French YouTube channel Origami, specifically journalist Gautoz, learned that Ubisoft abandoned the idea of a sequel to Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and disbanded the team responsible for the original game because the project did not meet expectations.
That doesn’t mean Montpelier is being shut down—at least, that’s not what it looks like at the moment. It’s just that the development team is no longer working on a single project but is scattered throughout the company.
Here’s what the reporter’s sources told us:
- The fate of The Lost Crown was decided back in the spring, a few weeks after the game’s release. Ubisoft was unhappy with sales. Long-term support was out of the question—it was clear that everything would end with a couple of updates and one DLC.
- Several key developers hoped to get the go-ahead to create a sequel but were unsuccessful. Then, the authors tried to persuade Ubisoft to offer at least two supplements, but the management thought dealing with more promising projects was better.
- The management also killed the sequel to The Lost Crown because the second game’s release would allegedly harm the long-term sales of the first game.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown was released on January 18, 2024. It is available on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Switch consoles. The average score of the review game Metacritic is 86 out of 100 from the press and 8.5 out of 10 from users.
The year 2024 has been filled with upheaval for Ubisoft, but disbanding the only development team that created everyone’s favorite game can hardly help matters.