Announced by Ubisoft in September 2020, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake had fans of the well-beloved series excited. The action-adventure game was so popular that it was one of the first video games to be adapted onto the silver screen somewhat decently, with the 2010 movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal as the Prince.
But, since that announcement, there hasn't been much what the game looks like, and what enhancements players can expect. The only thing that has come from that project was delay announcement after delay announcement. At this point, the remake of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time is beginning to feel like a fever dream.
Is the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake Actually Coming?
Back in 2020, Ubisoft originally announced that the newly established Pune and Mumbai studios will be in charge of the development of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake. Fans of the series were met with a surprisingly underwhelming announcement trailer for the Prince of Persia remake, but they were still given the opportunity to pre-order the game immediately upon announcement. Pre-order perks were showcased as well. Jan 21, 2021 was the date to look out for… Until it wasn't. The game went into developmental hell.
There was no gameplay footage, nor gameplay screenshots provided of the upcoming remake – only repeated call-to-actions for Sands of Time Remake pre-orders and its perks. On Dec 8, 2020, Ubisoft released a statement announcing that the remake has faced some setbacks due to the ongoing pandemic. A new release date was announced: March 18, 2021 – the game was pushed back for two months. Then, total silence. A month before the new release date, another statement was released by Ubisoft. The remake is pushed back yet again, but this time the company gave no specific date – only that it is pushed 'to a later date.'
Despite the promise of keeping fans updated on the game's progress, the only updates that were given since last March had been even more vagueness and mystery. Ubisoft announced that Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake wouldn't be showcased at the 2021 Ubisoft Forward at E3. Another statement released had meant to 'reassure' fans that development was definitely still underway. But by then, fans started to lose hope, and it became more of a question of when, rather than if, the remake was going to get canceled.
Another massive period of nothingness followed. From October 2021 and for seven whole months, there wasn't a single peep from the Prince of Persia social media accounts. Ubisoft held absolute radio silence – until recently. On May 3, Ubisoft finally released another statement. This time, the video game behemoths announced that the remake's development will be changing hands from the Pune and Mumbai studios over to Ubisoft Montreal. Whether this should be a sigh of relief is still unknown. Although game assets created over the last two years have been 'handed over,' there is zero idea as to how much of the game was actually created before the announcement – and how much even exists overall.
So, will Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake actually be released? It seems more likely than not since Ubisoft's financial projections have given the remake an April 2022 to March 2023 release window. Now it's May 2022 and the project has recently been taken over by an established branch that is known to produce games year-in, year-out – a sign of Ubisoft reprioritizing games development. Hopefully, there will be more detailed information coming sooner rather than later, and excited players will get to see more of the remake.
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake is in development for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.