Ubisoft has its issues as a video game publisher, but it's far from being the worst out there. Though its microtransaction practices are sometimes fairly egregious, and the Ubisoft open-world formula has reached the peak of saturation, Ubisoft still manages to pump out AAA experiences that, at their very worst, are absolutely fine games. In the past, Ubisoft has had a pretty solid track record of announcing a game, letting have a year or two in development, and then releasing it right on time, but there are always outliers, and Ubisoft's pirate-themed adventure Skull and Bones is certainly one of those.
Originally announced all the way back in 2017 during Ubisoft's E3 showcase, Skull and Bones is from developer Ubisoft Singapore. Development on Skull and Bones has been notoriously rough, with a few Kotaku reports over the years expressing just how far behind the project was from releasing. Ubisoft has re-revealed the game, and Skull and Bones does look in a much better position, but there's one key element that might spell the game's disaster before it even hits store shelves: its release date.
Skull and Bones' Unfortunate Development
Allegedly, Skull and Bones first began development all the way back in 2013, almost a decade ago. At the time, the plan was to take the critically-acclaimed naval battles from Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag and turn them into a fully-fledged MMO spin-off. A bit into development, the project switched gears, becoming its own entity entirely separate of the Assassin's Creed license.
Renamed Skull and Bones, the game underwent a variety of different iterations over the years. According to a report by Kotaku, just about every element of the game saw a plethora of changes, from the game's general direction, to its characters, and its scope. The game's setting was a key point of change in development, going from an Assassin's Creed-inspired Caribbean, to the fantastical, Greek mythology-inspired world of Hyperborea, to the Indian Ocean.
Skull and Bones' gameplay mechanics also saw a great deal of changes during the game's first few years of development. Internally, the developer couldn't decide whether Skull and Bones was going to be a survival game in a similar vein to the likes of Rust and Raft, or whether it would be a strictly naval combat and exploration game. Skull and Bones exceeded its budget multiple times, and in 2020, seven years after it began development, the game was confirmed to be adopting a "new vision," which would require a further few years in development, this time aided by Ubisoft Berlin. Over the last few years, Skull and Bones' release date has been pushed back several times, with the biggest being from April 2021-March 2022's fiscal year, to April 2022-March 2023's fiscal year.
Skull and Bones' Unlucky Streak Continues with its Release Date
Ubisoft has finally given Skull and Bones an official release date, and it's a little earlier than some fans were expecting. As opposed to releasing next year, Skull and Bones will be dropping November 8, 2022. There's one big problem with that release date; God of War: Ragnarok comes out a day after it.
God of War: Ragnarok is easily one of the most anticipated video games right now. Though the God of War series has always been popular, the 2018 reboot brought in a whole new crowd of fans, and now the God of War franchise is more popular than ever. With many critics and fans believing that 2018's God of War is one of the greatest video games of all time, the unparalleled hype behind its sequel is more than understandable.
Santa Monica Studio has confirmed that God of War: Ragnarok will be releasing on November 9, 2022. While it's possible that God of War: Ragnarok gets delayed, it's fairly unlikely, with Sony and Santa Monica Studios being reluctant to confirm a release date prior to the reveal as both parties wanted to ensure that the game would be ready for whatever date was specified. So with that in mind, it's looking pretty likely that Skull and Bones' release will be massively overshadowed by God of War: Ragnarok, one of the biggest games of the year, dropping just a day after it. It seems as though Skull and Bones just can't catch a break.
Skull and Bones is set to release on November 8, 2022 for PC, PS5, Stadia, and Xbox Series X/S.