Ubisoft Needs Prince Of Persia More Than Another Assassin's Creed
Assassin's Creed is arguably Ubisoft's most important franchise, but the company shouldn't underestimate the draw of a new Prince of Persia game.
Ubisoft needs another entry in the Prince of Persia series more than it needs yet another Assassin’s Creed. Even though the two franchises share similarities, Assassin’s Creed has become one of the biggest names in gaming worldwide, leaving Prince of Persia in the dust for the past 10 years. It may not have as much of a following as Assassin’s Creed, but Prince of Persia does have a rather dedicated fanbase. If Ubisoft played its cards right, it could revitalize the action-adventure games and add one more pillar to its collection of best-selling franchises.
Technically, there was a new piece of Prince of Persia content released in 2020. Unfortunately, it wasn’t accessible to most players because it was a virtual reality escape room, which is different from a virtual reality game that one would experience on an Oculus Quest or PlayStation VR. To play The Dagger of Time, interested gamers physically need to drive to a mall, VR lounge, or other public space with a group of friends. Other than The Dagger of Time, Prince of Persia has been a dormant franchise since 2010, although a remake of The Sands of Time has been announced - and delayed.
Assassin’s Creed, meanwhile, adds new games to the series at an overwhelming rate. Since 2007, when the first Assassin’s Creed came out, Ubisoft has launched 12 mainline games, as well as a variety of mobile titles and a few spin-offs. Although the company has slowed the Assassin’s Creed development cycle a little bit, choosing to no longer release one game a year, it still feels like Ubisoft has scrapped other projects, including Prince of Persia, to focus on the series. As a result, even good Assassin’s Creed games, like Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Odyssey, suffer from bloat, which is why stepping back and returning to Prince of Persia would benefit Ubisoft.
The last Prince of Persia game, other than The Dagger of Time, was The Forgotten Sands in 2010. That same year, a film adaptation of the first game, called The Sands of Time, hit theaters, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and grossing over $336 million. As was common with video game movies before Detective Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog, it wasn’t well-received and earned a Rotten Tomatoes score of 37%. Whether it was because of the middling reviews of The Forgotten Sands, the criticism of the film adaptation, or the growing influence of Assassin’s Creed, Prince of Persia quickly dropped off the map.
For much of the 2000s, however, Prince of Persia was a widely beloved action-adventure series, and, in a way, Assassin’s Creed is an open-world spiritual successor. Like Assassin’s Creed, Prince of Persia is set in a historical time period and focuses on multiple incarnations of the same prince. Unlike Assassin’s Creed, however, the Prince of Persia games really only stick to one geographical region, and the only change between games is when in time the events take place.
Regardless of the specifics, Prince of Persia and Assassin’s Creed largely fill the same niche. To add another franchise to its money-making repertoire, Ubisoft could reboot Prince of Persia, changing the company’s routine offerings and enticing the same fans who enjoy Assassin’s Creed every few years. Not only would this give Ubisoft fans something else to play, but it could also help give developers working on the next Assassin’s Creed game more time to finish the product. There wouldn’t necessarily be a push to launch a new Assassin’s Creed if Prince of Persia is helping to tide fans over, which could better the series overall and help breathe some fresh air into both franchises.
Of course, it’s impossible to talk about a Prince of Persia revival without acknowledging the Sands of Time remake. The Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake, announced in 2020 during a Ubisoft Forward event, was delayed, with no specific release date announcement having come since. More than that, the one-year anniversary of its delayed date, March 18, 2021, is getting closer too, and the only information about a launch window available right now is that it’s expected to release during Ubisoft’s 2022-2023 fiscal year.
Even without the developmental struggles, however, a simple remake of The Sands of Time isn’t enough to revitalize the franchise or give Ubisoft another powerhouse alongside Assassin’s Creed. In the era of open-world games and story-driven experiences, it’s time for a new Prince of Persia to join the ranks, competing with the heights of Assassin’s Creed and other huge games, like Red Dead Redemption. It doesn’t necessarily need to be a big open-world game, which might draw too many Assassin’s Creed comparisons, but it does need to help bridge the gap between older fans looking for nostalgia and younger fans looking for a modern gameplay experience.
Whether a brand new Prince of Persia game is ever released remains to be seen. The Sands of Time remake appeared to be a step in the right direction, but with a rough development cycle, Ubisoft may decide that the franchise actually isn’t worth the time, especially if it’s not well-received whenever it does come out. That said, a full-blown revitalization of Prince of Persia could do more good than harm if executed correctly on Ubisoft’s part.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla received good reviews, for the most part, but its simultaneous similarity and inability to live up to Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was a popular point of criticism online in the weeks after its release. Not every game is going to be a hit, and it’s great that new entries aren’t churned out quite as quickly as they were a few years ago, but it’s still beginning to feel like a stale franchise no matter what Ubisoft does. A Prince of Persia revival would be a smart way to tackle this problem, letting fans experience the precursor to Assassin’s Creed with a breath of fresh air while Ubisoft's teams work on ensuring a bigger, better game than ever before.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes