The Prince of Persia trilogy is easily some of the beloved and popular titles of the PlayStation 2 era. The first entry, The Sands of Time, came out in 2003 and changed the parkour and free-running aspect of gaming forever. In fact, it is hard not to have a desire to wall-run in any game that has even a little bit of freedom, and we owe it all to the Prince of Persia Trilogy.
Consisting of The Sands of Time (2003), Warrior Within (2004), and The Two Thrones (2005), only the first entry is set to get a remake from developer Ubisoft with a planned release date next year. And while we simply can’t wait to jump back in and re-experience this title all over again with modern technological enhancements and improvements (assuming Ubisoft doesn’t screw it up), we really hope that the two sequels get the same treatment in the future. However, the only way that is even a remote possibility is if the first game does well enough in sales to tell Ubisoft that fans want more.
Now we are the first ones to tell you that you should never pre-order a game, as you run the risk of incredible disappointment. Heck, we certainly are not going to pre-order The Sands of Time Remake simply because we have been duped so many times in the past. Fool us once, shame on us, fool us twice, shame on you, but fool us eleven times? Well, we may need a mental health evaluation.
Point is, we are in a bit of a tricky position here. Assuming The Sands of Time Remake comes out and feels complete while also fulfilling that Prince of Persia itch we have had for so long, the only way the sequels will get a remake is if The Sands of Time is met with critical praise and sells well enough.
The Sands of Time Remake has been delayed several times already and while it has been suggested to release in 2023, it no longer has a concrete release date. To some, this may be seen as a good thing as it suggests the game is getting more attention to detail and development time but to others, this may be a bad sign as it could also mean that there are some struggles internally either with management or development.
We can’t know what is going on at Ubisoft for certain but we are hopeful that the game comes out in great shape and does well among critic reviews and sales numbers. It is the only way we can experience the whole trilogy all over again on current-generation hardware. Because, and it goes without saying, The Sands of Time is only a fraction of the full story. We can’t imagine wanting to remake just this one entry in the series and not planning to remake the others. But again, it all comes down to sales.