DIY Guide: Remastering Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time on Your Own

The future of Prince of Persia feels uncertain as Ubisoft undergoes significant changes, leading to job losses and the cancellation of several projects, including the highly anticipated remake of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.

While the situation at Ubisoft’s studios is a pressing issue, with staff even going on strike, there’s a gamer-centric concern: one of Ubisoft’s most beloved franchises is in a less-than-ideal state.

But fear not, fellow PC gamers—we know how to tackle these challenges.

If you haven’t yet snagged a digital copy of Sands of Time, you have a few options. The easiest is Steam, where the game is priced around $12 (£9). Currently, the Ubisoft Store has it on sale for under $3 (£2), though you’ll need to download it through their app first. After that, you can launch it via Steam.

GOG is another option, but it might be worth waiting to purchase there: they’ve announced that Sands of Time will soon be included in their Preservation Program, which is expected to bring a host of enhancements for smoother gameplay on modern systems.

Like many titles from the PS2 era, Sands of Time struggles on contemporary hardware, suffering from poor controller support and awkward post-processing effects. While there are numerous tweaks available on modding sites, I recommend two comprehensive solutions.

The quickest way to rejuvenate this classic is through the Fix Compilation, created by game preservation enthusiast Vinícius Medeiros, who has worked on various titles from that transitional period before solid PC ports became the norm. This pack is designed for simplicity:

Just download and extract the ZIP file into your Prince of Persia directory, overwriting any necessary files.

The Fix Compilation includes a new launcher, DirectX wrapper fixes, restored EAX audio for enhanced sound effects, full widescreen support (though ultrawide resolutions may reveal more than intended, especially in menus), and—most importantly—modern controller support.

Additionally, if you have the Steam or Ubisoft versions, it removes the old DRM, allowing you to transfer the game to your handheld PC, where it runs flawlessly. For more details on this process, see the section below.

Using this compilation requires minimal effort on your part. Simply unpack and launch the game via PrinceOfPersia.EXE (not POP.EXE). You’ll need to manually bind your controls for a controller, but mapping everything to a modern Xbox, PlayStation, or Steam pad should be straightforward.

If you’re up for a bit more work, the Sands of Time Remastered Mod by borisskyman, loloikabo, and vargatomi is worth considering. Released in August 2025, it offers some exciting features:

This pack doesn’t come with a widescreen patch by default, so you’ll need to grab one from the PC Gaming Wiki and unzip it into your Prince of Persia directory as well.

Be prepared: using Sands of Time Remastered requires more effort than the Fix Compilation.

Download and extract the mod (and the widescreen patch if desired) into your Prince of Persia directory. You’ll run the mod through a patcher app, launched via ‘Peixoto.bat’ found in the Prince Of PersiaPeixoto directory.

Select ‘Prince Of Persia – SOT’ from the game list, and you’ll see a comprehensive array of options. While you can customize to your heart’s content, the key steps are applying the Fog Fix (follow the in-app instructions) and placing the replacement textures in the correct folder.

The patcher app provides a link to the right location, but generally, you’ll want to navigate to:

C:UsersYournameDocumentsGamesPrince of PersiaSands of TimeTexturesVOKSI on your PC. Then, transfer the contents of the VOKSI folder (from where you unpacked the mod) into this target destination.

If done correctly, characters and key items in the game should appear sharper and more detailed, along with improved environment textures.

Once everything is set up, hit Play in the Peixoto’s Patcher panel and direct it to your PrinceOfPersia.EXE file. It will apply all the fixes and launch the game. There’s also an option to create a desktop shortcut for easier access to the enhanced version.

From here, you can tweak settings to improve anti-aliasing, toggle VSync, and apply post-processing effects, but I recommend playing the game first before diving into adjustments.

One downside of this mod is that it doesn’t remove any DRM and requires launching through a third-party app, making it less compatible with the Steam Deck. For that, the simpler Fix Compilation is the better choice.

I have to admit: until writing this, I had only used my Steam Deck for games from my Steam library. However, I found the process so straightforward that I managed to get my Ubisoft Store copy of the game running, complete with the unofficial fix pack, on the handheld in just half an hour. Here’s how:

While an official remaster would make this process much easier (and fingers crossed that GOG gives Sands of Time a thorough update), these solutions should keep you entertained until another game fills that Prince of Persia void in your gaming life.