The Daily Populous Wednesday October 23rd, 2024 evening edition
Authored by pushsquare.com and submitted by Simple_Key_5112

Subscribe to Push Square on YouTube 149k

Update (23/10/24): Ubisoft has provided a statement to Push Square to address this report regarding Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and the team that made it.

The statement comes from Abdelhak Elguess, senior producer on the game. Here it is in full:

"I'm extremely proud of our team's work and passion at Ubisoft Montpellier to create a game that resonated with players and critics alike, and I am confident in its long-term success. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is now at the end of its Post-Launch roadmap with three free content updates and one DLC that released in September. We are now focusing on making the game available to more players: it was recently launched on Steam, and will be available on Mac by this winter. Most of the team members who worked on Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown have shifted to other projects that will benefit from their expertise.

"We know players have a love for this brand and Ubisoft is excited to bring more Prince of Persia experiences in the future."

A Ubisoft representative also confirmed to us that there have been "no layoffs" in relation to this game or its staff.

So, the report from Gautoz is broadly correct; Elguess confirms "most" of the staff who worked on The Last Crown have "shifted to other projects" within Ubisoft, essentially disbanding the group. However, it's not quite as bad as it initially sounded, as nobody has lost their job — they've simply been moved onto other work within the publisher's studios.

It's still somewhat disappointing to see such a talented bunch not given the opportunity to build on what was achieved in The Lost Crown, as it's a great game. We suppose they could regroup for another side-scrolling game in the future, but for now the focus is on other work within Ubisoft.

The next title in the franchise will be a remake of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, which is currently scheduled to arrive in 2026.

Original Story: Side-scrolling Metroidvania Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown launched early in 2024 to universal critical acclaim, but according to a new report, it's failed to impress the big wigs at Ubisoft. Apparently, the team at Ubisoft Montpellier who produced this title has been disbanded.

This comes from French journalist Gautoz who, speaking on YouTube channel ORIGAMI (video above), says the team that developed the game no longer exists. This is apparently due to poor sales numbers that didn't meet the publisher's expectations.

Moreover, the team's pitch to make a sequel was reportedly turned down, as were further DLC expansions.

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 October 22, 2024

"I heard or read 'the best production of my life' three or four times in one weekend about the development of [Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown]," Gautoz writes on X (translated). "Alternately a hope for another way of creating, and a rehabilitation zone for people burned out by [Beyond Good & Evil 2], the team was disbanded by Ubisoft."

We'll reach out to the publisher for comment on the story, and update this page if and when we receive a response.

What are your thoughts on this report? Have you played Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown? Discuss in the comments section below.

Calesti on October 23rd, 2024 at 19:02 UTC »

Projects like "unemployment" and "job seeking".

notmyaccountbruh on October 23rd, 2024 at 09:54 UTC »

Soon all of Ubisoft staff will shift to being jobless I suppose.