Nintendo Reportedly Rejected Ubisoft's Zelda Game With New Protagonist

The Legend of Zelda series has traditionally centered on Link, with Zelda occasionally taking on the role of protagonist. But apparently, things could have been different at one point, with the series' iconic villain, Ganondorf, becoming the main character. Also, this game wasn't being developed internally by Nintendo, it was reportedly in the works at Ubisoft.

The news comes from a report by Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson, who says the project was internally titled Goliath, a "name that reflected the scale of what Ubisoft Milan aimed to develop." Rather than being a sequel or prequel, the game was reportedly planned as a new spin-off set in the Zelda universe. Players would have controlled a new protagonist, which was eventually decided to be Ganondorf.

Ubisoft Milan had until the end of 2023 to deliver a prototype, however, Nintendo apparently rejected the prototype in late November 2023. The exact reasons behind 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."

After the project was canceled, the Milan team was split up and reassigned to other projects across Ubisoft. Some developers left the company, including Davide Soliani, director of the Mario + Rabbids series, who went on to form his own studio, Day 4 Night, which is currently working on Bradley the Badger.

It's not the first time we've heard about a canceled Zelda project, but having Ganondorf as the protagonist would certainly be an unusual twist for the series. However, Zelda fans certainly aren't short on content: The Ocarina of Time remake for Switch 2 is set to release on November 5.