Ubisoft Strategy To Blame For Prince Of Persia's Poor Sales? Baldur's Gate 3 Exec Thinks So

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown was a fresh addition to Ubisoft Entertainment SA's UBSFF lineup, breaking from the company’s usual focus on sequels.

Players and critics alike praised the game. But despite its positive reviews, it struggled financially, prompting Ubisoft to disband its development team.

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Michael Douse, Director of Publishing at Larian Studios—the studio behind Baldur’s Gate 3—has been vocal about his thoughts on Ubisoft’s approach, as reported by 80 Level.

According to Douse, releasing The Lost Crown everywhere but Steam at first severely impacted its performance. The game only arrived on Steam seven months after its initial release, which he argues was a mistake.

"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 PoP released by 2024. Which means people wouldn't be launching their store all too much," Douse said, suggesting the game lost visibility because it wasn't on Steam from day one.

Douse further stated that if Ubisoft had launched the game on Steam, it would have been a "market success" and likely spawned a sequel. "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."

Ubisoft's Stance on Game Ownership Sparks Criticism

Ubisoft's approach to game releases isn't the only point of contention. The company recently faced backlash for shutting down servers for The Crew, making it unplayable despite players having paid for it.

Douse weighed in: "If the statement ‘gamers should get used to not owning their games’ is true because of a specific release strategy (sub above sales), then the statement ‘developers must get used to not having jobs if they make a critically acclaimed game’ (platform strategy above title sales) is also true, and that just isn't sensible—even from a business perspective."

Amid these issues, Ubisoft appears to be moving back toward releasing games on Steam after an extended period of exclusivity on its own platform and the Epic Games Store. The gradual return suggests Ubisoft may be reconsidering its strategy in light of recent missteps.

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Image courtesy: Ubisoft.