Despite the cancellation of the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake earlier this year, fans of the franchise can still look forward to the spin-off title The Rogue Prince of Persia. The development team has now shared an extensive roadmap for spring 2026, packed with exciting new features.
Developer Evil Empire greeted its community on Steam with New Year wishes for 2026 and announced the Flaming Horses tool, a special addition celebrating the lunar Year of the Horse. This tool summons a stampede of fiery horses that charge ahead, leaving a blazing trail in their wake. The team explained, "We've long desired a burning tool similar to Altan's Bracelets, and the Year of the Fire Horse gave us the perfect inspiration. Horses are deeply rooted in Persian culture, from the historic Nisean Horse and Royal Road to the mythical Rakhsh from the Shahnameh."
More updates are on the horizon. The "Breathless" update is set to launch in a public beta by late March, offering a faster and more intense gameplay experience. It will revamp the game's opening hour, streamline pacing, and enhance how players unlock new content and mechanics, along with adjustments to boss difficulty. Evil Empire noted, "We're redesigning the early biome levels to better showcase our signature wall-run move, making each area quicker and more challenging."
Seasoned players will also find fresh content, including a new Freeze element paired with a slingshot weapon, arenas that trap players in combat against waves of enemies, and weapon affixes to add variety and strategic depth to each run. These affixes promise to make weapons more engaging, presenting players with tough decisions.
In related news, Ubisoft started the year with a major restructuring, leading to the cancellation of six games, such as the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake, and delays for seven others. This move resulted in the closure of two Ubisoft studios and additional layoffs across the company.
Jordan Mechner, creator of Prince of Persia, recently commented on the remake's cancellation, calling it a "brutal experience" for developers. He emphasized, "A cancellation so close to release can be especially crushing for younger team members who lack a long history of shipped titles. It's hard to accept that years of dedicated work, which they were eager to showcase, will never reach the public."
