prince-of-persia-sands-of-time-remake-remains-in-limbo Action

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake Remains in Limbo as Ubisoft Suggests Alternative

Ubisoft recently spoke up about the project taking longer than expected. The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake has been much awaited by fans of the franchise. The remake was first announced for a 2021 release in 2020. Unfortunately, a series of delays have reportedly pushed it to 2026.

In many ways, the development history shows us how not to go about game development today. The remake was originally developed by Ubisoft’s Pune and Mumbai studios, but when the production duties were transferred to Ubisoft Montreal, the project was completely rebooted. Due to this drastic change in development teams, it has faced considerable delays that have left fans waiting for 5 years.

Current Development Status and Official Recommendations

Ubisoft has assured gamers that the remake is still in the works following the prolonged silence over major events like Sony’s PlayStation State of Play, Microsoft’s Xbox Games Showcase, Summer Game Fest and more. According to the publisher through the official Prince of Persia social media, the development team is working on the title while testing elements to see if they meet the quality standards.

Ubisoft claims that the development team is a group of passionate people who are putting in a lot of work. The publisher thanked fans for their patience due to the lengthy development which has tested the community’s enthusiasm.

Ubisoft noted that a new Prince of Persia game is in development by Evil Empire, which is the studio behind Dead Cells. If you are an eager fan of Prince of Persia, this is a good option. This game is set to leave early access and the opportunity to play while we wait for the remake is nice for the fans. Ubisoft praised this alternative as a stylish adventure built with the same fortitude as theirs.

The Broader Prince of Persia Landscape

The remake has been delayed even as the Prince of Persia franchise sees ups and downs. In 2024, fans welcomed back the series with the release of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, a critically-acclaimed Metroidvania-style adventure. Nevertheless, the commercial performance was not what Ubisoft had hoped, which led to the decision to shut the team down and reassign members to other Ubisoft projects. This basically put an end to any sequel for the lost crown game.

The Lost Crown’s failure at retail shows that there is much more to marketing a classic game successfully in 2023 than just nostalgia.

Ubisoft’s Current Strategic Position

The delay of the remake of Sands of Time has reflected bigger changes in how Ubisoft operates. The publisher is in the quiet period following the March release of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which was a rather large release. The first expansion for Shadows — called Claws of Awaji — should release sometime before the end of 2025, though other major franchise entries are further out.

Ubisoft’s strategy has changed with a huge investment of €1.16 billion by Chinese technology giant Tencent. This collaboration has allowed the business to re-evaluate its game developments, giving priorities to extra development time for big budget productions rather than meeting aggressive targets. Under this philosophy, franchises like Far Cry may also have massively extended development time as the publisher opts to focus on quality over release date.

Ubisoft has implemented investment and restructuring changes to better address the development issues that have impacted several of its projects. This could benefit the Sands of Time remake and future titles through more effective and sustainable development.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *