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Ubisoft cancels sci-fi game teased in Watch Dogs 2, Pioneer

Ubisoft Has Cancelled Pioneer

Remember the game that Ubisoft tucked into Watch Dogs 2 as a teaser? It was called Pioneer, and it was billed as a sci-fi heavy on the open-world exploration in a space setting. The game teaser was uncovered in Watch Dogs 2 by having protagonist Marcus Holloway hack into Ubisoft’s offices in San Francisco. Well, some bad news has broken recently, that project has now been cancelled.

Multiple sources from within and without Ubisoft have confirmed the cancellation the game this week. Former Ubisoft creative director Alex Hutchinson broke the news with a simple tweet. Other people chimed in to back up the initial news, creating a bit of a sour mood among fans who were looking forward to the new IP from Ubi.

Jonathan Cooper, a former Ubisoft animator who now works for Naughty Dog, echoed the message in a tweet of their own.

https://twitter.com/GameAnim/status/1084974255639388160

It’s not currently known what caused the cancellation perse, but whispers throughout the industry pointed to troubled development right out of the gate. A report from Kotaku in 2016 revealed that several sources close to the project cited various issues, essentially meaning the game would have a very hard time actually getting to release.

“The project was supposed to be announced next year,” said one source, adding that Ubisoft had replaced many of the leads on Pioneer within the past few months. “That won’t happen now and Pioneer is now being ‘retooled.’”

“When they decided to make the easter egg in Watch Dogs 2 they didn’t know it was going to be like this so it’s a bit awkward,” said a second source.

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