In a move to stay competitive in the rapidly evolving gaming landscape, Ubisoft, the publisher behind the Assassin’s Creed series, has announced a sweeping reorganisation that includes the cancellation of six projects and the closure of several studios.
The Paris-based company, which has faced several years of weak results and disappointing sales, said it would cancel the highly anticipated remake of the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time series, as well as five other titles. Additionally, Ubisoft will be closing its studios in Halifax, Canada, and Stockholm, Sweden, with further restructuring expected in other countries.
The announcement has sent Ubisoft’s shares plummeting to their lowest level since 2011, valuing the company at €590 million (£514 million), a far cry from its peak of over €10 billion in the previous decade.
Yves Guillemot, Ubisoft’s founder and chief executive, cited the increasingly competitive and selective triple-A gaming market, with rising development costs and greater challenges in creating successful franchises, as the driving force behind the restructuring.
“The triple-A industry has become persistently more selective and competitive with rising development costs and greater challenges in creating brands,” Guillemot said.
However, he added that successful triple-A games have “more financial potential than ever,” suggesting that Ubisoft is aiming to sharpen its focus and rein in costs after years of disappointing releases and weak results.
The company’s move to split its operations into five creative divisions organised by genre is part of a broader attempt to streamline its operations and adapt to the changing market dynamics.
Laurent Michaud, a gaming industry economist, noted that action-adventure titles like Prince of Persia are falling out of step with a market increasingly dominated by shooters, cooperative adventure games, and multiplayer experiences.
“The expectations of gamers are quite different to where they were 10 years ago. That’s why it’s difficult to keep in touch with an audience that has changed so much over the years,” Michaud said.
Despite the challenges, Michaud acknowledged that Ubisoft remains one of the most popular content providers in the video game industry, having developed some of the best intellectual properties in the industry. However, he stressed that meeting evolving consumer preferences and tastes is crucial for the company’s continued success.
The latest overhaul follows several difficult years marked by game delays, cancellations, and weak execution, which have eroded investor confidence and strained the group’s finances. In November 2025, Ubisoft postponed the publication of its half-year results, triggering a week-long suspension of trading in its shares and bonds, and later revealed an accounting change that had revealed a breach of the terms for its debt.
