EXCLUSIVE – Prince of Persia Devs Move to Three New Projects at Ubisoft

As a long-time fan of Prince of Persia, this news about The Lost Crown team disbandment and the potential sequel being put on hold left me feeling rather disheartened. I’ve been following this series since the golden days of the original Prince of Persia, and the thought that we might not see another installment anytime soon is a bit of a bummer.

Yesterday, it became known that Ubisoft had disbanded its Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown team following the game’s failure to meet their internal standards. There was initially some confusion about the situation, but Ubisoft has since provided a statement shedding light on certain aspects of it.

According to comments made to Eurogamer, the publishing company announced that the team behind Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown has transitioned to other tasks where their skills would be most valuable. Meanwhile, Ubisoft remains committed to ensuring that the game can be enjoyed by a wider audience.

It’s clear that TopMob acknowledges that Ubisoft decided to discontinue Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and any potential sequels roughly in May this year, primarily because the game didn’t meet their sales targets. Reports suggest that Ubisoft aimed for The Lost Crown to match the success of the most popular Metroidvania games on the market, selling millions of copies in a brief period. At the moment, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown has sold around one million units.

After working on Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, it appears that many of the developers have since shifted their focus to three distinct projects. A significant portion of the team is now involved in the development of Beyond Good and Evil 2, a project rekindled within the company in 2017. Approximately a dozen employees have transitioned to Project Ovr, the upcoming mainline installment in the Ghost Recon series. An equal number have also moved on to Project Steambot, a Rayman Remake currently being developed at Ubisoft Milan.

The sequel to Beyond Good and Evil, titled Beyond Good and Evil 2, remains a project set for release in several years, leaving developers within the entire publishing company perplexed about Ubisoft’s ongoing investment of tens of millions annually into its development, an expenditure that may never be recouped. Additionally, Project Steambot has faced internal criticism as the original creator, Michal Ancel, maintains a consulting role in the project.

As a dedicated fan, I can’t help but echo the sentiment that Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown was a “dream project” in the making. It was initially proposed back in June 2020 and fortunately, its development process seemed almost effortless, a rarity in the demanding world of game creation at Ubisoft.

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