Question: I heard that [Prince of Persia: The sands of time movie](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_of_Persia%3a_The_Sands_of_Time_%28film%29) was based on the [Prince of Persia: The sands of time video game](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_of_Persia%3a_The_Sands_of_Time). However in the wiki article it is said:

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> Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a film loosely based on the game.
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I also found that the writers of the movie are Jordan Mechner, Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro. I am not aware of the story of the game. So is the story of the film not the same as that of the game? Also I could not see any attribute in the film to the game. So did the producers not buy the story legally from Ubisoft? What is the back story?

Answer: 
As an addition to *Tyler*'s answer, while the story, the locations, the characters and their particular relationships are different from the game, there are still many general similarities in the story development of both the movie and the video game, apart from the obvious presence of the *"Sand of Time"*, the dagger and the *"Prince of Persia"* himself:

Similar to the movie the *Vezier* (though not being related to the *Prince*'s family) more or less persuades the *Prince*'s father to conquer a realm for more or less normal reasons (game: wealth and honor, movie: preemptive attack) just to secretly get his hands on the *Sand of Time*. The *Prince* in turn tries to impress his father, and steals the *Dagger of Time* during this attack (not knowing what it can do), much to the dismay of the *Vezier*'s evil plans.

On his way to correct things (though in the game everybody is dead/evil and in the movie he is merely banned/wanted for betrayal), he meets a girl who in the end knows much more about the *Sand* and the *Dagger*. She wants to get her hands on it in order to correct things, while the *Prince* is rather stubborn, doesn't trust her and wants to do things his own way by keeping the dagger getting both into conflict.

At the end, they manage to find the source of the *Sand of Time*, and by reuniting it with the *Dagger*, turn back the time to the start of the adventure. The *Prince* gets the chance to prevent all those evil things happening, and just hints at the girl (who has no memory of her adventure in the other timeline) as to what actually happened.

So while the story is quite different, major plot elements along with the general personalities and relationships of the major characters are not that dissimilar between the movie and the game.
Yes. The 2010 movie ***Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time*** was based on the 2003 video game of the same name.

[From Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_of_Persia:_The_Sands_of_Time_(film)#Production):

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> In March 2004, the production company Jerry Bruckheimer Films sought to acquire feature film rights to the 2003 video game Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time with the film to be distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. Under John August as executive producer, the series' creator Jordan Mechner was hired to write the script. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer's Pirates of the Caribbean film trilogy served as a touchstone in how a theme park ride was converted into a film franchise. According to Mechner, "Rather than do a straight beat-for-beat adaptation of the new videogame, we're taking some cool elements from the game and using them to craft a new story." Mechner previously considered producing an animated film based on the games, but could not resist Disney and Bruckheimer's offer. In February 2006, Disney hired screenwriter Jeffrey Nachmanoff to write a new script for Prince of Persia.
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So much so that Director Mike Newell had ["an assistant playing the video games to brief him on key details."](http://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/mike-newell-drops-early-prince-of-persia-details/)

While based on the game, the movie is not a straight adaptation.