Prince of Persia Remake Canceled Amidst Ubisoft’s Major Overhaul
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Ubisoft has sent shockwaves through the gaming world with a major restructuring that includes the cancellation of six games, most notably the highly anticipated remake of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. This news comes as part of a wider company reset aimed at improving quality and long-term value creation.
A Bitter Pill for Prince of Persia Fans
The Prince of Persia remake, which was slated for an early 2026 release with rumors swirling around a January 16th launch date, is now officially off the table. According to Jason Schreier via Bluesky, the team working on the game “was not happy with the state of the game and decided to cancel it as part of a massive reorganization.” This marks another setback for fans who have been eagerly awaiting a modern take on this classic adventure title.
Alongside the Prince of Persia remake, Ubisoft has axed five other unannounced projects, including one mobile title. The company cited that these games “do not meet the new enhanced quality as well as more selective portfolio prioritization criteria.” This move underscores Ubisoft’s commitment to raising the bar for its future releases.
Delays and a Glimmer of Hope for Beyond Good & Evil 2
While some projects have been canceled, others are simply being delayed. Seven games, including what is rumored to be the highly anticipated Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag remake, have been internally pushed back “in order to ensure enhanced quality benchmarks are fully met and maximize long-term value creation.” Ubisoft aims to “return to exceptional levels of quality on the open-world adventure segment and step-change the group’s position in the GaaS-native experiences segment.”
Despite the restructuring, there’s a faint glimmer of hope for Beyond Good & Evil 2, the sequel to the cult classic that has been in development hell since its initial announcement in 2008. While Ubisoft hasn’t officially commented on the game’s status recently (the last word was in June 2024), job listings related to the title surfaced last year, suggesting it might not be completely dead yet.
Yves Guillemot’s Vision for the Future
“On the one hand, the AAA industry has become persistently more selective and competitive with rising development costs and greater challenges in creating brands,” said Yves Guillemot, founder and CEO of Ubisoft, in a press release. “On the other hand, exceptional AAA games, when successful, have more financial potential than ever. In this context, today we are announcing a major reset built to create the conditions for a return to sustainable growth over time.”
This “reset” involves reorganizing Ubisoft into five “creative houses,” each focusing on specific groups of franchises:
House 1: Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Rainbow Six (Ubisoft’s largest and established franchises) House 2: The Division, Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell (shooter series) House 3: For Honor, The Crew, Riders Republic, Brawlhalla, Skull & Bones (live experiences) House 4: Anno, Might & Magic, Rayman, Prince of Persia, Beyond Good & Evil (fantasy and narrative-driven series) House 5: Casual games targeting families and younger audiences: Just Dance, Idle Miner Tycoon, Ketchapp, Hungry Shark, Invincible: Guarding the Globe, Uno, Hasbro.
To support these creative houses, Ubisoft will leverage a “creative network” of studios and a “core services” team to provide essential infrastructure and expertise.
Financial Restructuring and Studio Closures
Ubisoft is aiming to achieve €100 million in fixed cost savings by March 2026, a year ahead of schedule. The company has set an additional target of reducing its fixed cost base by €200 million over the next two years, bringing the total reduction since FY2022-23 to around €500 million and €1.25 billion on a run-rate basis by March 2028.
However, this cost-cutting comes at a price. Ubisoft recently closed its Halifax mobile studio and implemented restructurings at its Abu Dhabi, RedLynx, and Massive studios.
The next confirmed release from Ubisoft is Rainbow Six Mobile, slated for February 23rd. Other titles in the pipeline include The Division Resurgence, Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, and Might and Magic Fates, all expected in 2026.
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