Ubisoft released a great Prince of Persia, so it was only natural that the team was disbanded shortly after its release.

Ubisoft has been stewarding Prince of Persia for a number of years. It has seen some highs and lows. At times, it has felt a bit confused. The release of two Prince of Persia-themed side-scrolling games within a few short months of each other did not help the latter impression. The Rogue Prince of Persia was developed by Evil Empire, a Dead Cells support studio, and Prince of Persia : The Lost Crown by Ubisoft Montpellier.

The Lost Crown was released in January and received a generally positive reception (it holds a 86 on Metacritic across platforms). PCG's Mollie taylor liked it, but felt that a poor first half dragged down a fantastic second half. The critical reception did not translate into high sales. A new report from French YouTuber Gautoz, confirmed by an Ubisoft announcement, states that the development team behind Origami has been disbanded and moved to other projects.

According to the Origami report, sales were much lower than expected. The development team's proposal for a sequel has been quickly re-engineered to include two expansions. Ubisoft claimed that a sequel could cannibalise sales of the original, which is absurd.

Gautoz continues to say that the sources he spoke with described an excellent production. Later, he added on X: "I heard or saw 'the greatest production of my lifetime' three or four time in one weekend regarding the development of Prince of Persia The Lost Crown. Ubisoft disbanded the team, which was a hope to create a new way and a rehabilitation area for those burned out by Beyond Good & Evil 2.

Ubisoft's senior producer for Lost Crown has sent a statement to Eurogamer that basically confirms this version.

Abdelhak Elguess said, "I am extremely proud of the work and passion our team at Ubisoft Montpellier has put into creating a game that resonated both with players and critics. I'm confident in its success on a long-term basis."

"Prince Of Persia: Lost Crown has reached the end of its Post Launch roadmap, with three free content upgrades and one DLC released in September. We are now focused on making the game more accessible to players. It was recently released on Steam and will be available for Mac by this winter.

The majority of the team members that worked on Prince of Persia The Lost Crown are now working on other projects which will benefit from their experience. We know that players love this brand, and Ubisoft will be bringing more Prince of Persia adventures in the future.

It's very Ubisoft to panic at the first sales after assembling a small team that produced a great Prince Of Persia and abandon its new direction for the entire series.

Unfortunately, there is no Prince to say, "wait, that's just not how it happened," and rewind the time to correct any mistakes. No word has been released on what projects the team members will be working on, but Ubisoft Montpellier is still working on the mythical Beyond Good & Evil 2 game. It's not clear what the production is doing.

The Sands of Time, the remake of Prince of Persia, is due in 2026. This is a huge milestone for Prince of Persia, Ubisoft and the series. Oh, and the word "remake" is no longer in the title. Ubisoft is hoping that the Lost Crown will have a long-lasting effect on players as it slowly spreads to Steam. This team and this scale could have done so much more with the series.