Nintendo reportedly rejected Ubisoft Zelda spin-off starring Ganondorf

A Legend of Zelda game starring Ganondorf as the playable hero reached prototype stage at Ubisoft Milan before Nintendo rejected it. The project, carried under the internal name Goliath, was detailed in reporting by Insider Gaming published on 24 September 2026.

Ubisoft Milan finalised its pitch for Goliath in early 2023 after working through the winter. The team then had until around the end of 2023 to deliver a compelling prototype, an early playable test version, to pass its next approval stage. Nintendo turned the prototype down in late November 2023 for unclear reasons, according to the report cited by GameSpot.

Goliath did not start with Ganondorf. It was first planned around a new protagonist before the concept changed to put the series villain in the lead role. Ganondorf is normally the antagonist of the Zelda series, which made the idea unusual for Nintendo's long-running fantasy franchise.

The cancellation ended a productive run between the two companies. Ubisoft Milan was the studio behind Mario + Rabbids, the turn-based strategy crossovers directed by Davide Soliani. Insider Gaming said conversations between Nintendo and Ubisoft broke down between late 2023 and early 2024, with Ubisoft later pitching Star Fox and Mario projects as alternatives.

Soliani, Cristina Nava and Gian Marco Zanna left Ubisoft in July 2024. They founded a new studio, Day 4 Night, with Christian Cantamessa. The studio is now developing Bradley the Badger. Soliani has said his decision to leave was “100% based” on belief in what the new team was building.

For fans, this means a rare playable take on Zelda’s villain came close but never left the building. The full account follows more than 18 months of reporting for a forthcoming book about cancelled video games.