The gaming community just got played, hard. For a few glorious hours in mid-January 2026, the internet was convinced that Ubisoft was preparing shadow drops for both Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake and Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced. Website leaks looked legitimate, social media exploded with hype, and then reality hit. It was all a hoax, a simple URL manipulation trick that exposed just how desperately we’re waiting for these games.
The URL Trick That Fooled Everyone
Reddit user KieranGenie on the GamingLeaksAndRumours subreddit exposed the whole thing. The supposed leaks were nothing more than Ubisoft’s standard 404 redirect templates doing what they’re designed to do. You can type literally any garbage into a Ubisoft URL and the site will try to resolve it without immediately throwing a hard error.
Someone demonstrated this by creating URLs like ubisoft.com/en-us/game/halflife3-tomorrow or ubisoft.com/en-us/game/looks-its-totally-fake, and the site responded the same way as the Prince of Persia and Black Flag pages everyone was freaking out about. Screenshots of these fabricated URLs spread like wildfire, complete with fake file names like “game-release-tomorrow.png” that fans monitoring the official websites thought they’d discovered.
How the Hoax Spread
The fake leak gained traction because it tapped into real anticipation. Fans had been watching Ubisoft’s official Prince of Persia website and noticed increased file activity between December 31, 2025, and January 13, 2026. Ubisoft legitimately added around 39 to 40 files during this period, including images, screenshots, and game ratings, which seemed like signs of an imminent announcement.
When the fake websites appeared shortly after, it felt like confirmation of what everyone already suspected. A Twitter account even claimed the game would release on January 16, 2026, before getting suspended. The timing was perfect, the context was believable, and people were ready to believe because they wanted it to be true.
For Black Flag Resynced, the situation was similar. A domain for assassinscreedblackflagresynced.com had been registered through Gandi, a French company Ubisoft has used before for official game websites like Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Mirage. While this domain registration appears legitimate and the game is likely real based on multiple leaks throughout 2025, the supposed website leak showing imminent release was fabricated using the same URL trick.
When Stock Markets React to Reddit Posts
Here’s where things get truly absurd. According to comments on the Reddit thread, Ubisoft’s stock reportedly jumped nearly 10 percent based on these fake leaks. Think about that for a second. Professional investors, people whose job is to assess real information, apparently threw money at Ubisoft shares because someone posted a manipulated URL screenshot on Reddit.
This isn’t just funny, it’s a window into how desperate everyone is for Ubisoft to deliver something. The market is so starved for good news from the struggling publisher that a fake screenshot can move stock prices. It reveals the massive pent-up demand for these remakes and just how badly investors want Ubisoft to have a win after years of delays, cancellations, and underperforming releases.
The Real Story Behind These Remakes
While the website leak was fake, both remakes are very much real, they’re just stuck in development hell. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake was originally announced in September 2020 with a planned January 2021 release. It got delayed to March 2021, then to an unspecified future date. By October 2021, Ubisoft pushed it to 2022 or 2023, citing the need for gameplay and graphics refinements.
In April 2024, reports emerged that the remake was being remade from scratch again, essentially starting over after years of troubled development. The project moved from Ubisoft’s Pune and Mumbai studios to other internal teams, suggesting major issues with the original approach. As of mid-2024, Ubisoft stated the game was unlikely to arrive before 2026, and reliable insiders like Tom Henderson have consistently pointed toward a Q1 2026 release or reveal.
Black Flag’s Lengthy Journey
Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced has followed a similar pattern. The remake has been heavily rumored throughout 2025, with age ratings appearing, hints from voice actor Matt Ryan (who played Edward Kenway), and even statue makers seemingly confirming the project. In May at a convention, Ryan told a fan “you might have to beat it again,” and shortly after that video surfaced online in July 2025, Ubisoft France conveniently posted nostalgic Black Flag content.
Domain registration for blackflagresynced.com through the same company Ubisoft uses for official sites adds credibility, but the publisher still hasn’t made any official announcement. With 2025 coming and going without news, and now these fake leaks muddying the waters further, fans are rightfully frustrated.
Why We Keep Falling for This
The reason these hoaxes work is simple: people are exhausted from waiting. Prince of Persia has been in development for over five years with virtually nothing to show for it. Black Flag rumors have been swirling for at least a year without confirmation. Ubisoft’s recent track record of delays, cancellations, and disappointing launches has created an information vacuum that fans fill with hope and speculation.
