Mario + Rabbids developer Ubisoft Milan once reportedly pitched a Zelda game to Nintendo that was set to star series antagonist Ganondorf.
For a while there, Nintendo was more happy to let outside developers work on some of its franchises. While the publisher has let the likes of Forever Entertainment and Velan Studios work on Donkey Kong and Star Fox remakes, during the Switch era we got a couple of bespoke crossover games in the form of the Mario + Rabbids duology and Cadence of Hyrule, the latter of which blended Crypt of the NecroDancer with The Legend of Zelda.
Per an Insider Gaming report, following the release of Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, discussions between Nintendo and Ubisoft Milan about the next collaboration began, with the team pitching a Zelda project codenamed Goliath. This project reportedly starred a new protagonist to the series, but during production it changed to a game starring series antagonist Ganondorf, apparently at Nintendo’s request.
Nintendo was reportedly on board with the idea, and the studio had until the end of 2023 to deliver a prototype; however, it’s claimed that Nintendo rejected the prototype, resulting in the project’s cancellation. Following this, the studio allegedly proposed a Star Fox or new Mario title, but eventually conversations between the two developers broke down.
Not long after the supposed cancellation, Mario + Rabbids developers Davide Soliani, Cristina Nava, and Gian Marco Zanna left Ubisoft to form Day 4 Night, who are currently working on platformer Bradley the Badger. Zanna told Multiplayer.it that the decision to leave Ubisoft was based on a project led by Soliani falling through, which could be this Zelda title.
GamesRadar+ has reached out to Ubisoft and Nintendo for comment, and Ubisoft tells us, “We do not comment on rumours or speculation.” We’ll update this article if Nintendo responds.