Jordan Mechner

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Lore & Background

Mechner was born in New York City in 1964, into a family of European Jewish immigrants. His father is psychologist Francis Mechner, and his mother was a programmer. He attended Yale University in the 1980s. While at Yale, he wrote several Apple II games that were rejected, including Asteroid Blaster and Deathbounce. He then spent two years writing his first published game, Karateka (1984), which went to number one on the Billboard software chart. His second game, Prince of Persia, was released in 1989 after more than three years of work. He wrote both games in 6502 assembly language for the Apple II. Initially, Prince of Persia sold poorly, but as it was ported to other systems, sales increased; it was eventually adapted for about thirty computer and console platforms. Following Prince of Persia, Mechner attended film school, traveled to Cuba to produce and direct a short documentary film, and lived in Paris for a year. During this period, he designed and directed Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame, released in 1993. He founded Smoking Car Productions in 1993, where he led production of The Last Express. The game was released in 1997, positively reviewed but not commercially profitable. It was re-released in 2012 by DotEmu. In 2001, Mechner worked with Ubisoft to reboot Prince of Persia, resulting in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003). Ubisoft has since published four more sequels and several spinoffs, including the Assassin's Creed franchise. In 2024, Ubisoft released Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. Mechner wrote the first drafts of the screenplay for the 2010 film adaptation and has an executive producer credit. In 2003, he wrote and directed the documentary Chavez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story, which won the 2003 IDA award for Best Short Documentary. He has written graphic novels including Templar (2013), Monte Cristo (2022), and Liberty (2023). In 2023, he released the autobiographical graphic novel Replay: Memoir of an Uprooted Family, which won the 2023 Chateau de Cheverny prize for historical graphic novels. He married Whitney Hills in 2014; the couple divorced in 2017.

In Their Own Story

After the success of Karateka, Jordan Mechner created the first game in the Prince of Persia series. 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. 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. 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. Mechner did not take part in the production of the next game, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within.

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Did You Know?

• Mechner's first published game, Karateka, went to number one on the Billboard software chart.
• Prince of Persia was initially written in 6502 assembly language for the Apple II and later ported to about thirty platforms.
• Mechner founded Smoking Car Productions in 1993 to develop The Last Express.
• His graphic novel Templar (2013) became a New York Times bestseller.
• Mechner's autobiographical graphic novel Replay won the 2023 Chateau de Cheverny prize for historical graphic novels.

Origins and Technical Innovation

Jordan Mechner established the franchise following his success with Karateka, drawing inspiration from One Thousand and One Nights and classic adventure films like Raiders of the Lost Ark. The defining technical achievement of the original 1989 title was its use of rotoscoping for character animation. To achieve this fluid realism, Mechner filmed his own brother performing the movements, which served as the direct model for the titular Prince. This pioneering approach set a new standard for action-adventure games and contributed to the title becoming one of the most ported video games in history across over twenty platforms. After studying film at New York University and creating an award-winning short, Mechner returned to design and supervise the sequel, The Shadow and the Flame. Published by Broderbund, this 1993 entry maintained critical acclaim and strong sales before corporate acquisitions eventually shifted the franchise's ownership from Broderbund to The Learning Company, and later to Mattel Interactive.

The Ubisoft Reboot Era

Following a commercial disappointment with Prince of Persia 3D in 1999, which was criticized for technical bugs, Mechner retained the intellectual property rights. When Ubisoft acquired the assets in 2001, they brought Mechner on board to reboot the series despite his initial wariness regarding the franchise's recent history. Collaborating with the team behind Splinter Cell, they aimed to revitalize the action-adventure genre with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time in 2003. While Mechner did not participate in the subsequent Warrior Within, he expressed disapproval of its darker atmosphere and increased violence. Developers later attempted a tonal balance for The Two Thrones, blending the lighter style of the reboot with grittier elements. This era also saw the release of The Forgotten Sands in 2010 as a film tie-in, featuring divergent storylines across various console versions to bridge narrative gaps within the trilogy.

Franchise Evolution and Spin-offs

Beyond the main narrative entries, the franchise expanded significantly through spin-offs, remakes, and collections. A turn-based strategy game titled Battles of Prince of Persia was released alongside The Two Thrones for the Nintendo DS, though it received only mediocre critical reception. In 2007, Gameloft partnered with Ubisoft to release Prince of Persia Classic, an enhanced remake of the original title that introduced new features while preserving the core experience. A second major reboot arrived in 2008 under the simple title Prince of Persia; this installment deliberately harkened back to the level and combat design of the 1989 classic, earning positive reviews and decent sales. Ubisoft's Casablanca studio also developed a direct sequel for handhelds called The Fallen King. Additionally, the franchise saw extensive collection releases, including a high-definition trilogy on Blu-ray that supported 3D visuals and trophies, marking a significant milestone as the first Classics HD title not published by Sony.

Legacy and Cultural Impact

The Prince of Persia franchise has transcended gaming to become a multimedia property with a lasting cultural footprint. Outside of video games, the brand expanded into a feature film adaptation, a graphic novel series, and a Lego toyline. The influence of Mechner's original vision is so profound that Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed franchise is widely considered its spiritual successor, inheriting the parkour mechanics and historical settings. Despite these expansions, the core identity remains tied to the action-adventure roots established in ancient and medieval Persia. Even as the series evolved through various developers like Red Orb Entertainment and Avalanche Software, the legacy of the original rotoscoped animation persists. Although a remake of The Sands of Time was announced in 2020, it was ultimately cancelled in early 2026, yet the franchise continues to thrive with new entries like The Lost Crown released in 2024, proving its enduring appeal decades after Mechner's initial creation.

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