Larian Studios director of publishing Michael Douse has blamed Ubisoft’s mismanagement of ‘Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown’ for the game's disappointing sales.
Larian Studios director of publishing Michael Douse has blamed Ubisoft’s mismanagement of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown for the game's disappointing sales
While fans enjoyed the action-adventure when it released in January, ‘The Lost Crown’s sales didn’t impress, and now Douse - who is the director of publishing at the ‘Baldur’s Gate III’ developer Larian - has pointed to Ubisoft’s decision not to release the game onto Steam as to why it underwhelmed.
On X, he wrote: “The last notable game on their platform was arguably ‘Far Cry 6’ in 2021.
“‘The Crew’, [‘Assassin’s Creed] Mirage’ and ‘Avatar [Frontiers of Pandora’] came in 2023 and didn’t perform, so you can assume subscriptions were at a lull when ‘PoP’ released by 2024. Which means people wouldn’t be launching their store all too much.
“If it had released on Steam not only would it have been a market success, but there would likely be a sequel because the team are so strong.”
Douse recognised ‘The Lost Crown’ was a hit with players and critics, but emphasised it was the unsuccessful launch that ultimately led to the game selling around one million copies, which reportedly falls below Ubisoft's internal expectations of the game.
He added: “It’s such a broken strategy. The hardest thing is to make a 85+ game — it is much, much easier to release one. It just shouldn’t be done as it was.”