Ubisoft Cancels Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake

Image via Ubisoft

Ubisoft has officially cancelled the long-awaited remake of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, ending a project that has faced years of delays and development changes. The decision comes as part of a wider company-wide reset that also includes the cancellation of six games in total and delays to seven others.

In a statement, Ubisoft confirmed it is undergoing a “major organisational, operational, and portfolio reset” after a detailed review of its game pipeline over the past two months. The goal, according to the publisher, is to refocus resources on fewer projects with higher quality standards and stronger long-term potential.

Why Ubisoft Cancelled the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake

Ubisoft says the Prince of Persia remake was discontinued because it no longer met the company’s newly raised quality and prioritisation benchmarks. Alongside it, four unannounced titles were cancelled, including three new IPs and one mobile game. The identity of the sixth cancelled project has not been revealed.

The company explained that continuing development on some projects would have required more time and investment than it could reasonably commit, especially in an increasingly competitive market.

In a message shared on the official Prince of Persia account on X, the development team addressed fans directly:

“We’ve made the difficult decision to stop development on Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake. We know this is deeply disappointing. While the project had real potential, we weren’t able to reach the level of quality you deserve. We didn’t want to release something that fell short of what The Sands of Time represents.”

Ubisoft made it clear that this isn't the end for the Prince of Persia series. The franchise still means a lot to the company.

Ubisoft Delays Seven Other Games

Besides the cancellations, Ubisoft has pushed back seven games to make sure they up to their quality standards. One of these games haven't announced yet, which was supposed to come out by the end of the 2026 fiscal year but is now set for 2027.

Many believe this delayed project could be the rumoured Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag remake, especially after a listing titled Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced appeared on PEGI’s website last year. Ubisoft has not officially confirmed this.

Ubisoft CFO Frederick Duguet explained that the decisions were driven by intense competition and changing market conditions:

“When you are number one or number two with exceptional content quality, the reward can be very strong. We enhanced our quality criteria to focus resources on the projects with the strongest long-term potential.”

A Troubled Development History

Back in 2020, they first announced the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake, which was being worked on by Ubisoft Pune and Ubisoft Mumbai. It was supposed to come out in early 2021. After a negative response to its reveal trailer, the game was delayed multiple times.

Development was later handed over to Ubisoft Montreal, the studio that created the original 2003 game, and the remake was restarted from scratch. Ubisoft Toronto also joined the team. Until last year, Ubisoft planned to release the game before March 2026, but that release window has now been officially cancelled.

What’s Next for Ubisoft and Prince of Persia?

The latest Prince of Persia game was The Lost Crown released in 2023, which earned strong praise from critics and later made its way to mobile platforms. Even though the Sands of Time remake has been cancelled, Ubisoft says the series is not over and will continue under its new “Creative Houses” setup, with one team focused on story-driven fantasy games like Prince of Persia.

When it comes to remakes, Ubisoft is still moving ahead with the Splinter Cell remake at Ubisoft Toronto, along with several other unannounced projects that made it through the company’s internal review.

For fans, losing the Sands of Time remake is disappointing. Still, Ubisoft believes that focusing on fewer games with higher quality and ambition is the right move for the future.