Ubisoft Milan once proposed to Nintendo an original Zelda spin-off starring a previously unknown protagonist, according to sources familiar with the project. Nintendo liked the concept, but asked Ubisoft to replace the character with one of the most recognizable villains in video game history, Ganondorf. This story is based on reporting done over 18 months for my upcoming book on canceled video games. Goliath was one of several previously unreported projects discovered during that investigation. While some projects did not meet the evidentiary standard required for inclusion in the book, I independently corroborated enough reports about Goliath to publish the story separately. A Ubisoft Zelda game In the months after leaving Ubisoft Milan, Italian game publication Multiplayer.it asked Gian Marco Zanna, a Ubisoft veteran with almost 25 years of experience, why he, Davide Soliani and several colleagues had decided to leave the company and form their own studio, Day 4 Night. Zanna made it clear that it was not due to a fight with Ubisoft. If circumstances had been different, Zanna suggested, they might still be at Ubisoft today. Instead, Zanna suggested that the fate of a project, led by Soliani himself, drove his decision to leave. The entire Milan team supported it and people familiar with its development believed it could have elevated Ubisoft Milan to one of Ubisoft’s flagship studios. It was a project that the entire team trusted and a project so ambitious that, in the words of Zanna himself in that interview, “Davide didn’t want to aim at the sun; he wanted to aim at the entire universe; he wanted to create a new big bang in the universe of video games.” It’s late 2022 and Mario and Rabbids Sparks of Hope has just received generally favorable reviews on Metacritic. Sales aren’t the best, but both Ubisoft and Nintendo were pleased with the game’s reception and its long-term sales potential. Talks between Nintendo and Ubisoft Milan about their next collaboration began shortly after, according to sources familiar with the discussions. This time, however, Milan’s ambitions went beyond a third Mario + Rabbids game. A few months later: Soliani and a small team worked tirelessly on the new idea all winter, and in early 2023, Ubisoft Milan finally had what they considered the perfect launch. Internally, the project was known as Goliath, a name that reflected the scale of what Ubisoft Milan intended to develop: a new game set in the world of The Legend of Zelda. Instead of a sequel or prequel, the game was going to be a new spin-off in the Zelda universe, in which the player would control a new, never-before-seen protagonist. That later changed during the concept phase to have the player control Ganondorf, Link and Zelda’s archenemy. Ubisoft Milan had until the end of 2023 to deliver a compelling prototype, sources said, which was a deadline set for the game to pass its next green light. However, in late November 2023, Nintendo rejected the prototype, according to sources familiar with the project, but the reasons for the decision remain unclear. According to two developers aware of high-level conversations following Goliath’s cancellation, a proposal emerged for Milan to begin developing a different Nintendo IP. Internal rumors at the studio suggested that games like Star Fox, or even another game set in the Mario universe, were in the running, but between late 2023 and early 2024, talks between Nintendo and Ubisoft began to fall apart. Following the cancellation of the project, the Milan team was split up and split into different projects in Ubisoft’s portfolio, with other developers on the team placed on “availability”, a term used for developers who do not have any projects assigned to them. Some developers in senior positions were assigned to Beyond Good & Evil 2, a project that has experienced countless reboots and problems in its almost 20 years of development. Soliani, Cristina Nava and Gian Marco Zanna left Ubisoft in July 2024 and formed Day 4 Night with Christian Cantamessa, a veteran developer whose credits include Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Red Dead Redemption and Forza Horizon. Day 4 Night was announced in October 2024 and development on its first game, Bradley the Badger, is already underway. The game would finally be revealed at The Game Awards on December 11, 2025. Several other Ubisoft Milan developers would later join Day 4 Night after RTO mandates and lack of job security. Ubisoft was contacted for comment before this article was published, but did not comment in time. However, Ubisoft previously acknowledged internally that a journalist was seeking information about Goliath. If you are a developer and have an interesting story to share about a canceled video game, you can contact me securely and anonymously at [email protected]
Tom Henderson is co-founder and editor-in-chief of Insider Gaming. When you’re not running one of the industry’s leading independent gaming websites, you’re probably playing an FPS like Call of Duty,… More from Tom Henderson MOBILE APP Level up your gaming news Real-time news, exclusive podcasts, push alerts, and a better reading experience. Available on iOS and Android