The new Prince of Persia comes from the Dead Cells makers.
It's up and down with Prince of Persia. First the fans cheer about the announced remake of the masterful Sands of Time, then said remake disappears into obscurity, instead Ubisoft announces Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown with a YouTube trailer that makes people angry. Too comic-like, too hip hop, and you're not playing a prince at all. The Lost Crown will be released at the beginning of 2024 and is… damn good. The press and fans are enthusiastic, but unfortunately the sales figures don't win any favors.
Ups and downs. Now, barely three months later, people are surprisingly already talking about the next Prince of Persia. And no, that's the talk not from Sands of Time. Unfortunately, there is still no sign of life for the remake.
But for that The Rogue Prince of Persiaas leaker Tom Henderson put it with recourse to anonymous sources calls. The new Prince of Persia is not only scheduled to be released this year, but – according to Henderson – is being developed by exactly the right studio.
Dead Cells meets Prince of Persia
According to leaks, The Rogue Prince of Persia is, as the name suggests, a roguelite, so most likely some kind of side-scroller in which you fight your way through procedurally generated dungeons, unlock upgrades, die and start all over again.
And behind the game there are apparently absolute professionals in the genre: the makers of Dead Cells. If you haven't played Dead Cells yet, you should definitely do so, because this Metroidvania is at the absolute top of the genre with its cool fights:
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Dead Cells: New boss & areas of the DLC Fatal Falls in the trailer
In Dead Cells you also fight your way through scary 2D dungeons; the focus here is on the fast-paced fights and dozens of weapons, a driving soundtrack and spectacular effects. The ideas behind it could be married very well with Prince of Persia, but the same development studios do not automatically mean that a style is transferred one to one.
According to Henderson, the developers have been working on the new Prince of Persia for four years. The idea arose from a conversation at GDC 2019. Dead Cells has not received any new DLC expansions since February 2024. However, the original developer Motion Twin now has its own sub-studios, which have taken over the further development of Dead Cells since 2020.
The Rogue Prince of Persia will be the first Ubisoft game to appear on Steam at launch since 2019, albeit in Early Access. The devs want to further develop the project in parallel with ongoing community feedback. Artistically, one takes inspiration from Franco-Belgian comics; However, it is not yet clear which ones exactly.
What do you think about that?