A new report claims a King Arthur game from Dragon Age director Mike Laidlow was canceled at Ubisoft by then-Chief Creative Officer, Serge Hascoët.
A new report has revealed that Dragon Age creative director Mike Laidlaw was working on a King Arthur game at Ubisoft, but that development was scrapped by then Chief Creative Officer, Serge Hascoët. The canceled project would’ve been another fantasy game from the director, including Arthur and his Knights of the Roundtable in a sprawling adventure.
Ubisoft is no stranger to massive, open-world games, giving players franchises like Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and the Tom Clancy series. The Assassins Creed games in particular – which take players to different points of history for a grand adventure – have taken on more of an RPG style over the last few years, offering players huge maps to roam and plenty of mythology to dig into. Having that series under its belt would make Ubisoft seem like the perfect place to develop a game based on the fabled King Arthur and his knights, but per the report, the reality is quite the opposite.
According to Bloomberg, when Laidlaw was brought in to Ubisoft in 2018 he began work on a new RPG game based on the stories of King Arthur, apparently under the code name Avalon. Word is the project was “progressing well,” with comparisons being drawn to Capcom’s Monster Hunter series, even involving co-op gameplay. However, Hascoët reportedly wasn’t a fan of working on a fantasy-related project, the report saying he told employees that if they were going to tackle fantasy that it had to be “better than Tolkien.” Laidlaw and the team tried to keep the project alive over the course of 2019 by steering the setting towards something more sci-fi based, and even leaning into Greek mythology, all for Hascoët to turn them away. Laidlaw then left the company in January, effectively ending the project.
This report comes after Hascoët resigned from the company earlier this month amid sexual harassment allegations, with Chief Executive Officer Yves Guillemot currently filling in the role of CCO. This lack of support for a fantasy game is apparently not the first time Hascoët stifled the development team, with the report detailing how he turned down “some ideas with great potential.” This is on top of reports that Hascoët and the marketing team made efforts to limit the role of female characters in past Assassin’s Creed games. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey allowed players to pick between playing as male or female, and this year’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will do the same.
Between what Laidlaw accomplished on the Dragon Age games and what Ubisoft brings to the table with their work with such expansive games, it’s a shame players won’t get their hands on a game like what he and his team had planned for King Arthur. There’s a ton of lore worth exploring across the character’s history. Perhaps with Hascoët out, there’s a chance Laidlaw could be brought back in to give this game another shot, but only time will tell if King Arthur and his Roundtable will get another shot at breaking into the video game scene.
Contact Information:
MATT ROONEY
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, Wire, United States, English
Contact Information:
MATT ROONEY
