Ubisoft has announced that the upcoming remake of The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time has been delayed for a second time.
The development team, based at Ubisoft Pune in India, posted the news on social media last week, after the early 2000s classic’s remake had already been postponed once.
The official announcement included a statement, but the new release date for the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake was not revealed. The statement said the game will be launched at “a later date”, and that frequent updates are to follow. The game’s release was first pushed back from January 21st 2021 to March 2021.
The coronavirus pandemic, and its economic consequences, caused many highly anticipated games to be delayed multiple times, the most popular example being CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077, whose release was postponed twice. Game developers, including Ubisoft, have acknowledged that 2020 was “a year like no other”.
In addition to the indefinite delay of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Ubisoft also announced further delays to two other popular titles, Far Cry 6 and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Quarantine last October.
The indefinite setback of the game’s remake sparked mixed attitudes from fans, who expressed both frustration and high expectations on social media. One Twitter user accused Ubisoft of revealing the game’s release too soon and asked them to “handle the reveal much better next time”, in order not to ruin the game for the many players who are not familiar with it. Many others expressed their hope that the remake will look “like a 2020s game”, for it to be worth the wait. The initial reveal set off criticism among fans, who were not pleased with the graphics.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was first released in 2003 and sold over two million copies in less than six months. It was critically acclaimed and widely recognised as one of the greatest video games of all time. In 2010, Walt Disney Pictures released a movie based on the game, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton.
The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake is currently in development for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.
Words by Eliza Lita
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