Ubisoft’s Mario + Rabbids team reportedly came close to making an “ambitious” Zelda game starring Ganondorf, but it wasn’t to be
Ubisoft Milan, the developer behind the Mario + Rabbids strategy games, reportedly came close to creating an official The Legend of Zelda spin-off in partnership with Nintendo, but the project was ultimately cancelled.
According to Insider Gaming, Ubisoft Milan pitched the concept to Nintendo in 2022, shortly after releasing Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope. The studio originally proposed an original Zelda spin-off featuring an unknown protagonist, with the project internally titled “Goliath” to reflect its ambitious scope.
While Nintendo initially approved the pitch, they requested a significant creative change: making Ganondorf, the series’ primary antagonist, the playable character instead of the custom protagonist Ubisoft had envisioned. Despite this greenlight, Nintendo subsequently decided to cancel the entire project.
The cancellation represents the end of what seemed to be a promising expansion of the Ubisoft-Nintendo partnership that previously produced two Mario + Rabbids games. The collaboration between the companies had yielded Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (2017) and its 2022 sequel. The failed Zelda pitch suggests Nintendo’s hesitation about expanding external studio collaborations or granting outside developers significant creative control over major franchises.