Games like The Rogue Prince of Persia don't come along nearly often enough. The upcoming roguelike from Evil Empire and Ubisoft — which will launch next month in Early Access — is something uncommon: an indie take on a triple-A series.

Triple-A publishers tend to be a little too precious with their big franchises. But, on the rare occasion that a triple-A publisher and an indie developer do team up, they tend to maximize their joint slay. Sonic Mania, produced by a small team external to Sega, was the best-reviewed game in the series ever when it launched in 2017. Cadence of Hyrule was similarly beloved. When smaller teams get a chance to play with a big IP, they often rise to the challenge.

Leveling Up With A Big Franchise Like Prince Of Persia

It’s just a shame that it happens so rarely. In the world of film, working with a well-known IP is an established route for a director to take a step up. Think of Christopher Nolan raising his profile by making The Dark Knight trilogy or Greta Gerwig becoming the highest-grossing female director of all-time with Barbie. Both have legions of dedicated fans, many of whom wouldn't know their names if they hadn’t worked with an established brand with broad reach.

This is one reason it would be worthwhile for publishers to farm out their brands to indie devs. It can be difficult to stand out in the increasingly crowded video game market, but working with a known character or series is a surefire path to gain attention, if not necessarily acclaim. For many indie devs, the possibilities are either to have a huge breakout hit like Stardew Valley (which is about as likely as winning the lottery) or to toil away in obscurity, barely keeping afloat. Evil Empire wasn't in danger of this — it's the studio that handled post-launch support for Dead Cells, one of those breakout hits — but for most indie devs, getting a triple-A license would mean a huge jump in visibility.

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It's One Triple-A Game, Michael. What Could It Cost?

It also isn't especially risky for the publisher. I can't confirm the exact budgets, but I would bet serious Xerxes Coins that The Rogue Prince of Persia cost a fraction of the money Ubisoft has spent on its long-gestating Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake — especially since that game reportedly restarted development from the ground up after the trailer received massive fan backlash. A 2D roguelike doesn't cost much to develop, and won't cause much of a dent in Ubisoft's reputation if it tanks. Meanwhile, a hated triple-A game is a surefire way for the company to take a public beating and lose money.

Appeals to publisher self-interest aside, games like The Rogue Prince of Persia, Cadence of Hyrule, and Sonic Mania are ways to give an aging series a shot in the arm. Sonic Mania showed Sonic Team that developers outside the studio understood what fans wanted better than they did. It's tough to determine cause-and-effect, but Sonic Team's next game, Sonic Frontiers, was significantly more ambitious than its previous title, Sonic Forces. Sonic Team swung for the fences instead of attempting another Forces-style bunt, and fans and critics both liked it.

Just as importantly, a new take on an established franchise alters the way the series is perceived and may open up new paths forward. Triple-A studios can find those avenues without bringing in an indie team. Yakuza: Like a Dragon transformed the series from a brawler to a turn-based RPG. Pokemon: Legends Arceus made Pokemon open-world. Fallout 3 gave the isometric RPG series a first-person shooter makeover. Only the last example represents a new studio taking over the franchise, but that is one surefire way to get fresh eyes. I'm eager for The Rogue Prince of Persia for that reason: I want to see what else the 35-year-old series can be.

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