For nylig lærte vi ikke bare at holdet bag Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown er blevet opløst, men at Ubisoft betragter det samlede salg, som lå på godt og vel en million solgte eksemplarer, som skuffende.
Så hvad skete der? Spillet høstede storslåede anmeldelser, og er fortsat blandt årets bedst anmeldte spil, og konsensus blandt spillere synes også at være ovenud positiv. Spørger du Baldur's Gate III-udvikleren Larians Publishing Director, Michael Douse, så skal ansvaret placeres udelukkende hos Ubisoft.
Han pointerer blandt andet at spillet skulle have været lanceret på Steam på selve udgivelsesdagen, ikke syv måneder senere:
"The last notable game on their platform was arguably Far Cry 6 in 2021. The Crew, Mirage and Avatar came in 2023 and didn't perform, so you can assume subscriptions were at a lull when Prince of Persia 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."
Han noterer også, at det sværeste er at lave et godt spil, men hvis et spil på over 85 på Metacritic fejler kommercielt, så er det udgiverens skyld:
"It's such a broken strategy. The hardest thing is to make an 85+ game - it is much, much easier to release one. It just shouldn't be done as it was."
<social>https://x.com/Cromwelp/status/1849147473354211400</social>