According to several internal and external sources, Ubisoft Montpellier has disbanded the team responsible for the latest “Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown”, despite the critical success of the game. Ubisoft is not having its best years, and this news is not going to improve the situation. The firm, which is at the heart of multiple internal problems, has reportedly dissolved the entire team responsible for the latest game in the “Prince of Persia” license. The information does not seem new. On the YouTube channel Origami, videographer and journalist Gautoz explains that Ubisoft would have communicated internally on the dissolution of the team behind “Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown”. Its various members having been dispatched to several other game teams currently in development. However, the team responsible for the game would have indeed planned several projects around the “Prince of Persia” license, including a sequel to “The Lost Crown” as well as new additional content. This project would have been addressed to Ubisoft management, but refused by the company which preferred to group together teams on other, larger projects. Released in January 2024, “Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown” represented a small risk for the Montpellier studio. The title abandoned the classic formula of the old installments of the saga to offer a “metroidvania” experience with a main character who moves through horizontal 2.5D levels. The emphasis was therefore mainly placed on platforms and combat, abandoning more exploration. Upon its release, “The Lost Crown” seemed to be unanimously acclaimed by the specialist press and players. The title gets a comfortable score of 86/100 on the Metacritic site and everyone recognizes that it is a very good game that only requires a few small adjustments in a potential sequel. The game will still receive a paid expansion in September 2024. On the sales side, the results are more mixed. According to the site “Insider Gaming”, the game has collected nearly 300,000 players at the end of the month of its release. A decent figure, but one that wouldn't have been enough for Ubisoft to launch a sequel or even a full-fledged license for the title. Management also reportedly thought that a new installment would end up cannibalizing the sales of the first (and therefore only) “The Lost Crown”.
“Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown”, a game shared between critical success and commercial failure
By Teilor Stone
Teilor Stone has been a reporter on the news desk since 2013. Before that she wrote about young adolescence and family dynamics for Styles and was the legal affairs correspondent for the Metro desk. Before joining Thesaxon , Teilor Stone worked as a staff writer at the Village Voice and a freelancer for Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Mirabella. To get in touch, contact me through my teilor@nizhtimes.com 1-800-268-7116