Returning to 2D Prince of Persia was "kind of natural" for Ubisoft

The Lost Crown isn't "going back" it's more of a natural step forward.

One of the biggest surprise announcements at Summer Game Fest Live in early June, was the reveal of Ubisoft Montpellier's Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. This title is not just seeing a return to the beloved franchise, it also marks a change from how we've come to know the series as of late, as it's leaving 3D behind in favour of getting back to the 2D style that it started off with.

Talking about returning to the 2D style, I had the chance to speak with Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown's game director, Mounir Radi, to learn about what drove this decision in the first place.

"For us, we are Ubisoft Montpellier. It's not going back. It's just our expertise on 2D platformers and our ambition to come back to the roots of a series."

Radi continued, "I am a big fan of Prince of Persia. I was playing when I was super young in 1989, and we are big fans of the Metroidvania genre, so it's kind of natural to come back with this."

With Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown set to launch on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch on January 18, 2024, I also asked Radi about how the team approached getting the title to run at 60 FPS on Switch.

"First and foremost, we wanted to make a game on Switch at 60 FPS. And we did it! I won't say that it's easy but we're super proud of this."

You can catch our full interview with Radi below, where we talk about building a new take on Persia and leaving the Prince behind in favour of basing the game around protagonist Sargon.