Ubisoft has disbanded the team behind the recently released platformer Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, x.com/gautoz/status/1848742322319548852″ rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:according to a reputable French journalist;cpos:2;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas” class=”link “>according to a renowned French journalist. The alleged reason for dissolving the team is simple. The game did not meet sales expectations and Ubisoft “needed more hands to help on other projects that had better sales potential.” This is according to a translation published in reset era.
“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 experience,” said Abdelhak Elguess, senior producer of the game. said eurogamer.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown It sold around 300,000 copies during its first weeks of availability, for a total of $15 million in revenue, as indicated by a report by Internal games. These sales figures supposedly “sealed the fate” of the game and its development team. Ubisoft staff reportedly lobbied higher-ups for a sequel or more DLC, but were allegedly denied.
Interestingly, company executives reportedly refused to greenlight a sequel on the grounds that it would cannibalize sales of the original. I'm not sure how sequels work, especially when they come out years after the first game, but whatever.
This is sad for several reasons. First of all, the game was great. The metacritic aggregated review score It stands at 86, while user opinions are around 8.5 out of ten. I played it and found it to be a fantastic Metroidvania that could easily be compared to some of the classics of the genre, such as hollow knight and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
It's also a shame because gamers constantly complain that Ubisoft doesn't try anything new, instead relying on iterative improvements to its core franchises or applying tried-and-true game mechanics to pre-existing IPs. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown It's a retro-style throwback, sure, but it's not another lifeless open-world map filled with fetch and stealth missions.
By all indications, it also appears to have been a positive development experience. The French journalist who broke this story, Gautoz, said several employees told him it was the best game production experience of their lives. It was seen as a “beacon of hope” for “people who were exhausted by” the endless development cycle of Beyond good and evil 2.
Why did it underperform? There's no hard data, but it was a 2D side-scroller that cost a whopping $60. That could be one of the reasons. Only Nintendo can get away with charging full price for retro-style titles.
It's also worth noting that this was only one of two side-scrolling Prince of Persia games released this year, which could have injected some confusion into the market. Evil Empire, the team behind dead cellsalso launched gently The Rebel Prince of Persia in May as an early access title. This is a roguelite version of traditional franchise games.
