel. Surprisingly, Minecraft is not a voxel game. It only uses a voxel-like aesthetic of the world, but each large cube or "block" is rendered using traditional polygon models.

In contrast, games like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 or Metaphor: ReFantazio render visuals with polygons, which are made up of millions of tiny triangles that form a surface. This is why, when players accidentally clip inside an object like walls or NPCs, they will mostly encounter an empty space. In voxel games, this doesn't happen, as each block or pixel is placed on top of the other to create an object, giving them volume.

Most developers have used polygon-based rendering for efficiency, as it only requires creating surfaces to render objects in their games. Despite this trend, Ubisoft's project "Alterra" sounds promising with its use of voxel-based graphics.