In 2020, Ubisoft first announced Prince of Persia: The Sands of time Remake, which was scheduled for release on January 21, 2021, and got delayed multiple times throughout its development. The reason for delaying the game was Covid-19 and other complications which followed in the year. Following this news, many wondered if the company had cancelled the long-awaited remake.
Ubisoft has posted an update on the game on their website stating that “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake is not cancelled. The game is currently in development at Ubisoft Montréal.” The developers added, “Since the game currently does not have a release date, existing pre-orders have been cancelled and refunded where applicable.”
At first, the game was managed by Ubisoft Pune and Ubisoft Mumbai in India, which then shifted to Ubisoft Montreal recently. Developers at Pune and Mumbai faced difficulty integrating the 2003’s old character models of the game to the newer Anvil Engine since the engine was initially created for Assassin’s Creed and designed for newer character models. According to game journalist Rishi Alwani, the developers based in Pune and Mumbai were also given limited documentation regarding the 2003 game.
Prince of Persia was one of the biggest franchises of Ubisoft. When the remake was first delayed in 2020, the developers remarked that “We are excited to put this game in your hands, as we retell the story of the Prince and Farah in a reimagined 11th century Persia,However, 2020 has been a year like no other. Today we wanted to let you know that we are taking additional time to work on the game….We believe this is the right call to ensure we deliver a game you will enjoy.”
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was priced at $39.99 and was supposed to be released on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Although considering recent delays and cancellations of preorders, these pieces of information should not be taken for granted.