Following reports yesterday, Ubisoft has confirmed that the team behind Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown has been disbanded and Ubisoft Montpellier employees have been moved to other projects. This will be hugely disappointing news for fans of the Metroidvania version of Prince of Persia.
The news came yesterday from French reporter Gautoz on their show on the Origami YouTube channelwith Ubisoft reportedly making the decision to release the DLC and cosmetics roadmap for the game, but ending support there and not greenlighting a sequel or further expansions. The decision even went so far as to say that this was so as not to ‘cannibalize’ the game’s sales in the long run.
While the details of the reporting have not been confirmed by Ubisoft, the general gist is. This was said by Abdelhak Elguess, senior producer of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown a statement to Eurogamer:
“I am extremely proud of the work and passion of our team at Ubisoft Montpellier to create a game that appeals to players and critics alike, and I am confident in its long-term success.
“Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is now at the end of its post-launch roadmap with three free content updates and one DLC released in September. We’re now focusing on making the game available to more players: it recently launched on Steam and will be available on Mac this winter.
“Most of the team members who worked on Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown have moved on to other projects that will benefit from their expertise.
“We know players love this brand and Ubisoft is excited to bring more Prince of Persia experiences in the future.”
Unfortunately, it seems like it simply didn’t sell well enough for Ubisoft’s liking (around 1 million copies per Insider Gaming) while Ubisoft really wants to maximize sales amid a string of disappointing bigger-budget titles. Perhaps part of the problem was the higher price compared to the high profile indie Metroidvania – The Lost Crown cost $50 – and not releasing on Steam would have hurt PC sales as well.
Ubisoft Montpellier is the main studio behind Beyond Good & Evil 2, which has been in development forever. Insider Gaming Reports that the team is spread across BG&E2, Project Ovr, the next Ghost Recon game, and Project Steambot, a Rayman remake in development at Ubisoft Milan.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown launched in January and was an early highlight of the year. “Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is one of the best metroidvanias I’ve ever played,” Ade wrote in our review, “and a fantastic way to start 2024. Exciting and kinetic platforming action, pounding combat and a huge game world that demands exploration and makes it a joy to do. It’s time to kick nostalgia hard into the unmentionables; this is the best Prince of Persia ever.”
Sources: Origami, Eurogamer, Insider gaming