Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown team disbands following low sales

The team behind Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown has been disbanded, according to French journalist Gautoz.

In a new video from the journalist, translated on ResetEta, Gautoz reports in his video that the team at Ubisoft Montpellier has been completely disbanded following the final work on the DLC being finalised on Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. Ubisoft’s reason is that the game didn’t meet sales expectations. With an 86 Metacritic score, it is one of the best-reviewed games of the year, but that didn’t, it seems, equal sales.

The game’s production sounds very positive, with Gautoz saying that they had a head”it was the best game production in my entire life” three or four times in a weekend while getting information on the game’s dev.” This is after the same team was under investigation following team burnout on the unreleased Beyond Good & Evil 2.

J’ai entendu ou lu “la meilleure prod’ de ma vie” trois ou quatre fois en un week-end à propos du développement de PoP The Lost Crown. Tour à tour espoir d’une autre manière de créer et zone de réhabilitation pour gens crâmés par BGE2, l’équipe a été dissoute par Ubisoft. https://t.co/FFz9cfm4xj

— Gautoz (@gautoz) October 22, 2024

Ubisoft Montpellier reportedly pitched two expansions for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, with one getting approved and released in ‘Mast of Darkness.’ However, the second expansion was vetoed, and a reason given, paired with any pitches for a sequel, was that “releasing a sequel for the game would cannibalise long-term sales of the first game.”

In my review of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, I gave the game a 9.5 and said:

“Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is the revitalisation of a franchise that has long been buried in the sand of uninteresting ideas. Instead of chasing what had made the series popular in the past, the Metroidvania-take is perfect for the series, as it is moving away from Price as the main character. The Lost Crown is a must-play for 2024 and one of the best Metroidvanias of the past ten years.”