Ubisoft Cancels Development of 'Prince of Persia Sands of Time' Remake, Here's the Reason!

Liputan6.com, Jakarta - Ubisoft officially announced the cancellation of development of the Prince of Persia Sands of Time remake on January 21, 2026.

This cancellation is part of a major internal restructuring being carried out by the French game development company.

This drastic step comes after a thorough review of Ubisoft's product line over the past two months, which resulted in a new roadmap for the next three years.

Ubisoft stated that they would refocus resources to prioritize fewer projects, with a strong emphasis on quality.

Although the Prince of Persia Sands of Time remake project had real potential, the development team felt it could not reach the level of quality that players expected.

"We went through a thorough review of projects across December [and] January, with the current market evolution in mind — which is consistently more selective," Ubisoft's chief financial officer Frederick Duguet told IGN.

"You've seen the last quarter showing a never-before-seen level of competition. Competition and selection is here to stay."

pic.twitter.com/6Rv5CqZtQD

— Prince of Persia™ (@princeofpersia) January 21, 2026

The cancellation of Prince of Persia Sands of Time remake is one of the actions Ubisoft is taking as part of a major "organizational, operational and portfolio reset."

The restructuring also includes the closure of two studios and the postponement of seven other games.

Ubisoft will now refocus resources to prioritize fewer projects, with a strong emphasis on quality.

On the financial side, Ubisoft expects to achieve its fixed cost savings target of at least €100 million compared to fiscal year 2024-2025 by March 2026, one year ahead of its fiscal year 2026-2027 target.

They have set a new target to reduce their fixed cost base by "an additional €200 million over the next two years," which would bring "total fixed cost reductions since fiscal year 2022-2023 to approximately €500 million," and "€1.25 billion on a sustained basis by March 2028, compared to €1.75 billion in fiscal year 2022-2023."

However, these cost reductions are the result of studio closures. Ubisoft closed its Halifax and Stockholm mobile studios earlier this month, and has implemented restructuring at its Abu Dhabi, RedLynx, and Massive studios.

The development journey for Prince of Persia Sands of Time remake has not been smooth.

The game was first announced in September 2020 during the UbiForward event, with a planned release date of January 21, 2021.

However, the game's initial trailer received negative reactions from the public because the visuals were deemed not to meet expectations.

As a result, Ubisoft postponed the release date to March 18, 2021, then postponed it indefinitely to February 2021.

Game development was initially handled by Ubisoft studios in Mumbai and Pune, India.

After experiencing several delays, development shifted to Ubisoft Montreal in 2022 or 2023.

At Ubisoft Forward in 2024, the game returned with a targeted release window of 2026.

Apart from the Prince of Persia Sands of Time remake, Ubisoft also canceled five other game projects, including three new IPs and one unannounced mobile game.

Seven other games were also delayed to allow additional development time.

This restructuring also resulted in the closure of two Ubisoft studios, namely Ubisoft Halifax and Ubisoft Stockholm, as well as reducing employees at several other studios.

Ubisoft's new operating model will center on five "creative houses" each responsible for various Ubisoft IPs and having expertise in different genres.

This simplified structure is designed to facilitate the execution of the company's strategy to focus more on "Open World Adventures and GaaS-native experiences."