The Prince of Persia is a video game series created by Jordan Mechner. The games follow the story of a character named the Prince in ancient and medieval Persia.
The first two games, Prince of Persia (1989) and Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame (1993), were published by Broderbund. Prince of Persia 3D (1999), the first game to use 3D computer graphics, was made by Red Orb Entertainment and published by The Learning Company for PC. The Dreamcast version was developed by Avalanche Software and published by Mattel Interactive. In 2001, Ubisoft purchased the rights to the series and restarted it with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003). Ubisoft later released five more games: Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (2004), Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones (2005), Prince of Persia (2008), Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (2010), and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (2024). Additional games, including spin-offs and mobile versions, were also created by Gameloft. A remake of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was planned in 2020 but was cancelled in 2026.
The franchise includes a movie, a graphic novel, and a Lego toy line. Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed series is considered the spiritual successor to Prince of Persia.
Games
The first game in the series, Prince of Persia, was created by Jordan Mechner after the success of Karateka. Mechner took inspiration from many sources, including the stories in One Thousand and One Nights and films like Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Adventures of Robin Hood. To create the character animation, Mechner used a technique called rotoscoping, which involves tracing over live-action footage. He used his brother as the model for the main character, the prince. The original Prince of Persia was released on more than 20 platforms, making it one of the most widely available games in video game history.
After completing Prince of Persia, Mechner enrolled at New York University’s film department. During his time there, he created an award-winning short film. Later, he returned to design and direct a sequel, Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame, which was developed by Broderbund with Mechner’s guidance. The sequel was well-received by critics and sold well. Broderbund was later bought by The Learning Company, which was then acquired by Mattel Interactive. In 1999, Prince of Persia 3D was released under Broderbund’s Red Orb label. The game was available only for PC and the Dreamcast, but it was criticized for technical issues and did not sell well. Eventually, the Prince of Persia franchise, along with other Broderbund/Learning Company games, was sold to Ubisoft.
Mechner, who owned the rights to the Prince of Persia intellectual property, worked with Ubisoft to create a new version of the game, The Sands of Time. He was initially hesitant due to the poor reception of Prince of Persia 3D. The team working on The Sands of Time also developed Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, and their goal was to improve the action-adventure genre.
Mechner was not involved in the development of Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, which had a darker tone and more intense violence. Critics had mixed opinions about the changes, but the game sold well, leading to the creation of Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones. For this game, developers tried to balance the lighter, cartoon-like style of The Sands of Time with the more serious tone of Warrior Within.
In 2010, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands was released. The game was available on Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3, and it filled in some story gaps between The Sands of Time and Warrior Within. Versions for the PSP, Wii, and DS had different storylines. The game was also released to coincide with a film adaptation of The Sands of Time.
The Prince of Persia Trilogy (called Prince of Persia Trilogy 3D on the remastered collection) includes The Sands of Time, Warrior Within, and The Two Thrones. These games were originally released on PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Windows. A remastered version with high-definition graphics, 3D support, and PlayStation Network trophies was released on PlayStation 3 in 2010. The original PlayStation 2 collection was released in Europe in 2006, and the remastered version was released in 2010. In North America, the games were sold as downloadable titles on the PlayStation Store in 2010, with the Blu-ray version delayed until 2011.
In 2006, plans for a new game titled Prince of Persia were announced. This game was a second reboot of the series and returned to the gameplay style of the original 1989 game. It was released in 2008 and received positive reviews. Ubisoft also released a sequel for the Nintendo DS called Prince of Persia: The Fallen King, which had mixed reviews.
The first spin-off of the series, Battles of Prince of Persia, was released in the same year as The Two Thrones. It was a turn-based strategy game set between The Sands of Time and Warrior Within, but it received average reviews.
In 2007, Gameloft and Ubisoft released Prince of Persia Classic, an updated version of the original Prince of Persia for mobile devices and consoles. The game’s visuals were improved to resemble The Sands of Time, and the prince gained new moves like rolling and wall jumping. However, the core gameplay remained the same as the original.
Gameloft has developed several mobile games based on the Prince of Persia series. These include Prince of Persia: Harem Adventures, released in 2003, and HD remakes of the original game and The Shadow and the Flame.
In 2018, Ubisoft released Prince of Persia: Escape, a mobile runner game for Android and iOS. The game was criticized for being unoriginal. A sequel, Prince of Persia: Escape 2, was released in 2022.
