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. it was criticized by many users as being buggy, and was a commercial disappointment.
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. 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 (known as
Prince of Persia Trilogy 3D on the remastered collection's title screen) 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 (XBLA), and
PlayStation 3 (PSN). It is developed by Gameloft's internal studio
Gameloft Montreal. 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 (via its
Gameloft Montreal studio) HD remakes of the original
Prince of Persia in 2007, and its sequel (via
Gameloft Pune, a studio which now belongs to Ubisoft)
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. ==Canceled and unreleased games==