10 Video Game Franchises KILLED By Development Hell
9. Prince Of Persia
In a way, the return of Prince of Persia starting with 2003’s Sands of Time is one of gaming’s best examples of burning brightly rather than fading away. The series had annual titles for quite some time; completing a trilogy, inserting a spin-off and even having its own reboot shortly thereafter. Eventually, 2010’s Forgotten Sands would mark the last major entry for the Prince’s parkour action series.
Around this time, the franchise had its one and only feature length movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal as the lead. All of that media in less than seven years and something had to give. Many feared Ubisoft had watered down the brand in short order.
In 2013, the company confirmed that they were indefinitely pausing the franchise.
As the trend and interest in nostalgia reared its head, a remake of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time was announced. However, the release date slid from January 2021 to February and then March until it disappeared off the radar entirely. Clearly, all was not well with the project as Ubisoft repeatedly pushed it back and changed its development team in March 2022.
The long silence didn’t quite kill Prince of Persia but the trials and tribulations of its remake might be enough for Ubisoft to pull life support on it forever.