Ubisoft still says the Sands of Time remake hasn’t been cancelled, but preorders have been refunded
There’s still no release date, but there is a new FAQ about the statement of the game, which Ubisoft insists is still happening.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Ubisofthas once again affirmed that thePrince of Persia: The Sands of Timeremake has not been cancelled. The company is so tired of people asking about it that it’s created an entireFAQthat everyone can refer to if and when they have questions or doubts.
It’s understandable that people would wonder about the state of the Sands of Time remake, a game that has, somewhat ironically, taken a while to finish. Though Ubisoft did not cite the Covid-19 pandemic as a reason for the game’s delay, the pandemic has been an understandable source of disruption in the games industry, with44 percent of developersblaming it for delays in 2021.
In Ubisoft’s case, The Sands of Time wasannounced in 2020with a 2021 release date but has been delayed multiple times since then, and after promoting the remake as the first project to be led by Ubisoft’s studios in India, it wastransferred to Ubisoft Montrealin 2022. The most recent delay, in June, pushed the game out of Ubisoft’s 2023 fiscal year and left itwithout any kind of release target.
That’s still where things stand, according to the FAQ, which says that “a new release date has not been set.” It also notes that there are currently no plans to remake any other games in the Prince of Persia series, which debuted as a rotoscoped platformer in 1989. That’s understandable too, given the grief Ubisoft seems to be having getting this one out the door.
Interestingly, one thing has changed: In the June delay announcement, Ubisoft said fans who had preordered the game could contact their retailers to cancel if they didn’t want to wait for it; in this new FAQ, it said that because The Sands of Time remake does not currently have a release date, existing preorders have been automatically cancelled and refunded. “Pre-orders may reopen once a new release date for the game has been announced,” Ubisoft added.
Ubisoft isn’t the only publisher to auto-refund preorders because of delays—something similar recently happened withStalker 2—but Ubisoft does seem to have unique struggles with high-profile delays. In March it delayedThe SettlersRTS, in July it did the same withAvatar: Frontiers of Pandora, in September—less than two months before release—it mashed the brakes onSkull and Bones, andBeyond Good and Evil 2recently surpassed Duke Nukem Forever’s all-time videogame vaporware record.
The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill.Lotsof Henry Cavill.
The reigning Pope of 1-bit mystery games is back with a Halloween treat: a haunted house game you can play in your browser
Return of the Phantom, which is basically The Phantom of the Opera but with time travel, is free on GOG
The first PUBG spinoff with real promise is a top-down take on Rainbow Six Siege
