Mike Laidlaw, a designer of Dragon Age fame, was hired to make video games in late 2018. Part-way through his first title, 'Avalon'--a game based on Arthurian legends and the knights of the Round Table--he quit. Why? Because Ubisoft's Creative Director cancelled the project that was being developed in Quebec City, Canada.
It sounds almost impossible to believe, that a AAA King Arthur RPG that would almost assuredly be a commercial hit would be cancelled, but it was. It was cancelled by Serge Hascoët, the former chief creative officer at Ubisoft because of an apparent dislike for Fantasy titles. In fact, if Avalon were to ever be made into a reality, it would have to be "better than Tolkien".
Less than two years after he was hired, Laidlaw qiuit after the project was cancelled. Apparently beating a genius that developed a universe full of different languages, lore, and legends for over 50 years was impossible, when your boss hates fantasy is just shocking. It's almost like the bar set for Laidlaw was impossible to begin with, or something.
For more information on this entire kerfuffle, be sure to read the entire article here.
Thanks, Bloomberg.
Quick Take:
This is terrible. A King Arthur RPG was in the process of being made by a proven designer at a big budget company? Ugh. Why on Earth would anyone cancel it? Things like a King Arthur RPG or even a Robin Hood sandbox RPG have the potential to be incredible, but they aren't better than Tolkien, so go make the Division 48. At least we have Bannerlord, I guess.
What do you think of this news? Do you now really want a King Arthur RPG by a proven designer? Well, looks like that'll never happen now, so let's all mourn together in the comments!