Ubisoft has disbanded the development team for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown due to disappointing sales of the game. This was reported by French blogger-journalist Gautoz, who spoke with company employees.
The management at Ubisoft made a decision regarding the project's future in spring 2024, just a few weeks after the game's market release. This choice led to a surge of efforts from the development team to save the project.
Leading experts from the studio actively attempted to persuade the management to approve the creation of a sequel, but their arguments were not supported. As a result, Ubisoft reassigned all specialists to other projects with higher commercial potential.
Despite these developments, team members described Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown as the best project of their careers. For many developers, this game felt like a breath of fresh air after the exhausting work on the problematic Beyond Good and Evil 2. However, even such creative success could not sway management.
Top executives explained their refusal to develop a sequel due to concerns that a second installment could harm the long-term sales of the original game. This decision sharply contrasts with the project’s high ratings.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown received enthusiastic reviews from critics and players alike. On the Metacritic aggregator, the game has a score of 86 out of 100 from journalists and 8.5 out of 10 from users. On Steam, 83% of reviews are positive. However, the commercial results were not as optimistic.
According to data from Insider Gaming, by the end of January, around 300,000 people had played the game, generating about $15 million in revenue. These figures did not meet the publisher's expectations.
The disbandment of the Prince of Persia team is not the only issue facing Ubisoft recently. The company delayed the release of Assassin's Creed: Shadows to February 2025, and Star Wars Outlaws delivered unsatisfactory financial results. Amid these events, rumors have surfaced regarding Tencent's interest in acquiring the studio.
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