Attention all future POP Speedrunners! We are extremely excited to announce our $10,000 Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Speedrunning Challenge in collaboration with Ubisoft! Prepare yourselves for a challenge which will test your cleverness, tenacity, and of course - speed.

Starting Date: January 15th, 2024

Duration: Two weeks, until 11:59PM UTC January 29th, 2024

This challenge was designed with a low barrier to entry in mind. That includes moving forward with a somewhat shorter category this time around, more on that shortly. Here’s what you need to know:

Eligibility:

Must own a legitimate copy of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.

Open to players aged 18 and above worldwide, with the following exceptions: North Korea, Syria, Sudan, Cuba, and Venezuela.

Category:

The featured category in this challenge will be “Pit of Eternal Sands”. This category has you run through the first 4 quests in the game, ending in a fairly significant plot point such that the category still feels whole & meaningful.

As far as rules go, the ruleset will be following a similar ruleset to what you might consider "No Major Glitches." If you would like to know more specifics, please refer to the category rules on the challenge leaderboard.

As always, some updates may have to be made to the ruleset depending on the development of the route over the coming weeks - but the spirit of the category will remain the same. Any updates to the ruleset will be communicated to participants as they are made.

Submission:

Record your speedrun and submit it via our Challenge leaderboard here on Speedrun.com.

Follow the guidelines provided for video formatting and submission requirements, found in the rules section.

Rules and Regulations:

All speedruns must adhere to the official rules, available on the Speedrun.com Challenge leaderboard.

Contest Rules: https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/5e3eoymq-pop_tlc-pit-of-eternal-sands-10-000-speedrun-challenge/contest

Category Rules: https://www.speedrun.com/challenges/5e3eoymq-pop_tlc-pit-of-eternal-sands-10-000-speedrun-challenge/rules?view=challenge

Prize Distribution:

The $10,000 prize pool will be distributed among the top performers for fastest completion time in the Pit of Eternal Sands category. The distribution is as follows:

1st place - $5,000

2nd place - $3,000

3rd place - $1,000

4th place - $250

5th place - $200

6th place - $150

7th place to 10th place - $100

Challenges

In case you aren’t aware of what a challenge is in the context of Speedrun.com, a Challenge leaderboard functions similarly to the regular leaderboards you're already familiar with. However, we've made a few layout adjustments to cater to the time-sensitive nature of challenges and the inclusion of prize pools.

We always aim to avoid any undue pressure on the associated moderation team with whatever game is the focus of the challenge - so to ensure a smooth process, all runs submitted to the challenge leaderboard will be screened and verified by either SRC staff or Prince of Persia moderation team members volunteering for the challenge specifically. After the challenge concludes, SRC staff will collaborate with the Prince of Persia moderation team to discuss the potential merging of challenge runs into the regular leaderboard once the moratorium period expires, respecting the mod team's preferences.

Preparation Suggestions

To follow the challenge as well as find tips & tricks for the speedrun, visit the Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Challenge leaderboard right here on Speedrun.com and the Prince of Persia Speedrunning Discord server

Some Advice

The challenge lasts for two weeks, which may sound short, but it's ample time. The fiercest competition for the top three spots typically emerges in the final week or even the last few days of the challenge, so there's really no need to rush through your initial playthrough.

If you have any questions, feel free to pop by our PoP:TLC forum thread!

Good luck, and have fun speedrunners! :)