Dead Cells co-developer Evil Empire has revealed The Rogue Prince of Persia, a new roguelike take on the resurgent platforming adventure series. The Rogue Prince of Persia will head into Steam Early Access on 14th May.
Can’t wait until May? You can sign up for an alpha test now at therogueprinceofpersia.com.
So what’s going on here? Well, the Prince is back, but has been trapped in a never-ending cycle of roguelike death. His bola, which was gifted to him as a baby, constantly resurrects him to the last truly safe place he was in before he dies, with this safety net both allowing to master formidable acrobatic and combat techniques, but also leading to rash actions that have triggered an invasion by Huns.
More details on what will be included in the early access build will be revealed between now and launch, but one thing is certain, and that’s that the game sports an eye-catching cartoon art style, both in the trailer and the game itself with slick animations to the impactful looking combat.
Evil Empire was spawned out of original Dead Cells developer Motion Twin. Back in 2019, Motion Twin started work on a new project, but spun off the Dead Cells team into a separate entity to keep on supporting their hit game. It remained a cross-studio effort though, with Motion Twin and Evil Empire bringing numerous updates and expansions to the game in the years since, culminating the the fourth and final paid expansion Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania, which launched in March 2023. The final significant update for Dead Cells was released in 2024, with both studios moving on to new and separate projects – Motion Twin on a game called Windblown, with Evil Empire now revealed to have partnered with Ubisoft.
Speaking of which, it’s great to see Ubisoft really embracing this venerable series once more, and exploring it in new and different ways. This announcement comes just a few months after Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown was released to plenty of praise for its deft take on the Metroidvania genre. Now the Prince is heading into the roguelike, and you simply have to wonder where they’ll go next.
Prince of Persia Kart, anyone?
