Ubisoft has finally announced a new Prince of Persia game today, but it will be a location-based virtual reality escape room. There have been two other location-based escape rooms created by Ubisoft in the past, both of which were set in the world of Assassin’s Creed.
The storied Prince of Persia series has been through a few reboots and retellings since it was first acquired by Ubisoft. Ubisoft Montreal’s The Sands of Time was a fantastic game that was rightly adored after its release in 2003 and spawned its own series of sequels. The IP was rebooted again in 2008 and was fairly well regarded, but never received any follow-up games. There hasn’t been a substantial new entry in the series since 2010’s aptly-titled The Forgotten Sands, which was mainly developed to tie into Disney’s infamously whitewashed Prince of Persia film. Fans have been asking Ubisoft to bring the series back for nearly a decade, and now the company is doing so – but certainly not in the way that fans hoped.
In a press release today, Ubisoft revealed a new VR escape room attraction called Prince of Persia: The Dagger of Time. The experience will be a team-based adventure set in The Sands of Time chronology, developed by Ubisoft Düsseldorf and designed “for all ages.” The cooperative escape rooms will involve two, three, or four players working together to solve puzzles and find a way out of a re-imagined Fortress of Time. The Dagger of Time will be available to play at over 300 locations around the world when it launches in the spring of 2020.
Apparently, the attraction actually has a story that includes a significant character from the series’ history. Kaileena, the Empress of Time who first appeared in Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, summons the players and asks for their help. “An evil Magi is attempting to restore the sands to the Hourglass of Time and create an army of Sand Monsters,” the press release reads. “To successfully escape the fortress, players must use cooperative teamwork and problem-solving skills to complete objectives, utilizing powers such as time control from the Dagger of Time.” Despite these returning elements from the Sands of Time storyline, Ubisoft says you do not need to have played any previous Prince of Persia games in order to enjoy The Dagger of Time.
No matter how you look at it, a VR escape room attraction is not the best thing Ubisoft could be doing with the Prince of Persia IP. The publisher has developed a bad habit of turning beloved and underutilized properties into disposable experiences. It has, however, acknowledged the fan demand for new titles in series like Prince of Persia, so one can only hope that a more interesting and substantive game is in the works.
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