Ubisoft is pulling the plug on the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake and reshaping its entire studio structure around live service games and artificial intelligence. The gaming giant announced a major reorganization taking effect in April that's wiping six games from its slate while pushing seven others back on the calendar. But the real signal in this shuffle is Ubisoft's explicit commitment to "accelerated investments" in player-facing generative AI.
The fallout from Ubisoft's reorganization landed like a hammer on Tuesday. The company's been quietly preparing this overhaul, but when it dropped the official announcement, the message was unmistakable: this isn't a minor shuffle. It's a complete recalibration of what Ubisoft thinks gaming should be.
Start with Prince of Persia. The remake has been a running sore for years. The studio kept pushing deadlines, missing targets, burning through budgets. On Tuesday, Ubisoft finally admitted what everyone suspected: the project wasn't going to cut it. The company posted a statement on the franchise's X account that reads almost like a confession. "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," the post said. "We didn't want to release something that fell short of what The Sands of Time represents."
That's the sound of a company getting serious about not shipping broken games. But Prince of Persia is just the headline. What matters is the strategy underneath.
Ubisoft's new structure splits the company into five Creative Houses, each with its own focus. Vantage Studios gets the crown jewels - Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six - and is tasked with turning them into "annual billionaire brands." Another house focuses purely on live service games. Another on competitive shooters. One on fantasy worlds and narrative experiences where Prince of Persia still lives, just not as a remake. And one dedicated to casual and family games.
