Ubisoft is calling in backup from an internal studio for the troubled Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake

(Image credit: Ubisoft)

Ubisoft Toronto has been called in to help drag the struggling Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake out of development hell.

In a tweet, Ubisoft Toronto announced that it's "joining the development of the remake of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. We're excited to rewind time and bring our studio’s creativity, expertise and updated tech to refresh this beloved classic with our partners at Ubisoft Montréal."

Ubisoft Toronto is joining the development of the remake of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time!We’re excited to rewind time and bring our studio’s creativity, expertise and updated tech to refresh this beloved classic with our partners at @UbisoftMTL. pic.twitter.com/kksyihIjKGJune 3, 2024

For what seems to be a fairly straightforward refresh, The Sands of Time remake has had an unusually long and turbulent development since it was announced back in 2020. It was originally in development at Ubisoft Pune and Ubisoft Mumbai with an anticipated January 2021 release. That obviously didn't happen and the project was moved to Ubisoft Montréal in May 2022 and delayed indefinitely in June 2022. A few months later Ubisoft canceled all existing pre-orders but affirmed the remake was still in development at Ubisoft Montréal.

Just before last year's not-E3 showcase blitz, Ubisoft got ahead of the inevitable questions around the Sands of Time remake by confirming it was still "very much alive" but was back "in the conception phase." Then, in January of this year, there was a resurgence of a weird phenomenon in which trophies for the unreleased project appeared on the PSN database. This happened once in November 2022 and again in January, and it's still unclear whether a playable version of the game was somehow accessed ahead of launch or if it was just a glitch in the system.

Ubisoft Toronto, meanwhile, is the internal studio created back in 2010 by Jade Raymond, known for helping to lead the creation of the Assassin's Creed and Watch Dogs series. The studio has gone on to make and contribute to games such as Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Far Cry 5, Starlink: Battle for Atlas, Watch Dogs Legion, and most recently Far Cry 6. Right now it's working on the Splinter Cell remake, which coincidentally we also haven't heard anything about for some time.

In the meantime, here's how to play the original Prince of Persia games in 2024.

After scoring a degree in English from ASU, I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. Now, as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer, I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my apartment, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.