Ubisoft has reassured fans that Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake is still in development, even as the company begins the process of cancelling preorders around the world. The silence around the title since it was delayed in late 2021 has reportedly caused ‘a lot of questions’ from fans who have long awaited news.
In May 2022, it was reported that the game was changing hands from Ubisoft Pune and Ubisoft Mumbai to Ubisoft Montreal, in a rare move that raised the eyebrows of many.
‘The development of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake will now be led by Ubisoft Montreal, the very birth place of the epic Sands of Time trilogy,’ Ubisoft said at the time. ‘This decision is an important step and the team, building upon the work achieved by Ubisoft Pune and Ubisoft Mumbai, will now take the time they need to regroup on the scope of the game to deliver you the best experience for this remake of an all-time classic, when it’s ready.’
Read: Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake swaps developers
In the months since this blog update, the team has reportedly been hard at work – but there is no current release date for the project. Without a viable launch window, Ubisoft has chosen to refund preorder customers, rather than make them wait longer.
‘Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake is not cancelled,’ Ubisoft said in a new update. ‘The game is currently in development at Ubisoft Montreal … At the moment, a new release date has not been set, we will provide new information on that front when we are ready … Since the game currently does not have a release date, existing pre-orders have been cancelled and refunded where applicable. Pre-orders may reopen once a new release date for the game has been announced.’
The situation with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake only seems to get strange with every update. When it was first announced in 2020, it was given a three-month launch window, indicating it was nearly ready to be released.
Fan criticism was quickly levelled at character models and environments, which is likely part of the reason why Ubisoft went back to the drawing board. Still, it’s fair to say nobody expected the game to get a two-year delay immediately following its launch trailer.
There’s hope Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake is approaching a future re-reveal – although we’ll have to stay patient as Ubisoft continues to work on the rocky release.