Footage of a canned Prince of Persia game has been sitting on YouTube for 8 years

I feel like Prince of Persia has been on everyone’s minds lately, and not just because The Prince himself showed up to wreak havoc in For Honor. While the crossover event definitely sparked some excitement amongst fans, hope that Ubisoft was hinting at a new release in the beloved franchise has resulted in nothing so far. Honestly, it’s difficult to image a Prince of Persia game fitting into Ubisoft’s modern catalogue, considering the direction they’ve taken nearly with every other franchise. So many changes would be made if the publisher felt the need to align the series with their current formula and something tells me fans wouldn’t be stoked with it. Still, if you’re wondering what sort of direction Prince of Persia might have taken, look no further.

Footage for a canned Prince of Persia game, subtitled “Redemption” and developed by Ubisoft Montreal, has been unearthed on YouTube, where it was originally posted a whopping eight years. No-one discovered it until now, clearly proving that leakers (still looking for a better word) have grown much more confident in their abilities over the years. The footage, showing off three minutes of gameplay of what would have been the follow-up to 2010’s The Forgotten Sands, an entirely bland and forgettable game that was released to coincide with the Prince of Persia film adaption.

The footage is pretty interesting to watch actually. A reworked combat system, arcadey platforming and the continued use of the franchise’s iconic time manipulation mechanics leads one to believe that the game could have had legs if it wasn’t cancelled. Ubisoft developer Jonathan Cooper confirmed that video is a pre-rendered game pitch that Ubisoft, unfortunately, cancelled. In his tweet, Cooper notes, “Amazing work from animation director Khai Nguyen (For Honor) and team. This target game footage (pre-rendered game pitch) inspired our own pitch for Assassin’s Creed 3 as they did such a great job making it look like real gameplay.”

So while we didn’t get a Prince of Persia game, it sounds like the video went on to inspire the progression of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, so at least something positive came out of it.

Last Updated: May 7, 2020