Ubisoft rewinds much anticipated Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake back to the drawing board

Three years ago, Ubisoft rekindled hopes of a remake of the 20-year-old classic Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. The game was originally meant to be developed by Ubisoft Pune and Ubisoft Mumbai in India but was later moved to Ubisoft Montreal — creators of the original game — possibly due to visual concerns. Since then, however, there have been no updates regarding the title's launch.

Now, it looks like we won't be seeing any updates regarding the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake after all, neither at the Ubisoft Forward event next month or even this year. According to Ubisoft, the development of the game has been fully scrapped in its current state.

Speaking to Ubisoft News (as reported by Push Square), producer Jean-Francois Naud and game director Michael McIntyre said that the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake is a big deal for Ubisoft Montreal. Naud said that the game has now gone back to the conception stage and that it will be some time before fans can get a concrete update.

In terms of the development stage, we're in conception right now. Since we took over the project, we've been looking at feedback from the community and finding our own way of delivering the game. Now, we're building up the team, defining the priorities, putting prototypes together, testing elements, and looking at how we can include community feedback in the development as well. It’s still in an early stage, and players should not expect to hear more about the game this year, but rest assured that we’re all putting our strengths and heart into this project."

McIntyre said that the game has to be approached as a remake than a remaster given how gaming has evolved over the past two decades. Although essential aspects of the game such as acrobatics, combat, puzzles, etc. would be retained, refinements to the story, combat mechanics, movements, and accessibility will be given a modern treatment.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake was originally slated for a January 2021 launch. However, that got postponed to late 2021 and then to an unspecified date in 2022. Pre-orders opened in 2022 but growing consternation among those who have pre-ordered meant that retailers had to delist the game and issue refunds.

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