Ubisoft's long process of internal reorganization continues today with the death of two of their studios and half a dozen in-development titles. Another seven titles have been delayed. This is all coming at a point where Ubisoft is splitting into five distinct "Creative Houses" with each focusing on distinct genres.
The six cancelled titles did not meet certain "enhanced quality" expectations. This includes the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake. Sands of Time has been delayed quite often after its initial announcement back in 2020. Recent rumors suggested that the game was nearing completion with some rumors even suggesting that the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake would be shadow dropped on January 16th of this year. This obviously did not happen.
The identity and names of the other cancelled titles were not disclosed by Ubisoft. However, we do know that three of the cancelled titles were new IPs and one was a mobile game.
In addition to the six cancelled titles, Ubisoft has delayed seven additional games to ensure that they meet these new "enhanced quality" expectations. In typical Ubisoft fashion, however, they did not share the names of these delayed titles. We do know that at least one of them was planned to be released prior to April 2026. This particular mystery title will instead be released some time before April 2027.
According to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, one of the delayed titles is the remake of Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag. So far there has been no confirmation on Schreier's reporting of this, however he has been known to be extremely trustworthy in his exclusive reports and I am inclined to believe it.
Two studio closures were also confirmed today. The closure of one location, Ubisoft Halifax, was already know about a week ago. The other studio closure confirmed today was for Ubisoft Stockholm. The Stockholm studio was working on Ubisoft Scaler, a "new foundational technology leveraging the possibilities of cloud computing to enable unprecedented freedom and scale for the games of tomorrow." They were also allegedly working on a new unannounced IP for Ubisoft, which very well could be one of the mystery cancelled titles.
Ubisoft is moving towards having five major "Creative Houses." The first of these Creative Houses is Vantage Studios, which is the subsidiary that is partially owned by Tencent that will focus on Rainbow Six, Assassin's Creed, and Far Cry. The other four of these houses will focus on distinct genres.
One house will focus on "competitive and cooperative shooter experiences" and include games for The Division, Ghost Recon, and Splinter Cell. One house will focus on "live experiences" focus on For Honor, The Crew, Riders Republic, Brawlhalla, and Skull & Bones. Another house is for fantasy worlds and narrative-driven universes such as Anno, Might & Magic, Rayman, Prince of Persia, and Beyond Good & Evil. The last house is for the "casual and family-friendly games" and include games for Just Dance, Uno, and the Hasbro titles.
Each of the houses will have its own main leadership and will handle "end-to-end" responsibilities for their respective portfolios. This means that each of these houses will handle development, publishing, and handling their own financial responsibilities. The houses will be supported by a general "Creative Network" team that will handle some co-development support. There will also be a "Core Services" group focusing on shared technologies, quality assurance, localization, business planning, and more.
Included in these changes at Ubisoft is a return to office mandate. Ubisoft expects employees to work at the office five days a week but will give a small allowance for some work from home days.
Ubisoft is aiming to reduce their fixed costs by another €200 million over the next two years. The company says that they are considering selling off some other "assets" but did not go into details.
The total number of layoffs coming as a result of today's closures and cancellations is not yet known.
We will leave you with a statement from Yves Guillemot, the founder and CEO of Ubisoft. I'm sure you're all eager to hear what he has to say.
On the one hand, the AAA industry has become persistently more selective and competitive with rising development costs and greater challenges in creating brands. On the other hand, exceptional AAA games, when successful, have more financial potential than ever. In this context, today we are announcing a major reset built to create the conditions for a return to sustainable growth over time.
We are transforming Ubisoft’s operating model to produce exceptional quality games on the two core pillars of our strategy, Open World Adventures and GaaS-native experiences. At the center of this transformation are our Creative Houses, integrated business units now combining production and publishing and therefore unifying the gamer relationship.
Each one is built around a clear genre and brand focus, with full responsibility and financial ownership, led by dedicated leadership teams. It is a radical move, relying on a more decentralized creative organization with faster decision making and best-in-class cross functional core services supporting and serving each Creative House.
To put the Creative Houses in the best conditions to succeed, we decided to refocus our portfolio with a meaningfully revised 3-year roadmap and accelerate our cost reductions initiatives to rightsize the organization. We will discontinue several projects currently in development and provide additional time to certain games, to ensure enhanced quality and maximize long term value. We will also selectively close several studios and continue restructurings throughout the Group.
While these decisions are difficult, they are necessary for us to build a more focused, efficient and sustainable organization over the long term. Taken together, these measures mark a decisive turning point for Ubisoft and reflect our determination to confront challenges head-on to reshape the Group for the long term.
The portfolio refocus will have a significant impact on the Group’s short term financial trajectory, particularly in fiscal years 2026 and 2027, but this reset will strengthen the Group and enable it to renew with sustainable growth and robust cash generation. Ubisoft is entering a new phase – one designed to reclaim creative leadership and build value for players and stakeholders over the long term.
We are transforming Ubisoft’s operating model to produce exceptional quality games on the two core pillars of our strategy, Open World Adventures and GaaS-native experiences. At the center of this transformation are our Creative Houses, integrated business units now combining production and publishing and therefore unifying the gamer relationship.
Each one is built around a clear genre and brand focus, with full responsibility and financial ownership, led by dedicated leadership teams. It is a radical move, relying on a more decentralized creative organization with faster decision making and best-in-class cross functional core services supporting and serving each Creative House.
To put the Creative Houses in the best conditions to succeed, we decided to refocus our portfolio with a meaningfully revised 3-year roadmap and accelerate our cost reductions initiatives to rightsize the organization. We will discontinue several projects currently in development and provide additional time to certain games, to ensure enhanced quality and maximize long term value. We will also selectively close several studios and continue restructurings throughout the Group.
While these decisions are difficult, they are necessary for us to build a more focused, efficient and sustainable organization over the long term. Taken together, these measures mark a decisive turning point for Ubisoft and reflect our determination to confront challenges head-on to reshape the Group for the long term.
The portfolio refocus will have a significant impact on the Group’s short term financial trajectory, particularly in fiscal years 2026 and 2027, but this reset will strengthen the Group and enable it to renew with sustainable growth and robust cash generation. Ubisoft is entering a new phase – one designed to reclaim creative leadership and build value for players and stakeholders over the long term.
