Prince of Persia: Sands of Time won’t release this year, and won’t be at E3 2021

Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake was meant to release six months ago, but after several delays it’s now been pushed out again: this time until 2022. Not only that, but you shouldn’t expect to see the game at the Ubisoft Forward E3 2021 showcase next week.

The official Prince of Persia Twitter account confirmed as much today. “As you might have already read, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake will not be in Ubisoft Forward. We are making great progress for our game to release next year, but we are not ready to share any additional information just yet. We will share an update as soon as we are ready.”

A message from the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake dev team: pic.twitter.com/3B8tgUGkwlJune 7, 2021

Ubisoft delayed the January release date to March 18 late last year, a mere four weeks before its expected launch. Then in February, its release was scheduled for a vague “later date.” The first delay was attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic, while the latter was to “enable our teams to deliver a remake that feels fresh while remaining faithful to the original.”

Whatever the truth may be—and we have no reason to doubt the official word—it’s curious to see a relatively low-profile remake subject to such frequent and, now long, delays. Its absence is not likely to affect what’s shaping up to be a strong E3 for Ubisoft: expect info on Rainbow Six: Extraction, Far Cry 6 and more.

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Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.