After more than five years of development, including a fresh start under Ubisoft Montreal, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake is officially cancelled. While the publisher didn’t offer much information on why it canned the project (or the other five), the development team revealed on Twitter that it wasn’t “able to reach the level of quality you deserve.”
“While the project had real potential, we weren’t able to reach the level of quality you deserve, and continuing work would have required more time and investment than we could responsibly commit.” It also didn’t want to “release something that fell short” of what the original represented.
Ubisoft Montreal assured players that the universe and its legacy “continues to matter deeply to us,” and that this doesn’t necessarily mean it’s “stepping away from the franchise.”
The Sands of Time Remake has always remained on shaky ground, especially following its reveal, which attracted backlash for the underwhelming visuals. Following delays, the project shifted to Ubisoft Montreal, and development was restarted. While it didn’t showcase any gameplay, the studio outlined how Farah would undergo major changes, and promised revamped levels and combat.
Still, it went a long time without any new details, even after assurances of more to come this year. After Ubisoft’s internal reset and organizational shake-up, with Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six hogging the most resources, we’re probably unlikely to see a new big-budget game anytime soon, never mind a remake.
At least we’ll always have The Rogue Prince of Persia, developed by Evil Empire of Dead Cells fame, and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, a 2.5D Metroidvania from Ubisoft Montpellier.
