When is The Rogue Prince of Persia release date? Two Prince of Persia games in one year — yes, that's the world we're living in. After years of silence, the legendary side-scrolling series appears to be back in a big way. Unlike Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown which is a traditional Metroidvania, this game has been designed as a roguelike.
Developed by Evil Empire, one of the studios responsible for the critically acclaimed Dead Cells DLC, roguelike game mechanics to make the game infinitely replayable. Here's everything you need to know about The Rogue Prince of Persia, including its release date, the early access launch, and more.
The Rogue Prince of Persia release date window
The Rogue Prince of Persia is currently scheduled to launch in August 2025, but an exact date hasn't been revealed just yet. The game is currently only available on Steam right now, though that may change when the developers announce the precise release date.
Evil Empire hasn't confirmed any platforms or storefronts apart from PC (Steam). While the two games aren't entirely comparable, The Rogue Prince of Persia shares a lot in common with Dead Cells, including a visual identity which can be scaled to run on practically any platform. For this reason, we believe The Rogue Prince of Persia will launch on PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 1 and 2, Android, and iOS devices at some point in the future.
The full release of The Rogue Prince of Persia is expected to have double the amount of content compared to the early access version. The devs have warned the price may go up as a result, though they say on the Steam Early Access page that this will be "communicated well in advance".
The Rogue Prince of Persia early access
The Rogue Prince of Persia launched on Steam Early Access on Monday, May 27, 2024. Evil Empire wanted to spend at least one year in early access in order to add the content they had planned, and to use that time to respond to community .
The early access date was originally set for May 14, 2024, but Evil Empire decided to postpone the launch to distance The Rogue Prince of Persia from Hades 2's surprise release. "It's not every day that a game in the same genre as you, which is one of the most anticipated games of 2024, will release into early access a week before you plan to do the same," the statement reads. "We are not prideful enough to ignore the implications of that."
The Rogue Prince of Persia trailers
The Rogue Prince of Persia reveal trailer gives us a glimpse of roguelike in the form of an animation and via in-game footage. The opening scene of the reveal video shows off the Prince fighting several soldiers. The Steam page indicates these soldiers are a Hun army that has been corrupted by dark shamanic magic. We get our first look at the game's art direction, revealing skin tones as a range of purples against the yellows of the terrain.
After defeating numerous enemies, the Prince takes a moment to save a little girl from a dangerous solider. He takes off once more, this time displaying his acrobatic skills as he swings across rooftops and runs along walls. The Prince gets a chance to use a tool, a spinning blade, capable of ripping through a large bug carrying another little girl. Multiple enemies wearing skulls as masks fire arrows onto the battlefield — the Prince protects the girl, but it costs him his life.
The trailer transitions over to in-game footage as the Prince respawns and runs forward, seamlessly blending into the game. The Prince makes his way through various landscapes in this side-scrolling adventure, battling enemies in hand-to-hand combat, before switching to a sword to take down numerous enemies. There are plenty of environmental hazards to dodge, including rotating blades, spike traps in the ground, and deadly wall traps. Fortunately, the Prince has plenty of mobility options to dodge right past these traps with ease.
Evil Empire has been dropping community update videos every few weeks hosted by Matthew Houghton, Evil Empire's marketing manager. These videos cover a different topic about the game to give fans an insight into the developers' minds.
The 'Weapons Within' trailer shows off the weapons update that hit the game in September. This update includes 13 new weapons, alongside seven old weapons receiving reworks to give the game more variety when it comes to combat. The update also features weapon racks at the beginning of each run, allowing you to choose the weapon you start the game with.
The Rogue Prince of Persia gameplay
The main elements that make The Rogue Prince of Persia unique are the platforming and combat options. Wall-running is an essential part of the game, allowing you to reach areas that would otherwise be inaccessible. You can even wall-run up vertically, but not downwards. If you want to slow down your descent, you have the option to plunge a dagger into walls, giving you more time to think about your next move. When you master the Prince's movement abilities, you should be able to zoom through stages, swinging from poles and wall-running past enemies.
The Prince has various weapons at his disposal, from fast-attacking blades to heavy spears. Each weapon has a combo and a special attack, but the devs don't want you to constantly spam the attack button, as there are smarter ways to approach combat. You also have access to a kick while holding your weapons, this can be extremely useful depending on your surroundings. If there are spikes below you, you can kick an enemy down into them. Likewise, if there's a trap behind an enemy, all you need to do is kick them into it.
You also have access to tools, but unlike your primary weapons, these tools can only be used if you have enough charges available. These tools change the way you approach combat, for example, the bow and arrow gives you the ability to pick enemies off from afar. However, you might prefer to use the spinning blade, which deals more damage but doesn't travel as far. Your charge bar sits underneath your health bar — it can be built by attacking enemies.
Finally, there are Medallions, special upgradable items that activate effects depending on what their trigger is. You can activate up to four Medallions at once, ranging from effects like releasing a cloud of poison on hit, to restoring a certain amount of health each time you encounter a Well of Dreams. Since its release, there have been some updates implemented with new features. This includes a new biome (Temple of Fire), a meta-progression addition, some new traps and mobs to avoid, and a new weapon.
And that's everything we know about The Rogue Prince of Persia release date. You can learn about the game in our best single-player games guide.