With its last mainline entry releasing all the way back in 2010, well over a decade ago, it seems safe to say that the Prince of Persia franchise has been well and truly forgotten about by Ubisoft. Instead, the last decade has seen Ubisoft decide to turn its attention to another free-running, sword-wielding, globe-trotting adventure series, Assassin's Creed. And despite only being announced a year ago, Ubisoft's next Assassin's Creed title, Assassin's Creed Mirage, is very likely to beat Prince of Persia to the punch.
Over the last three years, Ubisoft has continued to support Assassin's Creed Valhalla, but its most recent update also marks its final one, and Ubisoft is wasting absolutely no time producing another entry. Announced last September, Assassin's Creed Mirage is set to be a smaller-scale adventure that hearkens back to the very first game in the long-running stealth-adventure series, which in itself was originally planned to be a Prince of Persia spin-off. But fate has really done a number on both franchises, leaving Prince of Persia in the dust, and elevating Assassin's Creed to the top of the gaming industry.
Assassin's Creed Mirage Is Likely to Release Long Before the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake
Despite a generally favorable reception, 2010's Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands marked the final mainline release for the franchise, but that hasn't been for a lack of trying. In 2020, Ubisoft announced that a remake of 2003's beloved Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was officially in the works, an announcement that fans had been desperate to hear for years. But this announcement wasn't met with quite the reception Ubisoft had hoped for, or expected.
The Prince of Persia: Sands of Time announcement came alongside a trailer, depicting some of the game's most iconic moments in all of their 2020 glory. However, this trailer wasn't quite as spectacular as it should have been. Fans were quick to condemn the remake for its rough visuals and its cheap-looking aesthetic, and matters were only made worse when Ubisoft claimed that these subpar visuals were actually an intentional artistic choice. It was clear that Ubisoft wasn't being entirely truthful here, and its attempt to calm its fan-base backfired, leading to an immediate delay.
Now, almost three years later, there's absolutely no sign of the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake. Back in June 2022, Ubisoft announced that Prince of Persia's developers, Ubisoft Mumbai and Pune, had been pulled from the project, and Ubisoft Montreal was instead taking the helm. Since then, no news whatsoever has come to light about the project, with it simply being put on hold indefinitely. The odds of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time actually releasing are fairly low, and the odds of it releasing anytime soon are lower still.
So, although it was only announced back in September 2022, it seems extremely likely that Assassin's Creed Mirage will release long before Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, with rumors and leaks suggesting that Ubisoft is targeting an August 2023 release date. Thankfully, Assassin's Creed Mirage might offer Prince of Persia fans at least a slightly similar experience. Assassin's Creed Mirage will apparently be a much more streamlined, smaller-scale Assassin's Creed adventure, with more of a focus on linear level design than open-world exploration. Hopefully this streamlined nature can lead to some more complex gameplay mechanics, like an updated free-running system that can give Prince of Persia fans at least a taste of what they're after.
Assassin's Creed Mirage is in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.