Gaming: Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time Cancellation Was 'the Most...

Eman Ayaz dedicated three years of her life to the game and has nothing to show for it.

Last week's cancellation of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (the "Remake" part of the title was dropped in 2024) really sucked for fans of the series who've been waiting years for Ubisoft to finally finish and release it. It sucked a whole lot more for people who worked on it, including voice actor Eman Ayaz, who called its cancellation "the most devastating moment of my career."

"Three years ago, I booked a life-changing role on a life-changing project," Ayaz says at the start of the video. "It was a rigorous audition process, including a self tape audition, an in-person call back, and then a chemistry read that I had to fly out of the city for.

"When I got the role, I remember crying my eyes out. And I've dedicated the last three years of my life to this project and spent those years getting to know the team, which has become like a family to me. I've watched it grow through countless stages of development and I've waited and waited for the day that it was finally going to be released and I could finally talk about it."

Instead, the whole thing was shut down—and making matters worse, Ayaz didn't hear about the canellation from Ubisoft, but from her brother, who asked her about it after reading a report about Ubisoft's restructuring last week. Prior to that, everything seemed fine: Ayaz said she'd filmed marketing for the game within the last couple months, and the team was looking forward to The Sands of Time launching later this year. The cancellation left her "in total shock," Ayaz said: Getting the role felt like an affirmation of her talent and "brought out what I honestly believe is the best performance of my career, and now nobody is ever going to see that."

It's not just a question of disappointment—the cancellation has serious practical implications for her career. Applying for a visa to work in the US (Ayaz is Canadian) "is no longer an option," which is doubly punishing when roles for South Asian Muslim women are so scarce to begin with. Ayaz remains under NDA so she can't even talk about the project in any details, and she can't share any of her work publicly so it does her no good as far as helping to secure future employment. It is, she says, "as if it never existed."

And that's the real kicker: A starring role in a big game can help launch a career, because as we've seen time and again, doing more work means getting more work. So when three yea

Source: PC Gamer