Ubisoft dropped a corporate bomb yesterday that sent shockwaves through the gaming community.
The French publisher officially cancelled six games in development, including the long-awaited Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake, while delaying seven other projects and shutting down multiple studios. This sweeping restructure, announced today, January 21, marks one of the industry’s most aggressive portfolio resets in recent memory.
The Prince of Persia remake cancellation stings the hardest for longtime fans. Originally announced back in September 2020, the project suffered through development hell for over five years, bouncing between Ubisoft’s studios in Pune, Mumbai, Montreal, and Toronto.
The game was restarted from scratch in 2023 and was supposedly set for an early 2026 launch. Instead, Ubisoft pulled the plug entirely, citing the remake didn’t meet their “new enhanced quality benchmarks” under a thorough content review conducted throughout December 2025 and January 2026.
Beyond Prince of Persia, the chopping block claimed three unannounced new IPs, one mobile game, and a sixth mystery title. On the delay side, seven games got pushed back to ensure they hit Ubisoft’s freshly elevated quality standards.
One major unannounced title initially scheduled for fiscal year 2026 (ending March 2026) now won’t arrive until fiscal year 2027. Industry insiders are speculating this could be the rumored Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag remake, though Ubisoft hasn’t confirmed anything.
Five creative houses and the end of remote work
At the core of this transformation sits Ubisoft’s new decentralized operating model built around five “Creative Houses.”
Each division operates as an autonomous business unit focused on specific genres with full financial responsibility. Vantage Studios leads the charge, handling massive franchises like Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six with the goal of turning them into annual multimillion-dollar brands.
The second house tackles competitive and cooperative shooters including The Division, Ghost Recon, and Splinter Cell.
The third manages live service experiences like For Honor, The Crew, Riders Republic, Brawlhalla, and Skull & Bones.
House four covers immersive fantasy and narrative-driven worlds such as Anno, Might & Magic, Rayman, Prince of Persia, and Beyond Good & Evil.
The fifth focuses on casual and family titles including Just Dance, Hungry Shark, Uno, and various Hasbro properties.
Supporting these houses are two shared infrastructure areas: Creative Network provides production manpower across studios as needed, while Core Services centralizes tech infrastructure like game engines, servers, and generative AI tools to avoid redundant development.
This restructure comes with harsh realities. Ubisoft confirmed closures of its Halifax mobile studio and Stockholm studio, alongside restructuring at Abu Dhabi, RedLynx, and Massive Entertainment.
The company aims to slash fixed costs by 200 million euros over the next two years. Adding salt to the wound, Ubisoft is ditching remote work entirely, mandating five-day-a-week office presence for all teams.
Financial hit and strategic gamble
The numbers tell a brutal story. Ubisoft expects approximately 650 million euros in accelerated asset depreciation from these decisions and projects operational losses near 1 billion euros for the fiscal year.
CFO Frederick Duguet acknowledged the market has become “unprecedentedly competitive and selective,” forcing the publisher to elevate quality standards and cut projects that don’t align with long-term strategic priorities.
Despite the carnage, four new intellectual properties survived the purge and remain in development. Most notably, March of Giants continues forward. The 4v4 MOBA, which Ubisoft acquired from Amazon Games Montreal in mid-December 2025, brings back veteran developers including Rainbow Six Siege’s original creative director Xavier Marquis and former Ubisoft Toronto managing director Alexandre Parizeau.
The acquisition marked a homecoming for many team members who previously worked at Ubisoft before joining Amazon’s Montreal studio in 2021.
Ubisoft’s strategy moving forward doubles down on achieving exceptional quality in open-world adventures and strengthening their games-as-a-service position. Whether this brutal reset pays off or backfires spectacularly remains to be seen, but one thing’s certain: the gaming landscape just shifted dramatically, and Prince of Persia fans are left holding the bag.
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