In what might be one of the most high-profile leaks of the last decade, a playable build of Ubisoft’s Gods & Monsters was accidentally made playable on Google Stadia yesterday. The Greek mythology-rooted game doesn’t even have a firm release date, but players managed to log in to their Stadia accounts, play, and capture footage of the open-world game in motion with ease for a short time. A few hundred players reportedly had access to it for less than half an hour, according to a Stadia representative. The now-removed demo, codenamed Orpheus, appears to borrow more than a few elements from its Greek counterpart, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, as well as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. You can see for yourself below in one of the few clips Ubisoft has yet to take down.
If you’ve played Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, you’ll immediately notice that the UI shown in Orpheus is directly ripped from that game. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of Wild similarity is apparent, too, with a stamina wheel being present while climbing mountains. These elements are certainly not likely to appear in the final version of the game, however.
Kotaku reached out to Ubisoft for comment on the playable build, and Ubisoft Quebec executive Marc-Alexis Cote explained that was an old build and that Gods & Monsters has since been renamed:
Our vision for the game formerly known as Gods & Monsters has evolved in surprising ways, which is common when developing exciting new worlds. This footage is from our E3 2019 demo, which was shown to select press last June and is now over one year old. Much has changed since then in terms of features, tone, art and character design, and even the name of the game. We are hard at work and very excited to finally show players what we have created at the end of summer.
So, in other words, no, yesterday’s Gods & Monsters mishap was not part of an effort to add value to Stadia with a surprise exclusive. The publisher added that Orpheus is not the game’s new name despite the title of the Stadia demo. More is planned to be shared during next month’s Ubisoft Forward presentation.
Ubisoft revealed Gods & Monsters as a lighthearted mythological project from the Assassin’s Creed Odyssey team at E3 2019. We’ve learned more since the reveal, though the publisher did go on to delay the game past its projected Feb. 25, 2020 date late last year.
Ubisoft’s now-renamed Gods & Monsters project still has no release window, but you can expect to play it on Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia (again), Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
