Ubisoft’s beloved time manipulating monarch is back….sort of. Ubisoft Düsseldorf is giving the Prince of Persia franchise a VR escape room experience with Prince of Persia: Dagger of Time. In an interview with Cyril Voiron, executive producer for Ubisoft Escape Games, Dagger of Time will be a spin-off of the Sands of Time trilogy. The game features a two to four-player co-op puzzle room, and players will have to utilize the franchise’s iconic time-manipulating mechanics and vertical exploration to escape the trap-laden Fortress of Time. However, there is just one piece missing from this puzzle: the titular Prince.

Unlike Ubisoft’s previous Assassin's Creed VR escape rooms, Dagger of Time will feature a guiding NPC, Kaileena, Empress of Time. So far there is no mention of The Prince himself appearing. With the insurmountable amount of money the Assassin's Creed franchise has earned, it’s been long overdue for Ubisoft to take a look back at the predecessor that gave way to one of their most successful and profitable series.

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In 1989, Jordan Mechner designed Prince of Persia for the Apple II. Although not a commercial success at first, later ports of the platformer caught the attention of early gamers with its fluid rotoscoped animation. Prince of Persia gave players only 60 minutes to traverse spike-filled dungeons, cross swords with enemy swashbucklers and rescue the princess. Mechner’s slow-burn success would give way to a 1993 sequel, Prince of Persia: The Shadow and the Flame, and eventually kicking-off the 21st century with Prince of Persia 3D, developed by Red Orb Entertainment for the PC. The series’ first foray into the realm of 3D left a lot to be desired, often criticized for a sloppy camera and buggy controls. Following Prince of Persia 3D's failure, the rights would be sold to Ubisoft.

Mechner was brought in by Ubisoft to assist in developing what would become Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Released in 2003, Sands was the first of the franchise to give the fabled Prince the ability to reverse time and wall-jumping parkour, both of which cemented the Sands of Time as the most beloved installment of the franchise. Ubisoft moved to capitalize on gaming trends, though, and Sands was followed up by Warrior Within and The Two Thrones, which featured a dark and edgy tonal shift. Warrior Within even featured then-popular metal songs, including Godsmack’s "I Stand Alone." Despite Mechner stepping away from the final two games of the trilogy and mixed reception of the franchise’s darker atmospheric direction, both games performed well and were arguably a profitable success.

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The Cover Art For Prince Of Persia: The Sands of Time

Yet with the exception of a few portable and mobile remakes and spin-offs (and one Disney-backed film adaptation), the franchise just fell to the wayside like so many grains of sand. So what killed the time-meddling Prince? Ironically, the answer can be found in a game that was supposed to serve as a continuation of the IP: Prince of Persia: Assassins. This was at least the working title of a forgotten project where players would have been charged as the Prince’s personal bodyguard and assassin. Game designer and creative director Patrice Desilet took the working project and turned it into Assassin's Creed, which would become one of Ubisoft’s longest-running and most profitable original IPs.

There was a 2008 reboot, simply titled Prince of Persia, but stylish cell-shading and a cooperative NPC wasn’t enough for the game to be overshadowed by the 2007 release of the very first Assassin’s Creed. As fun as the Ubisoft’s VR games may be, it's about time the Prince is shown some true love. Between the vertical level design and sword fighting taken to the rage-quitting extremes in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and the mythic storytelling of 2018’s God of War, there is endless potential inspiration following the beleaguered franchise’s absence.

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