Ubisoft disbanded Prince of Persia team after “the best game production”, What went wrong?

Recently Ubisoft has disbanded the core team of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. This happened regardless of the positive experiences of the developers involved. 

The news was first announced by a French media outlet Origami. The report shared that the Ubisoft Montpellier team was dissolved right after the game was released.

Origami also reported that the developers of the game had profound experiences during the development process. Even so, some also described it as the “the best game production of my entire life.” This mutual feeling among multiple members of the team showed how the Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown was a fresh start for them. Particularly those developers who were burnt out through their process of Beyond Good and Evil 2.

Nonetheless, on the basis of strategic reasons, Ubisoft has decided to disband the team.

Ubisoft was not satisfied by the commercial performance of the game

The game’s underwhelming sales numbers are the cause of this decision. Insider gaming had reported that The Lost Crown had sold up to 300,000 copies only. The figure is too low for AAA games.

Although the game received positive reviews from both players and critics. The game holds an 87 score on OpenCritc currently with 95% recommendations. Still, the game failed to fulfill the expectations of its company, Ubisoft.

Furthermore, Origami’s video also shared that the developer team wanted to secure a sequel and expansions after the DLC, Mask of Darkness was released. However, Ubisoft preferred to focus on projects with better potential.

The executives of the company allegedly were reluctant to greenlight a sequel as it would affect the sales of the original game in the long term. Therefore, Ubisoft Montpellier had to say goodbye to the core team of Prince of Persia.

Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown will be made available for more players

Abdel Elguess commented on the news in a statement to IGN. He expressed pride in the team’s work, saying, “I am extremely proud of the work and passion of our team at Ubisoft Montpellier to create a game that will delight players and critics alike. I am confident in the long-term success of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.”

He also stated the completion of the post-launch roadmap of the game which included free content updates and DLC, Mask of Darkness which was released in September.

Furthermore, Elguess mentioned the ongoing plans of Ubisoft to make the Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown accessible to more players. The game has initially launched on Steam and it will be launching for MAC this winter.

The company will remain committed to the brand of Prince of Persia with more experiences in the future, given that the core development team has moved on to other projects.

Lately, it has been a turbulent time for Ubisoft. The company has also faced delays in major titles like Assasin Creed’s Shadows. It has been moved to February 2025 for its release. Furthermore, the games Star Wars Outlaws and Skull and Bones have also resulted in disappointing financial results.

With the rumors surrounding Tencent to buy-off Ubisoft, the recent disbandment news of the Montpellier office has added more salt to the increasing uncertainty of the company’s future.