The Prince of Persia: Sand of Time Remake is dead in the water. The game’s parent company and studio, Ubisoft announced that the game’s development would no longer continue, citing the inability to reach a certain level of quality in its making.
And that’s just one title. In addition to halting the remaking of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, Ubisoft said that it will be ceasing development of five other IPs, three of which were new IPs, and another being a mobile title. Further adding on to that, the company is also closing down two studios: Ubisoft Stockholm, which helped in the development of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, and its Halifax studio, which made the mobile title Assassin’s Creed Rebellion.
A Remake Mired In Development Hell
The Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake was first announced back in 2020, and was helmed by Ubisoft’s then-new Indian studio. Stating the obvious, the remake was to be a reinvigorated version of the original title that launched back in 2003 on the Sony PlayStation 2. The game received critical acclaim upon release, with many praising its combat system and traversal mechanics – the latter which would serve as a bedrock for Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed IP – and went on to spawn two sequels, Warrior Within and The Two Thrones.
The Prince of Persia: Sand of Time remake originally had a 2021 launch window, but criticism surrounding its lacklustre graphics – the textures did look a little shoddy – and the fact that it was using Ubisoft’s already relatively outdated Anvil engine, forced the studios responsible for its development to delay its launch. Eventually, the delay transformed into “postponed indefinitely”, and the rest is history.
Five Houses To Develop Them All
Ubisoft already plans on opening up five “Creative Houses”, all of which are expected to operate as independent business units. We already know the first house, Vantage Studio – the studio will be in charge of the publisher’s three major money making titles: Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six.
The other houses, their actual names still undetermined, are just referred to by numbers. Creative House 2 will handle Ubisoft’s other shooters, including The Division, Ghost Recon, and Splinter Cell.
Creative House 3 will focus on Ubisoft’s online and live titles, including For Honor, The Crew, Riders Republic, Brawlhalla, and Skull & Bones. Creative House 4 will deal with the publisher’s fantasy-based titles, such as Anno, might & Magic, Rayman, Prince of Persia, and Beyond Good & Evil.
Finally, Creative House 5 will deal with the studio’s more casual and family-friendly titles. Titles for this house includes Just Dance, Ide Miner Tycoon, Ketchapp, Hungry Shark, Invincible: Guarding the Globe, Uno, and Hasbro. Additionally, Ubisoft says that there are four new IPs already in development, including March of Giants, although it hasn’t been decided which house will be given the task.
Despite the cancellation of the remake, we did get some other variations of the IP release, including The Lost Crown and the Rogue Prince of Persia. Ironically, the team responsible for the former has since been disbanded, with any hopes of a sequel now dust in the wind.
(Source: Ubisoft)
