Complistic
Member
Ubisoft, LOL 
x 30
x 30
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Ubisoft has disbanded the team behind Prince of Persia The Lost Crown. Game did not reach expectations and sequel was refused.
Danjin44
The nicest person on this forum
To me thatās biggest issue with current gaming industry. Every game needs to do crazy high sales or they go bust which god damn insane.
It makes devs hesitate to try something new because if those games donāt sale based on publishers stupid high expectations then they will lose their jobs.
The fact is some games no matter how good they are never going to have high sales numbers because they simply nicheā¦..does that mean only āmass appealā games should be made? Fuck no! That would make game industry so boring.
Last edited:
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
Not launching the game on the most popular PC platform probably had an effect, and decreased potential sales. There are statements in this thread about not buying it because it wasn't on Steam.
SCB3
Member
The worst part is I thought we were past that mindest, remember when Square considered Tomb Raider 2013 to be a flop despite selling over 3 million as it expected 5 at at time where even Uncharted 2 didn't even get that
A shame as I liked this game a bit
DragoonKain
Neighbours from Hell
Wow that sucks, it was a great game. A great Metroidvania. One of my favorites of the year. Would have loved a sequel. Guarantee it'll be better than the PoP remake.
Mibu no ookami
Banned
We just saw recent examples of games selling 65+ percent on PS5 and as little as 25 percent across PC...it came to Steam people still didn't buy it. What is the excuse for Silent Hill performing so much worse on PC?
pudel
Member
I mean in the OG Prince of Persia...the prince was a white guy with blonde hair, who was described as traveler from far lands.
Just look into steam forum for every Ubi game....and you will see it matters for a lot of people. It is definitely an annoyance and a reason to say "Okay, thanks....I play something else". I cannot say if thats a huge factor, as a lot of Ubi games sold pretty well even with this annoyance. But now where times seems to be a bit harsher...all this anti-consumer behavior doesnt help at all, but make things only worse.
But you are also right that platform games are not really pc gamers favourite type of game....thats very true.
Last edited:
RCX
Member
I liked it well enough. But Metroidvania as a genre feels very overdone to me these days. Takes an incredible game to really make me want to see it all the way through. Dont think I'd have been interested in revisting it with DLC and expansions.
Even after all these years I don't think anyone has topped SOTN.
The fact that some of this team once worked on Rayman sucks big time tho. I'll always hope for a genuine sequel to Legends but wouldnt really trust Ubi not to fuck it up these days.
Even after all these years I don't think anyone has topped SOTN.
The fact that some of this team once worked on Rayman sucks big time tho. I'll always hope for a genuine sequel to Legends but wouldnt really trust Ubi not to fuck it up these days.
Zacfoldor
Member
This is worse than MS closing Tango.
That being said, and I want to give ALL the credit to this wonderful team, but this was the rare amazing traditional game that just didn't hit it for me.
I think the game being too good is what really killed it for me, ironically. They made a masterpiece meant to be enjoyed like a full fledged AAA game. Something you can invest in with great combat and basically a huge and daunting map that really pushed the envelope for the type of enjoyment one could get out of a metroidvania.
That's why I couldn't finish it....
My favorite Metroidvania is Aria of Sorrow. I also love Metroid Dread and Hollow Knight. If you mixed in the most complicated and difficult elements from all 3, added some systems on top and made the combat similar to DMC at its most complex, you have this incredible game right here. Aria of Sorrow(remember my fav) on the other hand is a super simple game about farming souls and abilities that can be beat in a few hours.
I totally respect this huge awesome traditional game they made, but it isn't the cozy, easy, laid back metroidvania of my youth and was just like a game where I needed to git gud again and I wasn't feeling it at the time. I'd still give it a 9/10 and say it is one of the years best, during an amazing year...but fuck it's too hard and complex for me and I just finished Wukong, Elden Ring xpak twice, and beat Great Ape Vegeta last night for the first time in Sparking Zero.
Say what you want about the lost crown, but one thing it didn't do was fuck around.
Edit: All that said I bought this shit at full price. I supported this when it came out and I'm proud of that. Sorry team, you really did well. Ubisoft sucks.
That being said, and I want to give ALL the credit to this wonderful team, but this was the rare amazing traditional game that just didn't hit it for me.
I think the game being too good is what really killed it for me, ironically. They made a masterpiece meant to be enjoyed like a full fledged AAA game. Something you can invest in with great combat and basically a huge and daunting map that really pushed the envelope for the type of enjoyment one could get out of a metroidvania.
