- Ubisoft has cancelled the Prince of Persia Sands of Time Remake.
- The studio has axed a total of 6 games while delaying 7 others "to ensure enhanced quality benchmarks are fully met."
- As per reports, Ubisoft is also looking at a wave of layoffs in February 2026.
The year 2026 has just barely begun, and gamers have just received a shocker that they hadn’t expected while preparing their video game wishlist. As this year is most notably going to be known as the year of GTA 6, other games like Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake were among the hotly anticipated titles among fans.
Unfortunately, the shocking news comes straight from the development studio at Ubisoft, who have now announced it is cancelling the remake. That’s right! After the studio announced the remake at Ubisoft Forward 2024 with a 30-second teaser and a promise of a 2026 release, they have now decided to shut down the project entirely while axing 5 more games. Here’s what you need to know about the ongoing situation at the French game studio.
Prince of Persia Sands of Time Remake Is Dead as Ubisoft Axes 6 Games and Prepares For Layoffs
All is not merry over at Ubisoft France and Ubisoft Montreal, as the studio just announced that Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake is now officially cancelled. In a statement posted by the Prince of Persia X account, Ubisoft announced, “We’ve made the difficult decision to stop development on Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake. We know this is deeply disappointing. The game carries enormous meaning for fans and for the teams who worked on it.”
They further continued, “While the project had real potential, we weren’t able to reach the level of quality you deserve, and continuing would have required more time and investment than we could responsibly commit. And we didn’t want to release something that fell short of what The Sands of Time represents.”
But that’s not all – The Game Awards chief Geoff Keighley also posted on his page that the studio has shelved 6 ongoing projects (three new IP and a mobile title), including Prince of Persia, and has delayed 7 games indefinitely (that means you aren’t getting the AC Black Flag remake anytime soon), including “the unannounced title initially planned for FY26, that has been delayed to FY27.” Furthermore, the studio is looking at a massive restructure in the dev team, as according to Keighley, “The company will announce additional layoffs on February 12.”
Ubisoft commented that the studio intends to “return to exceptional levels of quality on the Open-World Adventure segment” and to “change the group’s position in the native experiences segment”. The company’s Halifax and Stockholm offices have already shut down, and the studio will operate under five “creative houses” for different IPs with individual leadership and “end-to-end” responsibilities for their portfolios for better and quicker decisions.
Among the five creative houses, the Vantage Studios, like Montreal, oversees R6, Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry developments. The second house overlooks titles like The Division, Ghost Recon and Splinter Cell. The third house is responsible for live experience titles like The Crew, Riders Republic, and Brawlhalla. The fourth house overlooks the fantasy genre like Prince of Persia, Anno, and more. And finally, the fifth house overlooks family-friendly titles like Just Dance, and UNO.
That said, all hope is not lost as Ubisoft also reassured longtime Prince of Persia fans, “Prince of Persia as a universe and a legacy continues to matter deeply to us, and this decision does not mean we’re stepping away from the franchise.”
What do you think about the ongoing Ubisoft drama? Let us know in the comments below!
