Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown was an early success for Ubisoft in 2024, or so it seemed anyway. It was the first relatively big game to launch this year and it got rave reviews, including Francesco’s 9/10 on Wccftech:
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown couldn’t have brought back the series after its more than a decade-long hiatus in a better way. With an engaging story, well-crafted Metroidvania mechanics, and a touch of character-action game features in its combat system, Sargon’s adventure will be remembered by fans for a long time, even with its minor issues.
Unfortunately, sales haven’t been nearly as positive, at least compared to Ubisoft’s pre-release estimates. According to YouTuber Gautoz, who talked to various members of the Montpellier office, there won’t be any sequel and the Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown team is also practically disbanded.
You have to understand that internally, the writing was on the wall a few weeks after the game launched at the beginning of the year. By Spring, it was pretty clear – just a few patches, a DLC, and that was it. The more optimistic folks in the core team repeatedly pitched a sequel project, but then it turned into a struggle to get the green light for two DLCs, hoping to change the bosses’ minds. But it was obvious that the decision had been made quickly, especially with the need for help on other projects with better sales potential.
Ubisoft usually has a sales curve like a blockbuster—big launch, but this time, it started lower than expected. I’ve heard a justification that honestly drives me crazy as a gamer: if you let them make another one, it’ll eat into the long-term sales of this one. I’ve always thought the opposite; with a good sale on the first one, you could actually boost sales.
The production of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown wasn’t exactly an issue—far from it, actually. For instance, there was crunch, but we’re talking about a production with a really strong collective spirit, which is pretty different from how Ubisoft usually makes games with 80 to 100 people fully loaded on development, which is pretty small in comparison.
It’s a classic big Ubisoft project, but it was a blessing to try out different organizational models. Some teams, like the gameplay team for example, were set up almost horizontally with a lot of listening and consultation. People felt like they really had a say in the project’s direction. Plus, it’s worth mentioning that the Prince of Persia team had often allowed people who were totally burned out due to too much time spent on Beyond Good and Evil 2. Somewhere along the way, it also helped some people get back on their feet after tough times in their careers. So these days, the big office reorganization at Ubisoft Montpellier is kind of wiping away the last traces of that team.
It is unfortunate since Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is arguably one of the very few critical successes enjoyed by Ubisoft lately. However, the company is now focused entirely on improving its sales, and it was even willing to delay Assassin’s Creed Shadows out of its scheduled November 2024 release window to avoid jeopardizing its signature franchise. They’re also backing out of the Season Pass model, canceling early access, and returning to Steam in three unprecedented pro-consumer moves.
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