Key things
- Ubisoft has reportedly rejected an expansion and sequel to Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.
- Despite its critical success, Ubisoft quickly abandoned the game due to poor sales.
- Ubisoft reassigned the team to other projects that had higher sales potential.
Ubisoft reportedly rejected expansion and sequel proposals from Ubisoft Montpellier for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown before disbanding the team behind the game and assigning them to other projects.
This news comes from Gautoz, a French journalist with a record of Ubisoft, especially Ubisoft Montpellier. A translated summary of Gautoz's 30-minute video was provided by Arubade on ResetEra. According to Gautoz, Ubisoft quickly gave up after the release of The Lost Crown due to poor sales, despite the game being a critical success. The team's attempts to get an expansion or sequel greenlit were rejected by Ubisoft higher-ups. Team members were then reassigned to other projects that Ubisoft felt had higher sales potential. Ubisoft felt that a sequel would not sell well and releasing another game would hurt the first game's long-term sales.
Ubisoft quickly abandoned the lost crown
According to a January report from Insider Gaming, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown has sold around 300,000 copies. The Metroidvania was widely praised by critics for its smooth platforming and challenging combat, with an average critic rating of 87 on OpenCritic. Our own 4/5 review of The Lost Crown called it “one of the best entries in the series.”
It's a tumultuous time for Ubisoft amid commercial setbacks, falling share prices and now industrial action. Ubisoft employees at Ubisoft Montpellier and other first-party studios went on strike last week to protest the back-to-office (RTO) mandate. According to the SJTV union, which organized the strike, Ubisoft broke promises made to employees and “[called] about the way they organize their lives,” (thanks, Fortune). There were 50 employees on the demonstration line in Montpellier.
Ostensibly, Beyond Good and Evil 2 is in development at Ubisoft Montpellier, but with the game being out for years and missing a release date, many have speculated that the studio has all but abandoned the project. It's been 21 years since the original Beyond Good and Evil was released.
As for Ubisoft, there are reports that the founding Guillemot family and Tencent, both part owners of the publicly traded company, have conspired to buy out other shareholders and take Ubisoft private in order to stabilize the company's rapidly declining value.
Prince of Persia; The Lost Crown is a 2D platformer from Ubisoft Montpellier. Using his fighting skills and temporal abilities, the prince must explore the secrets of Persia and Mount Qaf, battling a host of enemies along the way.
