Prince of Persia
Prince of Persia is a video game franchise created by Jordan Mechner. It is centered around a series of action-adventure games focused on various incarnations of the eponymous Prince, set in ancient and medieval Persia.
The first two games in the series, Prince of Persia and Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame, were published by Broderbund. Prince of Persia 3D, named for being the first installment to use 3D computer graphics, was developed by Red Orb Entertainment and published by The Learning Company on PC; the Dreamcast version was developed by Avalanche Software and published by Mattel Interactive. Ubisoft bought the rights to the franchise in 2001 and rebooted it with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Ubisoft has since developed and published five additional entries in the series: Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, Prince of Persia, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, as well as a number of spin-offs and games for mobile devices. A remaster of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time had been announced in 2020 but later cancelled at the beginning of 2026
Outside of the games, the franchise includes a film adaptation, a graphic novel and the Lego Prince of Persia toyline. Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed franchise is considered to be the spiritual successor to the series.
Games
Original trilogy
The first game in the series was created by Jordan Mechner after the success of Karateka. Drawing from multiple general sources of inspiration, including the One Thousand and One Nights stories, and films like Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Adventures of Robin Hood, the protagonist's character animation was created using a technique called rotoscoping, with Mechner using his brother as the model for the titular prince. The original Prince of Persia, with its more than 20 platform ports, is one of the most ported games in video game history.Mechner enrolled in New York University's film department, producing an award-winning short film during his time there, before returning to design and direct a sequel to the original game. The sequel, Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame, was developed internally at Broderbund with Mechner's supervision. The game, like its predecessor, received critical acclaim and high sales. Broderbund was subsequently purchased by The Learning Company, which was later acquired by US game company Mattel Interactive. In 1999, Prince of Persia 3D was developed and released under Broderbund's Red Orb label. Released for PC and the Dreamcast only, it was criticized by many users as being buggy, and was a commercial disappointment. The Broderbund/Learning Company's games division, the assets of which included the Prince of Persia franchise, was subsequently sold to Ubisoft.
''The Sands of Time'' series
Mechner, who owned the Prince of Persia intellectual property, was brought in to work with Ubisoft on a reboot of the franchise, titled The Sands of Time, although he was originally wary after the failure of Prince of Persia 3D. The team they worked with was also working on Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: their aim with the game was to "breathe new life into the action-adventure genre".Mechner did not take part in the production of the next game, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, and he commented on finding the dark atmosphere and heightened level of violence unappealing. The changes also provoked mixed reactions from critics, but sales were strong and a third game, eventually titled Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, went into production. For The Two Thrones, the developers and artists tried to strike a balance between the light, cartoon-like tones of The Sands of Time, and the grittier mediums of Warrior Within.
A fourth installment in The Sands of Time series, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, was released in May 2010. The Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game filled in some of the narrative gap between The Sands of Time and Warrior Within, whereas the PSP, Wii, and the DS versions each feature their own alternative storylines. The game was released as a tie in to The Sands of Time film adaptation.
Trilogy collection
The Prince of Persia Trilogy is a collection of The Sands of Time trilogy released on the PlayStation 2 and subsequently on the PlayStation 3 as part of the Classics HD range. The collection includes The Sands of Time, Warrior Within and The Two Thrones, all previously released on the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Microsoft Windows. The games were remastered in high-definition for the PlayStation 3 with 3D and PlayStation Network Trophy support on one Blu-ray Disc. The PlayStation 2 collection was released on October 27, 2006, in Europe, while the remastered collection was released on November 19, 2010, on Blu-ray in PAL regions. The release marks the first Classics HD title to not be published by Sony Computer Entertainment.In North America, the three games were originally released separately as downloadable-only titles on the PlayStation Store. The first, The Sands of Time, was released on November 16, 2010, while the other two games followed in December. The Blu-ray version was to be released in North America on March 22, 2011 but the collection ended up being delayed until April 19.
''Prince of Persia'' 2008 reboot series
In 2006, concept designs surfaced hinting at another entry in the franchise. The game, titled simply Prince of Persia, is a second reboot of the franchise, with its level and combat design harking back to the original 1989 game. The game was released in December 2008, receiving positive reviews from most video game outlets and decent sales. Alongside the main game, Ubisoft's Casablanca branch developed a direct sequel and spin-off for the Nintendo DS, titled Prince of Persia: The Fallen King, which received fair reviews.Spin-offs and remakes
The first spin-off of the series was developed alongside and released in the same year as The Two Thrones for the Nintendo DS. Battles of Prince of Persia is a turn-based strategy game set between The Sands of Time and Warrior Within. It received mediocre reviews from critics.In 2007, Gameloft and Ubisoft released Prince of Persia Classic, an enhanced remake of the original Prince of Persia for Java ME, Android, iOS, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. The visual style was upgraded to resemble Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, and the Prince himself was given some additional moves, such as the ability to roll, backflip, wall jump and stop time briefly during combat. However, the core gameplay remains the same as the original – the player must defeat Jaffar within one hour while watching out for the many traps and defeating the guards they encounter.
There have been a number of mobile games for Java ME-based phones developed by Gameloft, some based on older PC or console titles with 2D graphics and others loosely based on contemporary games but with 2D graphics and different gameplay due to technology constraints. Gameloft has also developed some ports for both the iPhone and the iPad. The first spin-off by Gameloft was titled Prince of Persia: Harem Adventures, released for Java phones in 2003. Specifically, the company has developed HD remakes of the original Prince of Persia in 2007, and its sequel The Shadow and the Flame in July 2013.
In 2018, Ubisoft under the banner of its entity Ketchapp released Prince of Persia: Escape, a mobile game for Android and iOS. It is a runner game made up of different levels, and the player can customize the protagonist with outfits from past games. Reviewing for Pocket Gamer, Cameron Bald called Prince of Persia: Escape a "mundane game crushed under the weight of excessive greed". In August 2022, a follow-up, Prince of Persia: Escape 2, was released.
In January 2024, Ubisoft released the first major installment in the series since The Forgotten Sands, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. It is a 2.5D side-scrolling platformer and introduces a new storyline and protagonist, Sargon, a member of the Immortals.
The Rogue Prince of Persia is a 2.5D roguelike title developed by Evil Empire and released on August 20, 2025 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Cloud, and PC – through Ubisoft Connect, Steam, and the Epic Games Store – and will be coming to Switch 2 and Switch later in 2025. The game entered development around 2019, after a discussion between Evil Empire and Ubisoft at GDC, and its art direction is heavily inspired by Franco-Belgian comics. The game was Ubisoft's first day-one Steam release in five years, as well as their first title to be released in Early Access before a full release.