Head of publishing at Larian Studios criticizes Ubisoft's strategy
, by Thibaut
The news of the dissolution of the team behind the great Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown didn't go unnoticed, with even industry professionals reacting to the news.
This was particularly true of Michael Douse, head of publishing at Larian Studios (Baldur's Gate 3). He didn't mince his words.
"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. 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. It’s such a broken strategy. The hardest thing is to make a 85+ game — it is much, much easier to release one. It just shouldn’t be done as it was."
"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."