Video game publisher to cancel Prince of Persia remake and close studios after several difficult years
The video game publisher behind the Assassin’s Creed series has cancelled six projects including a remake of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time as it fights to stay competitive in the global gaming market.
Ubisoft announced a sweeping reorganisation and said it would cancel six games, sending its shares to their lowest level in more than a decade on Thursday.
Ubisoft is abandoning development of six titles, including a highly anticipated remake of Prince of Persia- a series that dates back to 1989 and received an ill-fated Hollywood adaptation in 2010 – while a further seven would be delayed. Studios in Halifax, Canada and Stockholm are being closed, with restructurings to follow in other countries, it said.
After the announcement, Ubisoft’s shares fell by a third to their lowest level since 2011 on Thursday, valuing the company at €590m (£514m) compared with a peak of more than €10bn in the previous decade. The Paris-based company said it planned to split its operations into five creative divisions organised by genre, part of a broader attempt to sharpen focus and rein in costs after years of disappointing releases and weak results.
