Leaked Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Test Presentation Impresses After Cancellation

Ubisoft earlier this month announced the cancellation of a swathe of in-progress games, one of them being the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake, and although that game will likely never see the light of day as a complete product, pre-alpha workshop presentation snapshots from March 2024 have leaked online, giving fans of the series a glimpse at what might have been. The footage shows off the titular character in a number of environments, including in the middle of several parkour moves—a system that was meant to be getting a big update with the remake—and a handful of refreshed, expansive environments and character designs for both the prince and Farah. Objectively, some of the game assets look better than others, but this is to be expected from a 2024 version of the game, however, it’s clear a lot of work has gone into modernizing the visuals, environments, and character designs.

Ubisoft said that the troubled Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was cancelled because it didn’t meet the minimum standard of quality expected from executives after Ubisoft’s recent overhaul, however, fans of the series seem to disagree. On X, where the test footage was posted, players are both commenting on how good the revised visuals look and lamenting the game’s cancellation, with some appealing to Ubisoft to release the game, while others, doubting that Ubisoft will ever return to the franchise after the successive issues that plagued The Sands of Time Remake, are begging the studio to sell the IP to another studio. The Sands of Time was originally announced in 2020 and slated to release in 2021, but it was delayed and appeared to be dead until recently, when leaks claimed that the game was to launch in 2026. Following the cancellation of The Sands of Time Remake, it has also been confirmed that Ubisoft is looking to potentially lay off up to 200 employees at its Paris headquarters.