Prince of Persia 'paused'
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Ubisoft Montreal CEO says company has put the series on hiatus while it brainstorms new ideas; "as soon as we have something to show, we will."
The Prince of Persia franchise has been "paused" while the company thinks up new ideas. Speaking to IGN, Ubisoft Montreal CEO Yannis Mallat said the series is taking a breather and this may actually be in the best interest of the franchise.
"Brand management is a tricky thing," Mallat said. "It needs people's attention a lot. I think it is fair to say that, right now, Prince of Persia is being paused. But we said the same thing for some other brands that suddenly popped up because a team is willing to do it."
Mallat noted that fans should not be worried, as Prince of Persia will remain part of Ubisoft's portfolio, even if it doesn't show up for some time.
"I'm not scared at all for Prince of Persia fans. We'll find something to entertain them with in the future," he said. "Prince of Persia is part of Ubisoft's portfolio. As a matter of fact, we sometimes iterate on franchises and sometimes we give them time to breathe and time to grow, or time to rest. Prince of Persia is as important as any other franchise for Ubisoft. As soon as we have something to show, we will."
The Prince of Persia series has been dormant since 2010's Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. A film--Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time--was released in May 2010, but fell short.
In August last year, a screenshot reportedly from a new Prince of Persia game surfaced, but Ubisoft never commented on the image, and no news has followed.
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
169 comments
AC And PoP need a rest for now and maybe come back in the 2nd year of Next Gen consoles and start to think of new IPs in there place or they'll just be known for there 2 major wonders
*sigh* Looks like that means we can expect an AC installment first on 8th gen =( but perhaps that will mean better tech for a pop, though I personally don't see how fresh ideas are needed. SOT series was great and gave the most defined prince (though still quite stoic). I tried to get into pop battles just to see what might have been, but the gap between SoT and WW has me most intrigued and I'd say lots of potential.
IMO Forgotten Sands (Wii) played a 1 off the best albeit motion control mumbo jumbo. If Ubi needs to do somthing new that should be their concept piece with 08's art style. Hope a team at Ubi Quebec picks it up for PS/X.
If not theres always Castlevania: LoS 2 =\
1 Like @Mr_Big_Boss AC is very very tired at this point ....Assassins Creed 3 took them 4 years to make yet it was the most bug riddled game ever so there is some sort of disconnect with the testing and quality assurance of their games. Hope they sort these problems out....
@IanNottinghamX @Mr_Big_Boss to be fair although I absolutely despised AC 3 in its defence or more to the hope of other games all the bugs where because they needed it released before the "end of the world".. still fully grown men should have known better
That was a good laugh - Ubisoft is capable of letting a series rest? Not while it's crazy profitable they are not. Don't try to couch your business decisions in creative excuses, Ubisoft. It isn't amusing.
1 Like I wish other companies would take a pause on some series. Cough .. Activision...EA, Cough...
Prince of Persia has been a great franchise. I'm glad they aren't rushing to release another one just yet. I'd rather they wait until they come up with a great story and new direction for the franchise.
It's had a good run of pretty decent games. It's a good move to let it rest for a while until fresh ideas come forward rather than run the series into the ground by shitting out identical rehashes every 1 or 2 years.
1 Like awesome i am not the only who liked 2008 prince of persia cuz i loved tht game and would like very much a continuation of its story
1 Like @heartindarkness I thought it was pretty good myself.Not amazing but good. I posted a review on here as well :)-
2 Like It's too bad the reboot polarized gamers. They either loved it or hated it. Personally, I loved it. The art style was gorgeous. The characters were great. The story was interesting. And I actually liked the gaming mechanics where you didn't die. (What's the difference between "dying" and reverting to a checkpoint, or having a companion save you and returning to the same checkpoint!? Both accomplish the same thing, and the latter actually fits the fiction better and is "more realistic".
I would love to see the continuation of the "Prince" and Elika's story. At this point, that's looking unlikely, and disappointing for that matter. How about a remastered rerelease of the Sands of Time trilogy to hold us over?