That's why I couldn't finish it....
My favorite Metroidvania is Aria of Sorrow. I also love Metroid Dread and Hollow Knight. If you mixed in the most complicated and difficult elements from all 3, added some systems on top and made the combat similar to DMC at its most complex, you have this incredible game right here. Aria of Sorrow(remember my fav) on the other hand is a super simple game about farming souls and abilities that can be beat in a few hours.
I totally respect this huge awesome traditional game they made, but it isn't the cozy, easy, laid back metroidvania of my youth and was just like a game where I needed to git gud again and I wasn't feeling it at the time. I'd still give it a 9/10 and say it is one of the years best, during an amazing year...but fuck it's too hard and complex for me and I just finished Wukong, Elden Ring xpak twice, and beat Great Ape Vegeta last night for the first time in Sparking Zero.
Say what you want about the lost crown, but one thing it didn't do was fuck around.
Edit: All that said I bought this shit at full price. I supported this when it came out and I'm proud of that. Sorry team, you really did well. Ubisoft sucks.
Last edited:
pudel
Member
Niche games usually have a hardcore audience, who buy the niche games no matter what. And usually these devs/studios have way more realistic budgets and expectations and there is way more communication between the players and devs....they are doing pretty well imho.
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
I'm not talking about Silent Hill. I said it probably had an effect on this game. Do you agree?
PeteBull
Member
Dont expect small game like that, which still costs 50$ to sell in milions, bro. Its publisher's fault to not budget properly and have overinflated sales expectations.
Same way wilderbeast woman at 300lbs cant expect to get wifed up by high status guy(say doctor or a lawyer), but she will be lucky if even avg (5'9, 50k usd yearly salary) guy decides to commit to her, usually even that isnt the case, even if she has good personality that avg broke dude will just smash and dash if its slow tuesday
TLDR: Even if game is solid its still niche af, it has to be properly budgeted or it will flop even with decent sales.
Mibu no ookami
Banned
Not enough of an effect that would make the difference between meeting expectations and missing expectations...
BigBeauford
Member
This game died so that Outlaws, AC:Shadows, and wheelchair operators could live.
Solarstrike
Member
S0ULZB0URNE
Member
No Ghost Recon Future Soldier remake or sequel no care about ubi.
xBlueStonex
Member
I know the game reviewed well, but everything about it felt insanely cheap. Awful character designs and dated graphics were the two main things that made me give up after an hour or so.
The issue is that the game had sold like 300k copies only according to Insider Gaming months ago, Ubisoft didn't help with their greedy insistence of not releasing on Steam. It also doesn't help that the price tag for a Metroidvania is too high, only Nintendo gets away with their exceptionalism.
Danjin44
The nicest person on this forum
But you look at games like Unicorn Overlord which is Ogre battle style SRPG which super niche, its a new IP while releasing close to FFVIIRibirth and has no PC release.
And yet...
Also this game almost hand no marketing, most of it comes from word of mouth when demo came out.
Last edited:
Loboxxx
Member
I've looked at how many sales the game has had and it seems to have sold 2 million copies, which at ā¬50 is quite a lot for an AA. Hmm maybe you're partly right and it's a problem of expectations on UBi's part.Dont expect small game like that, which still costs 50$ to sell in milions, bro. Its publisher's fault to not budget properly and have overinflated sales expectations.
Same way wilderbeast woman at 300lbs cant expect to get wifed up by high status guy(say doctor or a lawyer), but she will be lucky if even avg (5'9, 50k usd yearly salary) guy decides to commit to her, usually even that isnt the case, even if she has good personality that avg broke dude will just smash and dash if its slow tuesday
TLDR: Even if game is solid its still niche af, it has to be properly budgeted or it will flop even with decent sales.
digdug2
Member
Same, and I am not buying it new because I don't want Ubisoft to see another dime of my money.
Woopah
Member
Never really understood this complaint. Why does it matter if the character has the title of "Prince" or not? He'd be the same character either way.
Because Vanillaware built a great reputation over the years with the public, imagine that a good chunk of these sales came from people who bought their previous games, and they could have easily sold even more with a PC release.But you look at games like Unicorn Overlord which is Ogre battle style SRPG which super nice, its a new IP while releasing close to FFVIIRibirth and has no PC release.
And yet...
Also this game almost hand no marketing, most of it comes from word of mouth when demo came out.
