Ubisoft has cancelled the troubled Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake as part of a drastic company-wide restructuring. Know the other games being cancelled.
Prince of Persia Cancelled (Image: File)
Video game behemoth Ubisoft has acknowledged the termination of the eagerly anticipated "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" remake in a broad company reset. The decision is part of a massive reorganization that has also led to the scrapping of five other unannounced titles, studio closures, and a new focus on fewer, bigger-budget games.
Ubisoft is fundamentally changing how it operates. The company announced it is dividing its massive operations into five separate "Creative Houses." Each house will focus on a specific genre, like open-world adventures or shooters, and will have full control over its projects, budget, and profits. This move, described by CEO Yves Guillemot as a "radical move," aims to speed up decision-making and make the company more efficient.
The cancellation of the Sands of Time remake is a direct result of this new strategy. Ubisoft stated the game did not meet its "new enhanced quality benchmarks." After years of troubled development, the company decided it could not deliver a product that lived up to the iconic original without a huge additional investment.
This decision also reflects a harsh new reality for Ubisoft. The company admitted the AAA game market is "unprecedentedly competitive." In order to survive, Ubisoft is scaling back to concentrate on its most dependable franchises such as Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry, while pushing live-service games meant to keep players engaged long-term. Smaller projects, even well-loved remakes, are being shelved.
This corporate shift comes with significant human cost. Ubisoft has already closed its studios in Halifax and Stockholm. While the company did not specify the total number of layoffs, more job cuts are expected. Additionally, Ubisoft is reinstating a mandatory five-days-per-week in-office policy for most staff.
Beyond the Prince of Persia cancellation, four other unannounced games and one mobile title were axed. Conversely, seven other games in development have been granted more time to ensure they meet the new quality standards. A major title that was originally scheduled for 2026 has been postponed until 2027.
For players, this signals a more cautious and concentrated Ubisoft. The corporation is avoiding riskier revivals and placing large bets on certain things. The Prince of Persia franchise itself is not dead—it now falls under "Creative House 4," dedicated to "immersive fantasy worlds." However, the success of more recent, lesser entries like The Lost Crown, which apparently had trouble making a profit, will probably determine its destiny.
As part of its sweeping corporate reorganization, Ubisoft has discontinued development on six projects. The company stated these games did not meet its new, higher quality standards or fit its refined strategic focus. Here is the full list of cancelled titles, based on Ubisoft's official announcement.
This is the only publicly named project on the list. The long-anticipated remake of the 2003 classic had experienced years of development challenges. Ubisoft decided to discontinue the game because it could not raise it to their "new enhanced quality benchmarks" without making an excessive investment.
Three of the cancelled projects were entirely new franchises that had not been revealed to the public. These titles were in various stages of early to mid-development. Their cancellation is indicative of Ubisoft's deliberate retreat from unproven intellectual assets in order to support its well-established "billionaire brands."
The cancelled project belonged to one of Ubisoft’s ongoing franchise universes. Still, initiatives under popular brands were abandoned if they did not fit the new strategy centered on open-world adventures and live-service formats, with no confirmation of the exact series.
Next is a mobile game that was probably created at Ubisoft Halifax before to the studio's closure was the sixth cancelled title. The studio's closure, which is well-known for its emphasis on mobile, is a symptom of Ubisoft's increasing prudence in the cutthroat mobile industry.
Amid the cancellations, Ubisoft confirmed several rumored major projects are still in development:
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag Remake: This project was delayed to Fiscal Year 2027 (sometime between April 2026 and March 2027) for further polish, not cancelled.Beyond Good & Evil 2: Remains in active development under the newly formed Creative House 4. The Splinter Cell Remake is still being developed under Creative House 2, with an emphasis on shooter experiences.
