This titles existence became known when an artist uploaded concept art they had done in 2022. This mysterious Zelda project within Retro ended up falling apart somewhat quickly. Former Retro programmer Paul Tozour went referred to Project X as "an experiment gone wrong" and also said that much of the game wasn't "anything like Zelda." This was primarily due to the combat of Project X, which was likened to a "simplified version of Whack-A-Mole" that players carried out with the Wii controller.
According to Paul, the head figures at Nintendo refused to listen to feedback, they expected everyone to "blindly follow orders" and work on the game officially ended in the early part of 2008. The reason for Project X's cancellation isn't known, but it seems that the departure of key members of the development team at Retro contributed to the decision.