Ubisoft has already confirmed some of its biggest titles for the current fiscal year, including Assassin’s Creed Mirage (seemingly on track for October 12th), Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, The Crew Motorfest and more. We’ll probably see more of these at Ubisoft Forward on June 12th. However, those hoping for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake to appear will be disappointed.
In a new tweet, Ubisoft reiterated the project is “very much alive.” However, it won’t be at the publisher’s showcase in June. Announced in 2020, the remake saw multiple delays until ultimately shifting from Ubisoft Pune and Ubisoft Mumbai to Ubisoft Montreal. In a new interview, producer Jean-Francois Naud and game director Michael McIntyre provided some updates on development.
Naud revealed that it’s currently in the conception stage of development. “Since we took over the project, we’ve been looking at feedback from the community and finding our 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 spoke about the team’s approach to the remake. He noted that there is technology to improve the Prince’s movement, but that “there are also expectations from players, in terms of other modern games, of what it means to control a character. Ubisoft Montreal has developed strong expertise in that, and we are looking at how we take those lessons and apply them to the spirit of a game like Prince of Persia.
“That kind of thing is more than just technology; it really is us as game makers having evolved, and understanding that for players, simply picking up a polished version of the original would not meet their expectations.”
Naud confirmed the team has access to “tons of documentation” regarding the original, and noted the original developer’s intention and ambition. McIntyre also noted that along with movement, other refinements are coming to the combat and the story. The latter will remain “true to itself,” but delivered in a more “nuanced and refined” manner.
Of course, there’s a certain balance since it wants to cater to newcomers but also not distort the original experience for fans. “One of the great things about Sands of Time is that it’s very appealing to newcomers, just in its whole premise and the way it was built, and when people played the original game, I think they felt it was very welcoming in terms of difficulty, for example. We want to continue to embrace that philosophy,” said McIntyre.
He also hinted at the implementation of accessibility features. “One of the big advances in the industry in the past 20 years is accessibility features, ways that players can customize their experience to suit the way they like to play it. And that will help newcomers come to this game even if, at the time, they couldn’t have played a game like this, because these accessibility features were far from the norm. That’s another aspect we’re looking to embrace to help newcomers come into this kind of game.”
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake was originally announced for PS4, Xbox One and PC, with support for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. It’s still a ways off, so stay tuned for more details in the coming months (or years).
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake won’t be at the upcoming Ubisoft Forward, but fear not: it's very much alive.
Get an update on the remake through this Q&A with our producer and game director from Ubisoft Montréal: https://t.co/FS7ofoZNmt pic.twitter.com/DAVmsD6FTA
— Prince of Persia (@princeofpersia) May 24, 2023
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