Every tiny hint gets analyzed to death. Every file upload becomes evidence. Every URL gets dissected. When something that looks even remotely official appears, people jump on it immediately because they’re desperate for good news. Hoaxers exploit this desperation with increasingly convincing fakes, knowing the community is primed to believe.
What Actually Comes Next
Despite the fake leaks, credible insiders still maintain that Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake is on track for Q1 2026. Tom Henderson, who has a solid track record, hasn’t backed away from that timeframe. The real file activity on Ubisoft’s website and the game’s age ratings suggest something is genuinely in the pipeline, even if the shadow drop rumors were fabricated.
For Black Flag Resynced, the evidence remains strong that it’s in development. The domain registration, voice actor hints, age ratings, and consistent leaks all point to a real project. The question isn’t whether it exists, but when Ubisoft will finally announce it officially. Some fans theorize the announcement is tied to the recent Edward Kenway webtoon release, building narrative momentum before the reveal.
Ubisoft didn’t host a summer showcase in 2025 and has been largely quiet on major announcements lately. Whether that’s due to internal restructuring, financial struggles, or a deliberate marketing strategy remains unclear. What is clear is that the longer Ubisoft stays silent, the more these fake leaks will proliferate and the more frustrated the community becomes.
FAQs
Were the Prince of Persia and Black Flag remake websites real?
No, the supposed website leaks were hoaxes created by manipulating Ubisoft’s URL structure. The company’s redirect system processes any URL path without immediately throwing errors, allowing people to create fake screenshots that looked legitimate. However, domain registrations and other evidence suggest the games themselves are real projects.
How did people create the fake website leaks?
By typing arbitrary text into Ubisoft’s URL structure, like ubisoft.com/en-us/game/anything-you-want, the site’s redirect template loads without a hard error. Screenshots of these manipulated URLs with game names inserted were posted as if they were real leaked pages, fooling fans into thinking official announcements were imminent.
Did Ubisoft’s stock really jump because of fake leaks?
According to reports from the Reddit community, Ubisoft’s stock allegedly jumped nearly 10 percent following the fake leaks. While unverified, this would demonstrate how desperate investors are for positive news from Ubisoft and how easily misinformation can influence markets when confirmation bias is strong.
Is Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake still coming?
Yes, credible insiders including Tom Henderson maintain the remake is still in development and targeting a Q1 2026 release or reveal. The project has been delayed multiple times since its 2020 announcement and was reportedly restarted from scratch in 2024, but hasn’t been officially cancelled.
When will Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced be announced?
There’s no official timeline yet. Despite age ratings, domain registrations, voice actor hints, and consistent leaks throughout 2025, Ubisoft hasn’t formally announced the project. Speculation suggests it could be revealed in early 2026, but nothing is confirmed.
Why hasn’t Ubisoft officially announced these remakes?
Ubisoft likely wants to avoid announcing release dates before development is stable, given the multiple delays that have plagued recent projects. The company didn’t hold its typical summer showcase in 2025 and has been relatively quiet on major announcements, possibly due to internal restructuring or financial challenges.
How can I avoid falling for fake leaks in the future?
Wait for official announcements from publishers through their verified social media accounts, press releases, or major gaming events. Be skeptical of screenshots without additional verification, check multiple credible sources before believing rumors, and remember that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
What’s the difference between the fake websites and real domain registrations?
Domain registrations like assassinscreedblackflagresynced.com are actual purchases through registrars and can be verified through WHOIS databases. The fake websites were just URL paths that anyone could type into their browser, not actual registered pages. Real domains cost money and show ownership records, fake URLs are free and prove nothing.
Conclusion
This hoax exposed the uncomfortable truth about the current state of gaming hype culture and Ubisoft’s credibility crisis. We’re so starved for information about games that have been in development for years that we’ll believe almost anything that confirms our hopes. The fact that a simple URL trick could fool thousands of fans and possibly move stock prices shows just how desperate everyone is for these remakes to finally materialize. While the website leaks were fake, the games themselves likely are real and probably coming soon. But until Ubisoft makes official announcements, treat every leak with healthy skepticism, no matter how convincing it looks. We’ve already been burned once, let’s not make it twice.