The newest games in the Prince of Persia franchise, including The Rogue Prince of Persia from Evil Empire (August 2025), Ubisoft Montpellier's spectacular 2D Metroidvania Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (2024 winner of 4 Pegasus awards), and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake from Ubisoft Montreal (coming in 2026), are on Ubisoft's official Prince of Persia site. You'll find trailers, downloads, updates from the dev teams, and more.
Hi, Jordan here, Prince of Persia's original creator. I'm excited to see this franchise that's been close to my heart for four decades enjoying such a beautiful renaissance. (It started in 1985 with me videotaping my 15-year-old brother running and jumping in his pajamas in our high school parking lot, then figuring out a way to squeeze that animation into an Apple II.)
Five years ago, the series seemed as good as dead, despite my efforts to revive it after a decade-long dry spell. (If you're curious about how that happened, I wrote and drew a graphic novel memoir about it.)
Now, like a Persian phoenix rising from the ashes, this year has seen a spectacular rebirth of Prince of Persia in the hands of wonderful teams in Montreal, Montpellier, and Bordeaux. They include friends and colleagues whose talent and dedication I've experienced first-hand in past collaborations. I can’t wait for a new generation of gamers and loyal PoP fans to discover their work. (You can find it on Ubisoft's site.)
If you're interested in the behind-the-scenes story of my involvement with Prince of Persia over the years, you’re in the right place — read on!
Before the 2003 game, before the 2010 movie, was the original 1989 side-scrolling, running, jumping, sword-fighting game I spent three years creating and programming on the Apple II, back when a computer was something you could pop the hood off and tinker with.
Brøderbund published Prince of Persia on the Apple II in 1989. It was converted to nearly every video game and computer console in existence, selling 2 million copies worldwide.
I directed the first 2D sequel, The Shadow and the Flame (1993), then turned away from the prince to spend the next four years making a real-time adventure game, The Last Express.
Another decade would pass before Ubisoft Montreal and I took on the challenge of reviving the moribund franchise for a new generation of gamers with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. That relaunch's success led to the Prince of Persia movie.
If you want to play the original Apple or DOS game just as you remember it... alas, it’s long out of print and not currently available for purchase. I can suggest two options. One is to find an old computer and floppy disk in your basement, like the enthusiasts at this French retro-gaming club:
The second is to play it for free in your browser and under emulation at the Internet Archive. (Don't tell anyone I told you.)
Making Prince of Persia on an Apple II, when 1980s technology and I were young, was an adventure in itself. I've published my game-dev journals from that time as a book (in several languages), The Making of Prince of Persia (1985-1993).
Behind-the-scenes and archival materials from POP's development, including Apple II source code, documentation, and rotoscoped animation videos, can be found in this website's Library. (The archive is an ongoing project; I add new items to it periodically.)
In my new graphic memoir Replay: Memoir of an Uprooted Family, I recount episodes of Prince of Persia's creation from a different, personal and family perspective.
REPLAY also addresses a question I'm often asked: Why don't I do a new 2D Prince of Persia game, using today's technology, to continue the story of POP 2: The Shadow and the Flame (which ended on a cliffhanger in 1993)? My POP2-inspired artwork "Cliffhanger" contains a clue. You'll find the fuller story told in Replay's "blue" and "yellow" timelines.
You can find the latest details and updates about the current Prince of Persia franchise on Ubisoft's site.
The Making of
Prince of Persia
Replay
The Making of
Karateka
The Last Express
