Ubisoft Milan once pitched Nintendo on an original Zelda spinoff 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 conducted over more than 18 months for my forthcoming book about canceled video games. Goliath was one of several previously unreported projects uncovered during that research. While some projects did not meet the evidentiary standard required for inclusion in the book, I independently corroborated enough reporting on Goliath to publish the story separately.
A Ubisoft Zelda Game
In the months after leaving Ubisoft Milan, the Italian gaming publication Multiplayer.it asked Gian Marco Zanna, a near-25-year Ubisoft veteran, 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 it wasn’t because of a falling-out with Ubisoft. If circumstances had been different, Zanna suggested, they might in fact still be at Ubisoft today. Instead, Zanna suggested that the fate of one project, led by Soliani himself, drove their decision to leave. The entire Milan team rallied behind 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 was confident in, and a project so ambitious that, in Zanna’s own words from that interview, “Davide didn’t want to aim for the sun; he wanted to aim for the entire universe; he wanted to create a new big bang in the video game universe.”
It’s late 2022, and Mario and Rabbids Sparks of Hope has just been released to generally favorable reviews on Metacritic. Sales aren’t the best, but both Ubisoft and Nintendo were pleased with the game’s reception and long-term sales potential. Discussions between Nintendo and Ubisoft Milan about their next collaboration began soon after, according to sources familiar with the discussions. This time, however, Milan’s ambitions extended beyond just a third Mario + Rabbids game.
Fast forward a few months: Soliani and a small team worked tirelessly on the new idea throughout the winter, and in early 2023, Ubisoft Milan finally had what they deemed the perfect pitch. Internally, the project was known as Goliath, a name that reflected the scale of what Ubisoft Milan aimed to develop: a new game set in the world of The Legend of Zelda.
Instead of a sequel or prequel, the game was set to be a new spinoff in the Zelda universe, with the player controlling a new, never-before-seen protagonist. That later changed during the concept phase to have the player control Ganondorf, the archenemy of Link and Zelda.
Ubisoft Milan had until around the end of 2023 to deliver a compelling prototype, sources said, which was a deadline set to get the game past its next greenlight. In late November 2023, however, Nintendo rejected the prototype, according to sources familiar with the project, but the reasons for the decision remain unclear.
According to two developers privy to high-level talks after Goliath’s cancellation, a proposal emerged that Milan begin developing a different Nintendo IP. Internal rumors at the studio suggested that games including Star Fox, or even another game set in the Mario universe, were in the running, but between late 2023 and early 2024, conversations between Nintendo and Ubisoft began to break down.
Following the project’s cancellation, the Milan team was split up and put into different projects across Ubisoft’s portfolio, with other developers in the team being put on ‘availability ’-a term used for developers who have no assigned project. Some developers in higher-up positions were assigned to Beyond Good & Evil 2, a project that has seen countless reboots and issues in its nearly 20-year development.
Soliani, Cristina Nava, and Gian Marco Zanna left Ubisoft in July 2024, forming 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, with development on its first game, Bradley the Badger, already underway. The game would eventually be revealed at The Game Awards on December 11, 2025. Several other developers from Ubisoft Milan would later join Day 4 Night after RTO mandates and a lack of job security.
Ubisoft was contacted for comment before this article’s publication, but did not comment in time. However, Ubisoft has previously acknowledged internally that a journalist was seeking information about Goliath.
If you’re a developer with an interesting story to share about a canceled video game, you can contact me securely and anonymously at [email protected]
Tom Henderson is Insider Gaming's Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief. When he's not running one of the industry's leading independent video game websites, he's probably playing an FPS like Call of Duty,…
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