It seems that the former Creative Director of the Dragon Age series, Mike Laidlaw, worked for Ubisoft on a game about King Arthur, but the project was canceled, according to information disclosed by Jason Schreier from Bloomberg.
The journalist’s contact argued that the title was supposed to be an RPG focused on online cooperation, strongly inspired by the Monster Hunter cycle. The item with the working name of Avalon was to tell about the aforementioned King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
The project was a high-budget game developed by Laidlaw and Ubisoft’s Quebec studio. To the surprise of those involved – Schreier says they were “shocked” to see the production was canceled. The decision was reportedly made by Serge Hascoet, who recently left the company after media coverage for his tendency to harass employees.
NEWS: Fans have long wondered why Ubisoft hired Dragon Age designer Mike Laidlaw only for him to leave after just a year. The answer: Laidlaw's King Arthur game was canceled because former Ubisoft creative chief Serge Hascoët didn't like the setting https://t.co/tIMHfrMgza
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) July 28, 2020
Bloomberg informants say the manager canceled the title because he was not a fantasy lover. He was even supposed to say that if a position in such a universe actually arose, it should be “better than Tolkien” and deliberately set too high demands on the authors.
“The game, Avalon, was a co-op multiplayer King Arthur RPG inspired heavily by Monster Hunter. People who worked on the project said they were stoked about the team and the progress they’d made. They were infuriated that it was canceled because Hascoët didn’t care for the setting,” Schreier said.
The game, Avalon, was a co-op multiplayer King Arthur rpg inspired heavily by Monster Hunter. People who worked on the project said they were stoked about the team and the progress they'd made. They were infuriated that it was canceled because Hascoët didn't care for the setting
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) July 28, 2020
Laidlaw tried to save the project by presenting alternate versions, including a sci-fi variant and one based on Greek mythology. Hascoet, however, rejected every proposal. Interestingly, recent reports suggest that the latter was intended to deliberately belittle the role of women in the Assassin’s Creed series.
The former creative director of the Dragon Age series joined Ubisoft in December 2018 but left the company several months later – in January 2020.