2 Like I hope for a sequel to the 2008 reboot.. great art style, fantastic game world, truly awesome combat with great looking moves.....only dissapointment was the stupid "teleport instead of death" which was very stupid but the main reason for a sequel would be the cliffhanger ending,
ah first that OSIRIS now this interview...smell like Prince! cmon I really miss my bro :D
Maybe the hiatus will allow them to dream up a particularly nice PoP game in the years to come. Pushing these things out on a constant basis wasn't improving the quality.
Enjoyed with trilogy, With Dos classics, And with 2008 even without Hp it was challenging, Story was good and they Left game on clifhanger, Then we Get back to Trilogy with Crappy Story Crappy gameplay and crappy jokes taken from Bad movie.
2 Like Man, I was really hoping for a continuation of the 2008 reboot. It wasn't perfect, but it had a great flow, good implementation of the open world, and a beautiful art style. I think, especially given the cliffhanger ending, they could have built on those strengths...but I guess Ubisoft disagreed.
3 Like @OJ_the_LION a game that you can never die in combat, or from falling. and oh, the guy's (who has no name nor is he a prince nor are they in Persia) horse name was Farah.
Definitely not.
1 Like @pozium @OJ_the_LION Game was great, with great combat stylle, great graphics, and story that fit pop, It had 1 flaw No Hp in combat, There was fall death it Teleported you to Final Checkpoint, it's same as death.
7 Like Translation: We plan to put out even more disappointing Assassin's Creed games so save your cash for that!
Stop buying AC, T_T.
1 Like @Phrosnite This. These games have diminishing marginal hype. I nearly bought a then next gen console in 2007 to play AC1. Now I couldn't care less
I love UBISOFT cause they gave us a lot of good games and POP series is one of them. I always love this game so wait for a good game with excellent storyline & gameplay.
1 Like Man I wish I had the Dagger from the Sands of Time to forget The horrible Prince of Persia Movie that I saw :(
As a person who loved Prince of Persia games I am glad to hear at least some news about series. It's even better since they are trying to bring some new ideas to the series.
I am also glad that people still remember the series judging by other comments.
The Prince Of Persia didn't do well, because it fell into the typical Hollywood trap and that didn't grasp the actual concept of POP. The last POP game we had, was a nice homage to the old games, but felt as though we should have gotten that game 4 years earlier.
This POP needs a solid mechanic for Time Manipulation. It also needs to remove the narration, as that feels overdone, and removes the possibility of that characters death in the end. Platforming should be lifted from AC and extended/exaggerated. Make the Prince jump higher/further than the Assassin's. Allow for multiple pathways, keep those puzzles in, and give us solid combat system with full combos.
Do NOT copy and paste AC and brand it POP. That is all we need, to add to the yearly AC release.
@JustArtificial they should really keep the platforming from The Forgotten Sands...arguably the best platforming in the last decade and combat from Warrior Within, so many awesome combo's and moves.
@alcatraz223 More likely they want to keep throwing Assassins Creed games in our faces. So no, not quality over quanity, just a different quantity :P I know, I am such a positive person :P
Attention
========
Translation of Ubisoft CEO's statement:
Why are you disturbing us. We are just busy in making money by AC series. What the hell do you want from us with PoP. Just forget it. When we are done with AC money collection then we'll think about it. Now go away. Thanks.
1 Like I think its a good idea that they are taking a break. The last few games were sub par for the series and I wouldn't buy another new one just yet.
This comment has been deleted
This comment has been deleted
Isn't thinking of new ideas all part of the development process anyway? Could this just be something to get us all talking about PoP again?
PoP 2008 was 80% platforming jumping and not dying and 20% fighting, and that was not as close as fighting could be, it was good but far away from PoP
just would like to see something like the epic trilogy
I sincerely urge you to play the Wii version of Forgotten Sands as it's completely different and good cept ending =\. Sadly combat was shallow, though loads better than 08. Game also had many unlocks and extra modes. Like original Snes version.
@section81 Agreed. The 2008 POP was the best game in POP franchise for years. Ubisoft made a huge mistake replacing that great reboot with a lesser game and a terrible movie. Developers should learn that is better don't make a movie at all that making a poor one.
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Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
- Publisher(s): Ubisoft
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