As the Prince of Persia Metroidvania team disbands, Baldur's Gate 3 dev says if Ubisoft wants "subs over sales" then "developers must get used to not having jobs"

GamesRPGBaldur’s GateBaldur’s Gate 3As the Prince of Persia Metroidvania team disbands, Baldur’s Gate 3 dev says if Ubisoft wants “subs over sales” then “developers must get used to not having jobs"When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

GamesRPGBaldur’s GateBaldur’s Gate 3As the Prince of Persia Metroidvania team disbands, Baldur’s Gate 3 dev says if Ubisoft wants “subs over sales” then “developers must get used to not having jobs"When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Larian Studios)

Baldur's Gate 3 screenshot showing an elf woman with lengthy thick red hair and a defining long scar along her face

Larian Studios’Baldur’s Gate 3publishing director Michael ‘Cromwelp’ Douse is calling outUbisoftfor its subscription-based approach to games following the company’s changes to the team behindPrince of Persia: The Lost Crown.

FollowingUbisoft’s recent decision to disband the team behind Prince of Persia Metroidvania entry The Lost Crown in favor oftransferring them on to games with better sales potential, Douse explains why he believes the company’s subscription-based strategy is “broken” in a lengthypost. “The last notable game on their platform was arguably Far Cry 6 in 2021,” writes the Larian lead, going on to address why there should’ve been a Steam release for The Lost Crown.

The director calls Ubisoft’s approach “such a broken strategy.” He continues: “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.” In a follow-uppost, Douse also goes on to make a very good point - if a company wants to stand behind its subscription-based model, then it should come as no surprise when sales don’t work out the way that they could’ve if a game had launched normally.

“If the statement ‘gamers should get used to not owning their games’ is true because of a specific release strategy (sub above sales),” he says, “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.” While I’m not a dev myself, I am a frequent purchaser of games - and I certainly agree.

Baldur’s Gate 3 looks like a totally different RPG with a first-person camera mod, and it’s so cool that Larian lead Swen Vincke says “I want to play this”

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