10 Rejected Video Game Ideas Literally EVERYONE Would've Loved
7. Prince Of Persia Redemption
Sometimes, in order to internally pitch a title to publishers, a studio will develop a pre-rendered cinematic as an approximation of what the gameplay would look like. Typically, these stay private. Sometimes, us adoring fans get a look at what was being proposed.
In 2020, a YouTube video that was originally uploaded in 2012 - presumably for part of a presentation - was unearthed, that showed a new entry for the Prince of Persia series entitled Redemption.
Former Ubisoft Montreal employee Jonathan Cooper confirmed that it was legitimate. He also estimated that the reason the pitch never got any further was that Jordan Mechner, the Prince’s creator, still held licensing rights and that Ubisoft tended to make less money on the franchise due to his fees.
Redemption itself is high energy and features classic Prince staples like parkour, wall-running and time manipulation. It also has an intense combat system that looks a lot like Arkham Asylum, which isn't surprising considering the impact that game had on single player brawler experiences.
Prince of Persia fans would’ve taken any drop of water in the desert that the abandoned franchise became for the last decade but, more than that, Redemption looks truly thrilling. We can only wonder what could’ve been.