Ubisoft revealed a remake of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time during its Ubisoft Forward presentation today. It is coming out January 21 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The publisher didn’t mention if it was coming to next-gen consoles.
Aside from maybe the 1989 2D original, Sands of Time is the most iconic entry in the Prince of Persia franchise. It came out in 2003 and made waves with its charming hero, acrobatic gameplay, and time-rewinding mechanics.
Since then, Ubisoft has had a hard time finding the correct course for the series. Sands of Time’s direct sequel, Warrior Within, went with an off-putting edgier, darker tone. Fans liked its followup, The Two Thrones, more, but then Ubisoft rebooted the franchise with 2008’s plainly named Prince of Persia. That reboot didn’t take, and Ubisoft went back to the old continuity for 2010’s forgettable The Forgotten Sands.
Since then, the Prince of Persia series has been quiet while its spiritual successor Assassin’s Creed (which started out as a Prince of Persia project) flourishes.
Remakes are becoming all the rage lately, as nostalgic gamers are happy to open up their hearts (and wallets) to modern versions of nostalgic classics. But while we’ve seen top-quality work in titles like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2 and Final Fantasy VII Remake, this Sands of Time remake looks a bit more … iffy. It’s clear Ubisoft isn’t putting a ton of investment into this project. But as Ubisoft noted in the reveal, this is the company’s first remake, so it may have some lessons to learn.