Biography

Jordan Mechner is an American author, graphic novelist, game designer, and screenwriter, best known for creating the video game Prince of Persia. He developed the original 1989 game on an Apple II computer, rebooted the series for modern consoles with Ubisoft in 2003, and wrote the first screenplay for the 2010 Disney film adaptation, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Prince of Persia is considered an all-time classic, as well as the basis for a transmedia global franchise with over 25 million games sold to date.

Since 2017, Jordan has lived in France, where he made his debut as a graphic-novel writer/artist with the autobiographical Replay (recipient of the 2023 "Chateau de Cheverny" award). His graphic novels as writer include Monte Cristo (with Mario Alberti), Liberty (with Étienne Le Roux & Loïc Chevallier), and the New York Times best-selling Templar (with LeUyen Pham & Alex Puvilland).

Jordan's video games, also including Karateka (1984) and The Last Express (1997), are known for their cinematic narrative quality and innovative use of rotoscoped animation. In 2017, he received the Pioneer Award from the International Game Developers Association.

Jordan wrote and directed the IDA award-winning PBS documentary film Chavez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story.

His other books include his 1980s game development journals, The Making of Karateka and The Making of Prince of Persia, and an adaptation of Persian tales, Samak the Ayyar.

He keeps a sketchbook journal.

How to Contact Me

Thanks for visiting. If you have questions or feedback about my work, you can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Mastodon. I appreciate your comments and try to read as many as possible, even if I don't reply to every one (see FAQ below).

The Latest News section contains my current blog about new and upcoming projects. You can subscribe to this site's RSS feed to receive updates the moment I post them.

The tabs at top unlock a wealth of information and behind-the-scenes content about my past games, books, and movies. I hope you'll take a moment to explore the site and discover all it has to offer.

For press inquiries, speaking invitations, and website-related issues, please feel free to use the email form below.

FAQ

Q: How can I get a book signed?

A: I'll be delighted if you come (or send a friend) to an event where I can sign your book in person. Many bookstores where I do in-person signings will accept online orders in advance of an event, and can have me add a personalized signature to your book before they ship it. You can stay informed about upcoming events in all cities/countries via my social media channels.

Please don't ask me to receive or mail packages; I'm not good at that.

Q: I have an idea for...

A: For legal and logistical reasons, I can't receive or read unpublished work, whether it's POP-related or not.

Q: When will you/Ubisoft/Disney release a new POP game/movie/TV series? And what about the Sands of Time remake?

A: I promise as soon as I have POP news to share, I'll post about it. I may even shout it from the rooftops. In the meantime, please understand that it's not for me to announce unannounced projects, or share news that isn't mine to share. Just know that you're not alone. And that when it comes to POP, I'm only a small part of a bigger picture.

The Games & Movies tab at top has up-to-date information about POP and my other games, so there's a chance the answer you're looking for may already be posted there.

Contact Form

Profiles and interviews

  • AFP France - Profile. "Prince of Persia creator never imagined game would be his magic carpet" (March 2025)
  • The Washington Post - Profile by Gene Park. "Jordan Mechner vs. the sands of time" (April 2024)
  • NPR "Here and Now" - Radio interview by Scott Tong. "In 'Replay,' video game pioneer Jordan Mechner explores his Jewish family's story of survival" (April 2024)
  • The Comics Journal - Interview by Jason Bergman. "'I've rediscovered a mode of expression that was important to me as a kid': A talk with Jordan Mechner" (March 2024)
  • GamesBeat - Interview by Dean Takahashi. "Replay is the family memoir of the prince of game development" (March 2024)
  • Digital Trends - Interview by Giovanni Colantonio. "Prince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner spills details on the series' two lost games" (March 2024)
  • Game Developer - Interview by Sam Machkovech. "The father-and-son of Karateka: how family anchored a classic game's innovations" (August 2023)
  • ArsTechnica - Video episode. "War Stories: How Prince of Persia slew the Apple II's memory limitations" (April 2020)
  • The Digital Antiquarian - Article by Jimmy Maher. "How Jordan Mechner Made a Different Sort of Interactive Movie" (October 2016)
  • Wired - Article by Gus Mastrapa. "The Geeks Who Saved Prince of Persia's Source Code From Digital Death" (April 2012)
  • The New York Times - Profile by Charles McGrath. "A Gamer's World, but a Dramatist's Sensibility" (May 2010)

Podcasts and Panels

  • Scriptnotes - Podcast with John August at Austin Film Festival. Round table moderated by Evan Narcisse. "Writing Across Mediums" (December 2024)
  • Time Extension/Minnmax - Podcast. "Industry Legends Jordan Mechner & John Romero Discuss Game Preservation with Ben Hanson and Kelsey Lewin" (September 2024)

About Jordan's books and games

  • EuroGamer - Retrospective by Jonny Malks. "The making of The Last Express: How Prince of Persia's Jordan Mechner created one of the last great classic adventure games" (February 2025)
  • Tablet - Review of Replay and The Last Express by Raz Greenberg. "Replaying the Survival Game" (May 2024)
  • PopMatters - Review of Replay by Luis Aguasvivas. (April 2024)
  • Remap - Review of Replay by Duncan Fyfe. "The Long Way Home: Jordan Mechner's Odyssey to the Past" (March 2024)
  • Press Play - Review of Replay. (April 2024)
  • The Guardian - Review of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown by Julian Benson. "A new gaming kingdom awaits" (January 2024)
  • PC Games - Retrospective by Jeremy Peel. "The Last Express: Jordan Mechner remembers a different sort of war game on the centenary of its departure" (July 2014)

Additional articles and podcasts in French can be found on Jordan's French site.