A video that surfaced online today supposedly for an unreleased Prince of Persia game was confirmed by former Ubisoft developers to be test footage for a canceled Prince of Persia pitch.
The video was initially published on YouTube back in 2012 and has flown under the radar ever since. Titled Prince of Persia Redemption, the footage shows familiar elements from the Prince of Persia series including platforming and time-altering combat.
Jonathan Cooper, a video game animator with credits on The Last of Us Part 2, Uncharted 4, Assassin’s Creed 3, and Mass Effect, revealed that the footage was a pre-rendered game pitch video created to simulate gameplay.
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“Wow — haven’t seen this in ages. Amazing work from animation director Khai Nguyen (For Honor) and team. This target game footage (pre-rendered game pitch) inspired our own pitch for Assassin’s Creed 3[,]” Cooper Tweeted.
In a follow-up Tweet, Cooper added, “Sadly Ubisoft are generally quicker to cancel Prince of Persia games than [other IPs] because [as far as I know] original creator Jordan Mechner still holds license rights so the profit margins are lower.” Cooper said that he would love to see a new Prince of Persia, preferably set in contemporary Iran.
The footage is about three minutes long and shows a character, presumably the Prince, as he makes his way through a crumbling city. Along the way, he fights enemies, and time shifts a bit before a giant monster emerges from underneath the city.
It’s been 10 years since a mainline console Prince of Persia game. The last video game release was Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands which was meant to coincide with the movie adaptation that was released that same year starring Jake Gyllenhaal.
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When reached by IGN for comment Ubisoft says that While “Prince of Persia is a beloved franchise and one that’s been important to Ubisoft’s development over the years” the studio doesn’t “have anything new to share at this time.”
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Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.
Source: IGN.com Video of Canceled Prince of Persia Game Appears Online