Ubisoft has officially canceled development of the long-awaited remake of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, ending one of the most tumultuous projects in the company’s recent history.
Videos by Suggest
Fans are disappointed, any remaining Ubisoft supporters are fed up, and the gaming community in general is unsurprised.
Ubisoft had scheduled the game to release this year after many delays since the game’s announcement back in 2020. But Ubisoft, the giant video game development company, always tends to take the term “all good things must come to an end” to heart, and often before the ‘good thing’ has even seen the light of day.
Ubisoft made the call to halt development after an internal review of its development pipeline concluded that the game was not meeting the company’s elevated quality benchmarks and would require significantly more time and investment than planned. In its official statement, Ubisoft said it felt it could not responsibly commit to a release that lived up to the legacy of the original title.
They announced the decision this week as part of a sweeping organizational restructure intended to “reclaim creative leadership” and refocus the publisher’s priorities.
Business As Usual: Ubisoft Lets Everyone Down Again
In addition to the Prince of Persia remake, Ubisoft announced that they have cancelled five other in-development games, including unannounced titles, new IPs, and a mobile project. The company also plans to delay at least seven other games.
The cancellation has reverberated across the gaming community, with some developers and voice actors expressing deep disappointment. Voice actor Eman Ayaz, who had worked on the project for several years, described the news as “the most devastating moment” of her career.
Ubisoft emphasized that canceling the remake does not signal an end to the Prince of Persia franchise. The company reaffirmed its commitment to the series and indicated that the universe and legacy of Prince of Persia remain important to its future plans.
But, as always, take that with as much salt as possible.
TL;DR, Ubisoft has run out of feet to shoot itself in. So any bullets fired ricochet around the industry and leave a mark on the talented teams and scorned fans. I wonder what they’ll cancel or delay next.