Ubisoft made a good Prince of Persia game, so of course it's disbanded the team shortly after release
Ubisoft's stewardship of Prince of Persia has had extraordinary highs, more than a few lows, and has often felt a little confused. The latter impression wasn't helped this year by the release of two distinct Prince of Persia side-scrollers within a few months of one another: The Rogue Prince of Persia, developed by Dead Cells support studio Evil Empire, and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, developed by Ubisoft Montpellier.
The Lost Crown released in early January, and was generally well-received (across platforms, it holds a handsome 86 on Metacritic). PCG's Mollie Taylor liked it well enough, but felt a poor opening dragged down the fantastic second half. But the critical reception didn't lead to high sales, and a new report from a report by French YouTuber Gautoz for Origami, subsequently confirmed by a Ubisoft statement, says the development team behind it has now been disbanded across other projects.
The Origami report says sales were way lower than expected, to the extent that the development team's pitch for a sequel was very quickly re-engineered into a pitch for two expansions instead. Ubisoft reportedly reasoned that a sequel would cannibalise the original's sales, which seems wacky.
Gautoz goes on to say that his sources on the team described an excellent production experience, later adding on X that «I heard or read 'the best production of my life' three or four times in one weekend about the development of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. Alternately a hope for another way of creating and a rehabilitation zone for people burned out by Beyond Good & Evil 2, the team was disbanded by Ubisoft.»
Ubisoft has issued a statement to Eurogamer from the Lost Crown's senior producer that essentially confirms this version of events.
«I'm extremely proud of our team's work and passion at Ubisoft Montpellier to create a game that resonated with players and critics alike, and I am confident in its long-term success,» said Abdelhak Elguess.
«Prince of Persia: The Lost
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