How purple skin and a Spanish phone number almost sank The Rogue Prince of Persia

Evil Empire roguelike exits Early Access with brutally honorable behind-the-scenes video

The Rogue Prince of Persia celebrated its 1.0 merchandise yesterday with a remarkably honorable behind-the-scenes video from developers Evil Empire, detailing the ups and downs of a year-long Early Access period, including the determination to wholly overhaul the game's creation benignant and redesign its purple-skinned protagonist.

The video opens with the admittance that this Roguelike instrumentality connected the wall-jumping, time-rewinding Prince suffered aggregate blows upon its Early Access merchandise successful May 2024. The archetypal of these was the astonishment driblet of heavyweight Hades 2, which besides launched successful May and stole astir of the Prince's limelight. The 2nd was the antagonistic subordinate effect to some the game's deficiency of contented and its colourful ocular style, which was inspired by Persian miniature paintings and the artwork of Mœbius/Jean Giraud.

Notably, the determination to springiness the titular Prince and each NPCs a purple skintone was met with confusion. In a developer diary from 2024, it was revealed that this was intended arsenic a nonstop ode to the PC CGA larboard of Prince of Persia from 1990, which featured neon tegument for each owed to a constricted 4-colour palette. Unfortunately, this homage went implicit the heads of astir players.

"During a brainstorming league astir skins, our creation manager had raised a seemingly guiltless question," says Evil Empire Marketing Manager Matthew Houghton successful the video. "Are we definite that making the Prince purple won't beryllium a problem? At the time, everyone told him no. He was overthinking it; colours are cool, they're stylish, it adds a spot of fantasy! Well...now we each cognize however that turned out."

The Prince's purple look, on with its archetypal inspiration. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Evil Empire/Ubisoft

The remainder of the footage details however Evil Empire not lone packed The Rogue Prince of Persia with further content, but besides revamped the creation benignant - a determination that is present conveyed successful much elaborate levels and a decidedly less-purple Prince adorning everything from the game's cardinal creation to the medium screen of its awesome soundtrack by Persian American instrumentalist ASADI. Alas, adjacent this ocular update faced unexpected friction successful the signifier of a bizarre Steam contented which required the devs to usage a Spanish telephone fig to get their ain merchandise updated.

"Through each those problems and roadblocks," Houghton continues, "we've had a large assemblage giving america a helping manus the full way. Even erstwhile it was wide we had a tonne of enactment to do, they've been determination giving america support, feedback and encouragement. So a peculiar shoutout to you guys for sticking with america connected our brainsick journey."

Despite these bully words, Houghton acknowledges that the crippled has faced a debased subordinate number during its Early Access. The 1.0 merchandise is present considered final, and passim the video determination does look to beryllium a flimsy feeling of "well, we definite anticipation much folks play this, oregon other we'll ne'er marque a sequel." Which would beryllium a shame, considering that past year's Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown was a superb effort that Ubisoft sent retired to dice with mediocre promotion earlier disbanding the squad down it.

I mean connected giving the Rogue Prince of Persia a due spell this play and americium looking guardant to it. I besides liked the purple Prince look, due to the fact that I can't assistance but respect unorthodox creation plan decisions, particularly erstwhile they're an ultra-niche homage to machine colour schemes that existed erstwhile I was a kid. But I tin spot however his grape tegument on with the game's much cartoony and dreamy archetypal visuals failed to latch onto players, and it does consciousness arsenic if the last effect is really a tad much reminiscent of the Persian miniature inspiration.

Most of all, however, I'm sticken by the frankness of Evil Empire successful this video. Despite taking implicit Dead Cells DLC from Motion Twin, Houghton consistently acknowledges that the squad was inexperienced successful definite regards, and that this was their archetypal fully-fledged project. It's uncommon to spot admissions of setbacks that aren't couched successful firm manufacture talk (particularly for a gaming marque owned by Ubisoft). I lone anticipation that the Rogue Prince of Persia manages to drawback a fewer much eyes due to the fact that of it.