Ubisoft on the other hand decided to take a slow path to pariah after Watch Dogs downgrade, by today they aren't even well seen by casuals, having a niche game whose majority of customers despise Ubisoft and pricing it at 50 bucks were stacking against The Lost Crown.
The design would be different, it would look like a the Prince and not a... I dunno how to describe the protagonist. DEI committee design.
T4keD0wN
Member
Princes often become kings eventually, the protagonist from the lost crown being named Sargon is probably not an accident. Its poetic that theyve made a protagonist inspired by a king in the end.
Last edited:
TerribleAtThisGame
Member
The demo was perfectly adequate yet dull. The backgrounds and enemies were boring as fuck looking to me. It's not open world drivel but that doesn't mean I'll instantly like it or even buy it.
Doesn't matter, it's how they showed the game, if they clued you in he's actually the prince (haven't played it but it's possible), than it would make more sense. Again, his design was off putting from the reveal.
People want to be excited for their beloved IPs, ubisoft is really trying hard to poop on it. Another case is the art style change for Mario+Rabbids, I just didn't want to play in that drab world after the first one was so colorful and fun.
coffinbirth
Member
I got a physical copy for $20 months ago...
Even Metroid doesn't sell well compared to other Nintendo series, it's a genre that's not popular. Add in the complex combat and the tricky platforming and you've got two turn offs for your already unpopular game. The "hardcore" didn't show up for it and the masses didn't either.
Crayon
Member
I feel bad saying it but just the description of a 2D platformer for that price guarantees I'm never going to look at this game.
You are on the money about the prevalence of 3D games. Did they loose a few things in the mid-nineties transition? Yes. Did a few of those things not return to this day? Yes. But the problem was and is that you can only do so much in 2D.
RAIDEN1
Member
This development goes in line with the saying: "These days, games are not allowed to fail".....look what happened to Alone in the Dark, the first entry in years, the "original" resident evil, yet it flopped, and now the franchise is back in the dark....Guardians of the Galaxy, no sequel anytime soon....Deus Ex, (that game needs a Crystal Dynamics like revival like Tomb Raider had...)
Bonfires Down
Member
The combat does look way too complex. Character Action level combat is the last thing I want in a metroidvania.
The Cockatrice
I'm retarded?
Ubisoft takes an L even when they make good games? Yeah, 2025 seems like it'll be the year they get bought by someone else. AC Shadows sales will be the deciding factor.
Fbh
Member
It's a game that tried to appeal to everyone and in turn ended up appealing to no one.
They thought the fact it's POP would attract older fans and the "modern" visual design and style would appeal to younger people.
In the end though zoomers didn't show up because they don't care about metroidvanias or PoP
And older fans didn't show up because they were put off by the visual design and style.
And the pricing probably didn't help with either group.
We can beat around the bush but it's less about the fact that the character doesn't have the title of prince and more about the fact the character looks like a Fortnite coded Killmonger instead of what you'd expect from Prince Of Persia.
KXVXII9X
Member
ouch.... This put a damper on my day. Ubisoft Montpellier was the best part of Ubisoft... Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is one of the most underrated games I can think of. Excellent Metroidvania with a great style and great combat and boss battles. They were also behind the Rayman games and Valiant Heart, which were also excellent. First Japan Studio, then TangoWorks, then Annapurna, and now this... All the studios/publishers who push out creative games seem to be going under.
Gamers will continue to say there aren't creative games or Ubisoft makes the same kind of slop but constantly trash on games like PoP: The Lost Crown and Mario and Rabbids. No one buys these games. I am already seeing so many odd comments here like how it shouldn't be priced at $50. The game was constantly on sale and generous with free updates and such. It was super polished and had a ton of content. People just kept making the same Prince of Wakanda jokes and ripping on the art style. I'm not even going to start on the people going on about "woke." You kind of people have sucked the joy out of gaming.
Gamers will continue to say there aren't creative games or Ubisoft makes the same kind of slop but constantly trash on games like PoP: The Lost Crown and Mario and Rabbids. No one buys these games. I am already seeing so many odd comments here like how it shouldn't be priced at $50. The game was constantly on sale and generous with free updates and such. It was super polished and had a ton of content. People just kept making the same Prince of Wakanda jokes and ripping on the art style. I'm not even going to start on the people going on about "woke." You kind of people have sucked the joy out of gaming.
JusticeForAll
Gold Member
That was a good game.
Similar threads
- Poll