Prince of Persia is a video game franchise created by Jordan Mechner, originally developed by Br?derbund, then the Learning Company, and currently Ubisoft. The franchise is built around a series of action-adventure games focused on various incarnations of the eponymous prince. The first game in the series was designed by Mechner after the success of his previous game with Br?derbund, Karateka. The title was successful enough to spawn two sequels: the series has been rebooted twice since its acquisition by Ubisoft, and has been successful enough to warrent a film adaptation, penned in part by Mechner and released by Walt Disney Pictures in 2010.[1]

Even though Mechner has been involved with the series in varying capacities throughout its history, the games themselves have been developed and published by several different companies. The first two games in the series, Prince of Persia and Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame, were developed by Br?derbund for the Apple II. Prince of Persia 3D, the first to use 3D computer graphics, was developed by Red Orb Entertainment and published by The Learning Company on PC, and developed by Avalanche Software and published by Mattel Interactive on Sega Dreamcast. French-based video game company Ubisoft began developing and publishing the series in 2003 with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, and so far have been the most prolific of any company in bringing out new games in the series.