Report: Inside Ubisoft’s Project Renaissance, a Cancelled Minecraft-Like Voxel Game
Like many other big developers in the current landscape, Ubisoft is undergoing significant restructuring, largely driven by persistent financial challenges that have plagued the company for some time. Given this, it is understandable that they have been canceling a wide array of games, such as The Division: Heartland, XDefiant, and Project Q.
The cancelled project we’ll explore here, however, is one that never even got to be officially announced, though it might yet find new life in a different form. We’re referring to “Project Renaissance.”
The existence of this project was first revealed in 2023 through a report by Kotaku, describing it as a voxel-based game with “shades of Minecraft” that had been in development for four years at Ubisoft Montreal. The next time we would hear about this game would be in an Insider Gaming report from November last year, where a project with similar characteristics to Renaissance was said to have been canceled. This cancellation is said to have paved the way for another project, codenamed Alterra, which is reportedly inspired by Animal Crossing and also utilizes this voxel generation technology.
Returning to Renaissance, sources close to its development have shared insights with us into what the game might have been like. We understand that Project Renaissance was envisioned as a platform featuring diverse user-created experiences. These worlds would have been constructed from blocks of various materials, akin to Minecraft, including elements like metal, snow, and lava, alongside fictional materials such as “thermidium.”
A Look Into the Cubic Worlds of Project Renaissance
Concept art provided to us showcases what the player avatars might look like—realistic, non-stylized human figures (contrary to what one might expect when compared to Minecraft). These avatars are depicted wearing special attire and using gun-like tools that appear to be designed for constructing environments.
The worlds could have been shared under different categories based on their environment type, such as caverns, caves, and mountains, as well as additional tags specifying gameplay modes like “Race to Escape”. Some categories were also determined by the primary materials composing the worlds.
As evident in the illustrations, Minecraft’s influence on the project is undeniable. However, we could say that elements reminiscent of Fortnite are also present in the project, as we have seen in other pics showcasing menus similar to Fortnite. This highlights another instance of the industry attempting to replicate that title’s massive success.
According to the reports from Kotaku and Insider Gaming, we estimate that the game was ultimately canceled between February and May 2023. This was followed by the departure of Jean Guesdon from the studio, who was reported to be the project’s creative director and who had previously worked on several titles in the Assassin’s Creed series.
Now, if we hope to see anything from its spiritual successor, Alterra, we’ll need patience. The game has only been in development for about two years, and considering the lengthy production cycles of modern AAA titles, it’s unlikely we’ll see it showcased anytime soon at events like Ubisoft Forward or Summer Game Fest. Furthermore, it’s worth noting that Ubisoft has recently stated it is delaying several of its biggest titles. This could mean a shift in company priorities, potentially impacting the development of original IPs like Alterra.
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