Cancelled Prince of Persia concept gameplay is rediscovered after being on YouTube for 8 years
At one point, we almost got a new Prince of Persia game, which may shock series fans who have been waiting years to see a another entry in the Prince of Persia saga. In 2012, a YouTube video had gone live, showing what was to be Prince of Persia: Redemption, the latest game in the franchise. It apparently sat, unseen for years, until this week, where fans discovered it and began sharing the cinematic gameplay trailer that no one had discussed. Apparently, it had been a pitch to Ubisoft in the form of a pre-rendered trailer to showcase what the game could look like. However, the company decided not to pick up on the concept, as we can tell by the fact that the game never reached completion or released.
A former Ubisoft developer, Christopher Prelot, claims that they had worked as a level designer for a cancelled Prince of Persia game during the years of 2010 and 2011, meaning they likely worked on this trailer. Another Ubisoft employee, still with the company--Jonathon Cooper--said that this was created by some of the current For Honor team, and would eventually go on to inspire Ubisoft's team behind Assassin's Creed III. He also stated the following about the franchise in general:
Sadly Ubisoft are generally quicker to cancel Prince of Persia games than others IPs because AFAIK original creator Jordan Mechner still holds license rights so the profit margins are lower. Would love to see a new one though. I've always wanted a PoP set in contemporary Iran.
If you check the YouTube video itself, you can also see a comment dated 2 years ago, from Marc-Andre Belleau, Ubisoft Montreal's technical designer, who incredulously asked, "where did you get that?!" in regards to the footage.