New Prince of Persia Announced for 2010

Ubisoft has announced a May 2010 release for the next installment in their Prince of Persia franchise, titled The Forgotten Sands. A trailer will debut during the Spike VGAs on December 12th.

It’s been confirmed that Forgotten Sands will see a return to the Sands of Time’s storyline, jettisoning the most recent Prince of Persia title’s more mysterious hero and love interest Elika. This isn’t particularly surprising; despite a generally favorable critical response for the game (including our own Tom Price, who gave Prince of Persia a 9.1), the simplified controls and more forgiving design drove a wedge into its audience, with some gamers complaining that the game was too easy and not especially rewarding. This was reflected in Prince of Persia’s relative failure at retail, where it debuted in December of 2008 with less than 500K sales across both the PS3 and Xbox 360 according to Gamasutra’s estimates.

Ubisoft has not yet responded to a request for comment regarding the return to the Sands of Time universe, though it may be related to the Prince of Persia movie, which is also scheduled for a May 2010 release (and which contains elements of the Sands of Time fiction). The full text of Ubisoft’s press release can be found below.



SAN FRANCISCO – November 30, 2009 – Today Ubisoft announced that Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands(TM) video game is in development and is scheduled to be released May 2010 for consoles and handhelds. This new installment in the critically-acclaimed franchise marks the return to the Prince of Persia® Sands of Time storyline. Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands(TM) will feature many of the fan-favorite elements from the original series as well as new gameplay innovations that gamers have come to expect from the Prince of Persia brand.

Tune in to Spike TV's "Video Game Awards 2009" on Saturday, December 12, 2009 at 8 p.m. EST for the exclusive world premiere of the Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands(TM) trailer.

For ongoing updates about the game, please visit: www.princeofpersiagame.com

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