Prince of Persia

Lore & Background

The first game was created by Jordan Mechner after the success of Karateka, drawing inspiration from One Thousand and One Nights stories and films like Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Adventures of Robin Hood. Mechner used rotoscoping to animate the protagonist, using his brother as the model. The original Prince of Persia, with its more than 20 platform ports, is one of the most ported games in video game history. Mechner later enrolled in New York University's film department before returning to design and direct the sequel, Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame, which was developed internally at Broderbund with his supervision and received critical acclaim and high sales. Broderbund was subsequently purchased by The Learning Company, which was later acquired by Mattel Interactive. In 1999, Prince of Persia 3D was developed under Broderbund's Red Orb label and released for PC and Dreamcast, but was criticized as buggy and was a commercial disappointment. The Broderbund/Learning Company's games division, including the Prince of Persia franchise, was sold to Ubisoft. Mechner, who owned the intellectual property, was brought in to work with Ubisoft on a reboot titled The Sands of Time, released in 2003. Mechner did not take part in the production of the next game, Warrior Within, and found its dark atmosphere and heightened violence unappealing. The Two Thrones attempted to balance the tones of the previous two games. A fourth installment, The Forgotten Sands, was released in May 2010 as a tie-in to the film adaptation. A second reboot, simply titled Prince of Persia, was released in December 2008, with level and combat design harking back to the original 1989 game. In January 2024, Ubisoft released Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, a 2.5D side-scrolling platformer introducing a new protagonist, Sargon. The Rogue Prince of Persia, a 2.5D roguelike developed by Evil Empire, was released on August 20, 2025.

Reader's Guide

The Prince of Persia franchise is notable for its pioneering use of rotoscoping in the original 1989 game, which set a new standard for character animation. The series' original trilogy, published by Broderbund, established a template for action-adventure games. After a commercial disappointment with Prince of Persia 3D, the franchise was revived by Ubisoft with The Sands of Time in 2003, which rebooted the series and became a critical and commercial success. The Sands of Time trilogy was later collected as the Prince of Persia Trilogy, remastered in high-definition for PlayStation 3. Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed franchise is considered the spiritual successor to the series. The franchise has expanded beyond games into a film adaptation, a graphic novel, and the Lego Prince of Persia toyline. Numerous spin-offs and mobile games have been developed, including remakes by Gameloft. A remake of The Sands of Time was announced in 2020 but cancelled at the beginning of 2026. The Rogue Prince of Persia was Ubisoft's first day-one Steam release in five years and their first title released in Early Access before a full release.

Did You Know?

• The original Prince of Persia is one of the most ported games in video game history, with more than 20 platform ports.
• Jordan Mechner used his brother as the model for the prince's rotoscoped animation.