Prince of Persia turns 35

Next week marks the 35th anniversary of Prince of Persia's release in 1989. PoP players have a lot to celebrate this year: two brand-new games released (The Lost Crown and The Rogue Prince of Persia), The Sands of Time remake confirmed and announced for 2026, and a new DLC for The Lost Crown that dropped last week.

Today, I have something personal to share with old-school PoP fans. 35 years ago, artist Robert Florczak painted a lovely oil illustration for Prince of Persia's original "red box." My fondness for that first box art inspired me to draw this tribute in my own style.

"Red Box" is the 8th in a series of limited-edition artworks I've created as a companion to my graphic novel memoir REPLAY (published earlier this year by First Second Books), in which I recount my game-development adventures and family story. Signed prints are available exclusively from my website.

Happy 35th birthday to the prince — and happy 54th to my brother David, who modeled the game's rotoscoped animation at age 15, and is celebrating his birthday today!

I was 25 when PoP shipped on Apple II. I couldn't have imagined then that such an incredible, enduring community of players and teams would share the adventure for decades to come. My heartfelt thanks to all Prince of Persia fans for keeping the flame alive. Your dedication and skill has saved the kingdom, time after time. I'm deeply grateful.


Jordan Mechner is an author, graphic novelist, screenwriter and video game designer, best known as the creator of Prince of Persia. This is his website.

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