Ubisoft Milan spent late 2023 prototyping a canceled Legend of Zelda spin-off codenamed Goliath before Nintendo rejected the project. The ambitious pitch originally featured an original protagonist, but Nintendo requested that the title star Ganondorf as the lead character.
Following the critical reception of Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope in late 2022, Davide Soliani and a small team at Ubisoft Milan began exploring ideas for their next collaboration with Nintendo. What started as an original spin-off concept featuring a brand-new, never-before-seen protagonist quickly evolved when the proposal reached Nintendo in early 2023.
While Nintendo liked the concept, leadership suggested a major shift. They wanted the studio to build the experience around one of gaming’s most recognizable antagonists instead.
Development of Codenamed Goliath and the Late 2023 Rejection
The project took on the internal codename Goliath, a moniker chosen to reflect the scale of what Ubisoft Milan aimed to develop. Team members rallied behind the vision, confident that it could elevate the Italian studio into one of Ubisoft’s flagship studios.
“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.”
Gian Marco Zanna, Ubisoft veteran, via Multiplayer.it and Insider Gaming
Ubisoft Milan worked through the winter on a tight schedule. A deadline was set to finish a working prototype by the end of 2023 to clear the next greenlight phase. Soliani’s team successfully delivered the prototype, presenting it to Nintendo in late November 2023. Nintendo ultimately rejected the prototype, with reasons for the cancellation remaining unclear.
Partnership Breakdown and Studio Departures
After the Ganondorf project fell through, internal discussions turned toward other Nintendo properties. Studio rumors indicated that developers evaluated options involving Star Fox and additional games set in the Mario universe, but formal communication between Nintendo and Ubisoft broke down between late 2023 and early 2024.
The Milan team was subsequently scattered across different initiatives within Ubisoft. Some personnel found themselves placed on ‘availability’ status without assigned tasks, while upper-level developers were assigned to Beyond Good & Evil 2, a title marked by nearly two decades of development hurdles and multiple reboots.
Frustrated that their ambitious pitch never saw the light of day, key leaders chose to exit the company. Davide Soliani, Cristina Nava, and Gian Marco Zanna left Ubisoft in July 2024. They joined forces with veteran developer Christian Cantamessa—whose past credits include Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Red Dead Redemption—to establish a new studio called Day 4 Night.
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