Prince of Persia's delayed launch impacts sales visibility
- Despite receiving positive reviews, the game struggled financially and led to the disbandment of the development team.
- Michael Douse from Larian Studios criticized the game's delayed launch on Steam, suggesting it led to a lack of visibility and poor sales.
- Ubisoft's recent missteps indicate a potential reevaluation of their game release strategies moving forward.
Ubisoft Entertainment, a prominent video game company, attempted to innovate with the release of a new title in the Prince of Persia franchise in 2024. Despite initial praise from both players and critics, the game suffered from poor financial performance which ultimately resulted in the disbandment of its development team. The critique surrounding the release strategy centers on the game's delayed entry to Steam, as it was not available on this popular platform during its initial launch. Michael Douse, Director of Publishing at Larian Studios, has openly expressed concerns about Ubisoft's decision to release the game exclusively on its own platform originally. He believes this significantly affected the game's visibility, suggesting that launching on Steam from the beginning would have led to better financial outcomes. Douse highlighted that players may not have engaged with Ubisoft's platform enough to discover new titles due to a lull in game releases. In light of these issues, there have been calls for Ubisoft to reconsider its future release strategies, particularly regarding digital distribution channels. The lingering dissatisfaction among both gamers and investors point to a growing belief that the company faces mismanagement challenges. As Ubisoft navigates these complexities, it appears they are contemplating a return to releasing titles on Steam, indicating an acknowledgment of past mistakes in order to foster greater market success and avoid future pitfalls.