In 2024, Ubisoft released Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, the first major game in the series since The Forgotten Sands. It is a 2.5D side-scrolling platformer with a new story and protagonist, Sargon, a member of the Immortals.
In 2025, The Rogue Prince of Persia, a 2.5D roguelike game developed by Evil Empire, was released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and other platforms. The game was inspired by Franco-Belgian comics and marked Ubisoft’s first day-one Steam release in five years.
Canceled and unreleased games
In 2012, images from a project called Osiris were thought to be part of the next Prince of Persia game. Jordan Mechner, the creator of Prince of Persia, said on his Twitter account that the images were not from a Prince of Persia game. One year later, Yannis Mallat, the CEO of Ubisoft Montreal, said the franchise was being "paused." He added that the company would share updates when they had something to show. In the months that followed, Ubisoft confirmed it was planning or considering new versions of several game series, including Prince of Persia. A video created by a Ubisoft Montreal artist in 2012 but found in 2020 showed a gameplay trailer for a game called Prince of Persia Redemption. The trailer was meant for Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Jonathan Cooper, a former Ubisoft animator, said the trailer was a sample of the planned gameplay created by Khai Nguyen to present the game idea. The game was never made beyond the trailer, though some work from the trailer was used to create a similar trailer for Assassin's Creed III.
A remake of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time was officially announced at Ubisoft Forward 2020. It was planned to release on January 21, 2021, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. However, Ubisoft delayed the remake indefinitely. In its financial report, Ubisoft said the remake was expected to release sometime during its 2022–23 fiscal year. The development of the remake was moved to Ubisoft Montréal, a change from Ubisoft Mumbai and Ubisoft Pune. The company later said the 2023 release goal was no longer a target. A new release window of 2026 was announced at Ubisoft Forward 2024. Ubisoft officially canceled the remake on January 21, 2026, with the announcement of a major company restructuring.
Adaptations
In 2007, Jordan Mechner completed writing the story for a graphic novel. The novel was written by A.B. Sina and illustrated by Alex Puvilland and LeUyen Pham. It was published by First Second Books in the autumn of 2008. The story follows two princes who move between the 9th and 13th centuries. While it is part of the Prince of Persia franchise, the plot is not connected to the game series or the 2010 film.
In 2010, Walt Disney Pictures released a film adaptation of The Sands of Time. Jake Gyllenhaal played Prince Dastan in the movie, which received mixed reviews but earned $336 million in theaters. The film included elements from Warrior Within and The Two Thrones, the other two games in the Sands of Time trilogy from the Prince of Persia video game series.
When the film was released, Disney Publishing Worldwide also published a comic book titled Before the Sandstorm in 2010. This one-shot comic serves as both a prequel and sequel to the film, explaining the backgrounds and motivations of some characters. Jordan Mechner wrote the comic, and it was illustrated by Todd McFarlane, Niko Henrichon, David Lopez, and Bernard Chang.
In 2010, The Lego Group released Lego Prince of Persia as part of its plan to create sets based on Disney properties. The theme was based on the film and included six sets and a short animated film. The Lego series was later discontinued.
Reception
The success of the Prince of Persia series led to Guinness World Records giving the series six world records in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. These records include First Motion-Capture Animation in a Video Game and Highest Rated Platformer on PS2 and Xbox.
South Korean singer-songwriter Kim Kwang-Jin released the song "Magic Castle," with lyrics inspired by the storyline of the original Prince of Persia.
In 1992, Russian author Victor Pelevin wrote a book called A Werewolf Problem in Central Russia and Other Stories, which includes a short story titled "Prince of Gosplan." This story is heavily influenced by the game. The main character lives in a mix of the real world and video games and calls himself Prince of Persia. He tries to determine whether his life is real or if he is only seeing it on a computer screen.
The gameplay in Tomb Raider was designed to feel similar to the original Prince of Persia.
The Assassin's Creed series began with ideas for a sequel to Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Its success led Ubisoft to ask Ubisoft Montreal to create a sequel for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The team decided to use the gameplay from The Sands of Time but adapted it to an open-world style, using better technology to create larger spaces and crowds. For the story, they wanted to change the Prince from someone who inherited power to someone who had to earn it. Research into secret societies inspired them to focus on the Assassins, drawing heavily from the novel Alamut. They created a story where the player controls an Assassin who acts as a bodyguard for a non-playable Prince. This game was originally called Prince of Persia: Assassin. The "Animus" device helped explain parts of the gameplay, such as how the player could retry missions after failing, similar to how it worked in The Sands of Time.