The Rogue Prince of Persia has received its major Anniversary Update, bringing a substantial mix of new mechanics, equipment, combat challenges and balance changes to Evil Empire’s roguelite. The free update launched on September 17 across PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. Evil Empire says the update was built around feedback and player-behavior data gathered during the game’s first year.
One of the biggest additions is a new Freeze elemental effect designed to expand crowd-control options and build variety. Applying Freeze once knocks enemies back, while applying it twice freezes them in place, removes their shield and causes a burst of damage when the effect ends. Freeze also interacts with other systems, including Water and Resin applying additional stacks, while Poison can bypass the damage reduction normally applied to frozen enemies.
The update expands the equipment pool alongside the new element. Two new weapons have been added: the Shamal Crescent, which can apply Freeze through its special attack, and the Blazing Cuffs, which scale with damage resistance and can temporarily create a defensive shield. New tools include the Freezing Arrow Launcher, Ice Trap and Corrupted Turret, while several new Medallions provide additional Freeze-related build options.
Weapon progression has also been expanded through a new Affix system. Equipment can now roll random modifiers based on item rarity, with Bronze through Diamond gear offering increasing numbers of Affix slots. These modifiers can provide bonuses such as increased elemental damage, critical chance, energy regeneration or damage after specific actions, and players can reroll Affixes at Astara’s shop. Evil Empire says the system is intended to make weapon selection more situational instead of encouraging players to repeatedly choose the same favorites.
The Anniversary Update also reworks the game’s opening hours and overall pacing. Evil Empire found that some players struggled with the first boss because they were relying on Air Dash rather than properly learning Wall Run, so mandatory wall-running sections have been added to the tutorial and early biomes. Wallrunning now contributes to the Vayu meter, while Zagros, Aqueduct and Huns Camp have been shortened and made denser to reduce repeated travel time during failed runs.
Boss encounters and enemy distribution received significant changes as well. Corrupted Nogai’s presentation has been substantially reworked with additional environmental destruction, visual effects and attack changes, while both versions of Nogai have received new timing and health adjustments. Enemy placement and density have also been revised across multiple biomes, with later areas generally becoming more populated and several enemy types receiving health or damage increases.
Returning players also have several new ways to track and challenge their runs. Arena rooms can now appear inside biomes as optional combat encounters where players accept a locked-in fight against waves of enemies in exchange for additional rewards. A new victory screen and unlockable run history system record previous builds and results, while an optional in-game timer has been added to better support speedrunners, particularly on consoles where external timing tools are less practical.
The update makes broader balance changes to weapons, tools and critical-hit builds. Several weapon specials have had their damage reduced, while the Saw tool has had its damage per hit cut in half after Evil Empire identified it as significantly stronger than competing options. Critical-hit scaling has also been reduced, although new Critical Sharpener Medallions and other equipment bonuses provide alternative ways to build around critical damage.
Evil Empire says the update reflects lessons learned from more than one million players during The Rogue Prince of Persia’s first year. The studio specifically targeted points where players tended to stop playing, including the early difficulty curve, the period around a first completed run and long-term progression after finishing the main story. Rather than simply adding more content, the Anniversary Update therefore revises several foundational systems intended to improve both onboarding and replayability.
The Rogue Prince of Persia Anniversary Update is available now on all supported platforms. With a new element, weapons, tools, Affixes, Arena rooms, run tracking, boss changes and extensive pacing adjustments, it represents one of the game’s largest post-launch updates so far.
