The co-op shooter, which saw players taking on four different hero roles and battling waves of enemy machines, had a closed PC test in February 2024. We heard next to nothing afterwards, officially or otherwise, but it seems the results weren’t what Ubisoft expected.

Other cancellations apparently include Assassin’s Creed Singularity, a mobile title with “a couple of years” of development with a planned PC version, and an extraction shooter set in World War 2 known as Project Crest. There’s also Ubisoft Halifax’s Project Aether, which was allegedly cancelled but has since turned into a different project.

Then there’s Assassin’s Creed Rebellion, a mobile strategy title which reportedly won’t receive any more updates. It fully launched in November 2018 and focused on the Spanish Assassins. Of course, outside of these cancellations, Ubisoft confirmed delays for seven of its titles (seemingly including Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag Remake). On the bright side, it will allegedly have a reveal in April.

Those who register have a chance to participate in a technical test lasting 1-2 hours before the closed test. While the available content for the latter is unknown, only players in the United States, UK, Ireland, France, Belgium, Finland, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Poland and so on can participate.

Participants can invite up to five friends to play via Ubisoft Connect. Since the closed test is under NDA, no content will be shared (though leaks wouldn’t be out of the ordinary).

Project U was officially announced last year, reportedly starting development as Pathfinder. Ubisoft hasn’t revealed any extensive gameplay, a release window or platforms aside from PC. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.

This made it sound similar to Pathfinder, a rumored PvEvP shooter that used a similar art style to Hyper Scape. In a new report on Insider-Gaming, Tom Henderson revealed that Project U is Pathfinder. Whether Pathfinder is the final name or not is unknown, but the gameplay loop sounds about the same. You need to access the centre of the map, fighting off AI enemies that become more challenging.

The difference is that certain areas are locked until you reach a certain level. Leveling up is done by killing enemies, completing missions like defense and capturing locations, and so on. There are four hero roles at present – Attacker, Defender, Medic, and Support – with each having different skills.

Project U is also reportedly running on Godot Engine (which titles like Cruelty Squad utilize). The hub where players can meet is also still present, with facilities like a firing range and mini-games available.

In response to the report, Ubisoft said, “We will soon be running a closed test under NDA for codename ‘Project U,‘ and while some details have been shown publicly, the game is still a work in progress. We will share more information on the game at a later date.“

Playtests are currently PC-only in Western Europe. Stay tuned for more details on Project U in the coming months.

Developed by Ubisoft Annecy of Riders Republic fame, Project U has been in development for several years. Creative director Damien Kieken welcomed playtesters and explained, “U stands for Unite. As you will discover very quickly if you want to prevail in this game, uniting with other players is a must.” He noted the team was aiming  to “do something a little bit different in the co-op shooter genre, and we’re so happy that we can finally have you play the build with us.”

Only a few thousand players were invited to the closed test, which is PC-only and restricted to Western Europe. The gameplay doesn’t show too much combat, but we do get to see the environments. Oddly enough, some structures seem to resemble Ubisoft’s defunct battle royale title Hyper Scape. Project U is not (yet) confirmed to take place in the same universe.

Those interested in the playtest can register here. Project U is still in early development, and testers will provide feedback that could help shape the overall design. More details could be revealed in the coming months, but it’s a long way off from release.

https://twitter.com/just4leaks2/status/1580202802777067520

That said, the company does confirm that it’ll be holding closed tests for the shooter soon. While details for those haven’t been released, registrations are now open. The closed test will be available only on PC, and will only be playable in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, and Italy.

Meanwhile, system requirements for Project U’s closed test have also been revealed. You can check them out below. 

Whether or not Project U will be a free-to-play title similar to other upcoming Ubisoft games like The Division Heartland and XDefiant remains to be seen. Hopefully, more concrete details on the title will be available in the near future. 

Henderson’s sources noted that closed playtests have already begun on the title. Very little is known, but system requirements for the test are available. Playing at 60 FPS requires an Intel Core i7-6700K or AMD Ryzen 5 2600, a GeForce RTX 2060 or Radeon RX Vega 64, and 16 GB of dual-channel RAM. Interestingly, the playtest is currently limited to Europe.

It’s unknown whether Project U will be a free-to-play title like the upcoming XDefiant or The Division Heartland. Stay tuned for more details in the coming months. In the meantime, Project Q is still reportedly in development with active playtesting going on, according to Henderson. There are no further updates, but it hasn’t faced the same fate as Ghost Recon Frontline (yet).