According to several internal and external sources, Ubisoft Montpellier has dissolved the team responsible for the latest “Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown”, despite the critical success of the game.
Ubisoft is not experiencing 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 appear to be new. On the YouTube channel Origami, videographer and journalist Gautoz explains that Ubisoft would have communicated well internally about the dissolution of the team behind “Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown”. Its various members having been dispatched within several other game teams currently under development.
However, the team responsible for the game would indeed have 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 the teams together on other, more important projects.
“Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown”, a game divided between critical success and commercial failure
Released in January 2024, “Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown” represented a small risk-taking for the Montpellier studio. The title abandoned the classic formula of the previous installments of the saga to offer a “metroidvania” experience with a main character who moves in horizontal 2.5D levels. So the focus was mostly on platforming and combat, abandoning more of the exploration.
When it was released, “The Lost Crown” seemed to be unanimously appreciated by the specialist press and players. The title obtains a comfortable score of 86/100 on the Metacritic site and everyone recognizes that it is a very good game which only requires a few small adjustments in a potential sequel. The game will still receive a paid extension in September 2024.
On the sales side, the results are more mixed. According to the “Insider Gaming” site, the game had nearly 300,000 players at the end of the month of its release. A correct figure, but which would not have been enough for Ubisoft to launch a sequel or even a full-fledged license for the title. Management would also have thought that a new opus would end up cannibalizing the sales of the first (and therefore only) “The Lost Crown”.