Ubisoft Finally Gives Update on Troubled ‘Prince of Persia’ Remake
Ubisoft has some news about the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake.
The Prince of Persia series is one of the older game franchises out there. Developed by Broderbund and released in 1989 on the Apple II PC, the game involved using an unnamed hero who must finish each level in a specific time to get past each level. It was an eventual success that got the game a few sequels until the IP was sold to Ubisoft.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was a reboot by Ubisoft and really took the franchise to a whole new audience who immediately fell in love with the game. The game had players using a Prince who acquires a special artifact known as the “Dagger of Time.” This weapon was great because it let players rewind time if they made a mistake during the platforming. The new series eventually got a couple of more sequels until it fizzled out after a failed reboot and another entry in the original reboot. Ubisoft decided it was time to come back to the series only for things to get weird.
Looks Like They Need a Lot More Sands of Time
Ubisoft revealed they were remaking Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time in September 2020 and was set to release in January 2021. The game would be built from the ground up and was being developed by Indian studios Ubisoft Pune and Ubisoft Mumbai. Well, that did not go as planned because boy was it not well received when revealed.
The trailer was mocked mercilessly due to looking either outdated or very poorly made. The game was stuck in development hell for another 2 years with reports that the studios had no idea what they were doing until eventually it was given to Ubisoft Montreal in May 2022. There were no real updates besides that it was not canceled. Well, that was until recently.
Back to Negative One
Ubisoft finally posted a new post about the game’s current status and updated the info page on their help center. Ubisoft announced it is still very much in development and nothing is ready to be shown at the next Ubisoft Forward in June. Producer Jean-Francois Naud and Game Director Michael McIntyre specifically answered the current state of the game. The answer, it is way early in its new development. Naud had this to say about its current state:
“In terms of the development stage, we’re in conception right now. Since we took over the project, we’ve been looking at feedback from the community and finding our own way of delivering the game. Now, we’re building up the team, defining the priorities, putting prototypes together, testing elements, and looking at how we can include community feedback in the development as well. It’s still in an early stage, and players should not expect to hear more about the game this year, but rest assured that we’re all putting our strengths and heart into this project.”
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via Ubisoft
Since it is not a remaster, building a game from the ground up can take a ton of time since everything needs to work in a way that is similar to or even better than before. McIntyre and the team agreed that a simple remaster was not what the series deserves in this day and age full of remakes like Dead Space (2023) and Resident Evil 4 (2023).
“It has been 20 years since the original game was released, and not only has technology advanced – which of course you would need for a remaster – but I think we, as players and game-makers, have evolved since that time. I do not think a remaster would take enough of those evolutions into account; I think you need to do a remake in order to truly evolve the game to meet a modern context…That kind of thing is more than just technology; it really is us as game makers having evolved, and understanding that for players, simply picking up a polished version of the original would not meet their expectation”
Ubisoft is certain the game is now in safe hands with the original studio behind the original Sands of Time. I played the original release years ago and it was a good time. Hopefully, Ubisoft Montreal can truly capture just how the game felt to us gamers back then.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake has no release date and it is unknown what it will release for now.
“Most people think time is like a river that flows swift and sure in one direction, but I have seen the face of time and I can tell you they are wrong. Time is an ocean in a storm.” – Prince, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
