Fri, Sep 24, 2010 | 23:04 BST
Report: Ubisoft canned modern take on Prince of Persia
Ubisoft at one time planned on developing a modern-day Prince of Persia game, according to former Ubisoft developer Jonathan Jacques-Belletete.
Now currently at work on Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Jacques-Belletete said the game took place in “the contemporary world.”
“After [the Assassins' Creed cancellation, Ubisoft] wanted a spin off for Prince of Persia, ” he told CVG. “We had some awesome ideas with that too… in contemporary time.
“Think a bit Day After Tomorrow, but replace the snow with sand and everything. It was really wicked. But it got canceled, and then we did all the Far Crys.”
Work had apparently started on both the next-gen Assassin’s Creed and cel-shaded Prince of Persia remake, thus the PoP with the modern take got axed.
“That one had already started at that point… Prince of Persia Zero,” he said. “But they wanted really something completely out of the left field. And back then I was known as one of the ones… ‘oh this guy can get some pretty cool, weird ideas’”.
The Prince running around a modern city full of sand and skyscrapers. Interesting.
Thanks, BigDownload.
18 
Posted in: Action, Adventure, Development, Ubisoft
Tags: Jonathan Jacques-Belletete, pop, prince of persia
18 comments
#1
El_MUERkO
24/09/10, 10:28 pm
Unisoft? Ubisoft
#2
YoungZer0
24/09/10, 10:28 pm
Would have been freakin’ fantastic. A city like Dubai, full of Sandmonsters and climbing possibilities. Would’ve been awesome.
#3
Gekidami
24/09/10, 10:31 pm
You play as the new Prince of Persia; Mahmoud Ahmadinejad!
Seriously though, Ubi, forget about this franchise. Atleast for another 10 years.
#4
Erthazus
24/09/10, 10:45 pm
@2 Enslaved?
#5
hitnrun
24/09/10, 10:50 pm
@3: Seriously. They scored a hit on a long-shot remake of a fondly remembered old title (PoP Sands of Time in 2003) and now they can’t go a year without pushing something out with the PoP name on it.
Certain publishers need to figure out how to let their middling-successful brands simmer a bit. What seven years ago evoked “They’re making WHAT?!” has now become “Oh man, I don’t even want to know.”
#6
dark_prince123
24/09/10, 10:51 pm
this picture is from Yemen
#7
Dr.Freeman
24/09/10, 10:52 pm
prince theft auto: the diesel of time
#8
Stephany Nunneley
24/09/10, 11:04 pm
@1 Dear God. Thanks El_MUERkO. I finally effing saw it.
#9
night_tripper
24/09/10, 11:14 pm
@8 lol it’s ok steph we all make grammar mistakes at times at least you caught it finally
#10
YoungZer0
24/09/10, 11:23 pm
@4: Actually i was thinking ’bout Enslaved while writing my comment. Enslaved however doesn’t feature Sand Creatures.
#11
onlineatron
25/09/10, 12:04 am
Enslaved + Spec Ops?
#12
CenoBit
25/09/10, 1:56 am
Nah, they can’t pull off something like that.
Not when they have huge games like Just Dance 2 to prepare for
#13
Dr.Ghettoblaster
25/09/10, 3:57 am
Like I’ve been saying all along, THIS should be Assasins Creed final chapter. Modern or futuristic city.
(Don’t they recognize the needed leap this genre needs to modern times, just as the WW2 genre FINALLY jumped to modern times with COD4…?)
#14
Gekidami
25/09/10, 7:44 am
I think AC would lose its ‘magic’ in a modern day setting. You let the player loose in a modern day city with cars and guns and they’ll want GTA-style gameplay, not the slow, clunky, near Resident Evil tank controls the games have right now. I’m not saying the gameplay in AC 1 & 2 is bad, but it makes sense in the world the game is set in. Bring modern weapons to the party and people will want more reactive controls, a cover system and all that.
#15
AHA-Lambda
25/09/10, 10:01 am
sounds like spec ops abit =/
ubisoft need to get thier shit together this and that other PS3 new ip that were cancelled both sound pretty cool.
Unfortunately companies don’t know what they have and what made them successful; the need to put this series to sleep for a while cos it just isnt working out
this idea would have been a good shot in the arm for the franchise tho…fucking stupid ubi =(
#16
Dr.Ghettoblaster
25/09/10, 2:15 pm
@14
I was always thinking more futuristic than modern city. Very Blade Runner esque with a lot of nightime missions with dark alleys and cool lighting on tall futuristic buildings. AC would still focus on stealth and “old-school” assassin type weapons, totally keeping it AC style but just change up the locals cause the first THREE games now look so remarkably similar. Also makes sense for the conclusion of the game being part of the story takes place in the future. Just my two cents on where the devs should take it.
#17
Neolucifer
25/09/10, 4:22 pm
@14
Ultimately , given the story and where it’s going , there will be a futuristic assassin creed game , or at least a game switching back and forth a lot more between desmond and another ancestor
#18
Isaaclarke37
25/09/10, 9:03 pm
I would have loved to see how it could have works, having a modern day Prince and maybe a modern day Dahaka!