Ubisoft has confirmed that it has canceled pre-orders for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake and issued refunds to customers. Ubisoft first announced plans to produce a remake of the beloved Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time all the way back in 2020, but it's been a bumpy road since then.
There was some immediate backlash to the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake because of its graphics, and that controversy was shortly followed by release date delays. Eventually, Prince of Persia was delayed indefinitely, and development of the project was handed over to Ubisoft Montreal. At the time of this writing, the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake is still without a solid release date or release window of any kind.
Understandably, Prince of Persia fans are worried about the state of the game in light of these developments. Ubisoft has released a FAQ to address concerns, and one of the most notable revelations from it is the news that the company has canceled pre-orders and refunded customers. According to Ubisoft, Prince of Persia remake pre-orders will open back up when the game has a solid release date.
Some fans have taken this as a sign that the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake is going to be more ambitious than previously believed. Originally, the game was announced for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, with a potential Nintendo Switch port leaked. Perhaps this extra development time is going to lead to the game skipping older consoles and coming only to new-gen consoles, which could explain why Ubisoft decided to cancel pre-orders.
If that's the case, no indication of it was given in the FAQ. All that Ubisoft has said is that the game is not canceled and that currently there are no plans to remake any other games in the Prince of Persia series. However, one has to imagine that if the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake is successful that Ubisoft would consider remaking other games in the fan favorite series, particularly Warrior Within and The Two Thrones, but that remains to be seen.
Ubisoft Montreal, for those who may be unfamiliar with the company's specific studios, is one of Ubisoft's premiere developers and leads the charge on many of the company's biggest projects. Having Ubisoft Montreal in charge of the Prince of Persia remake does seem to suggest that it's going to in a different direction from when it was first shown, but fans will have to wait for another glimpse at it to know more.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is in development.
Source: Ubisoft