Fans are finally receiving solid and pertinent information regarding Skull and Bones, an open-world action-adventure game from Ubisoft that will see players sail the seas as a pirate captain. After how long the game has been in development, a serious amount of doubt regarding the eventual release of the game has finally been cleared.
Originally announced in 2017, Skull and Bones has been subject to an alarming amount of development issues over the years, ranging from the minute to the utterly game-changing. Over the past five years, these issues have played an integral role in altering the game's overall identity, which has lasted right up to its current near-finished state.
The Initial Announcement of Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones was first introduced by Ubisoft at E3 2017, as a game that was significantly different from the experience that it is now set to provide. With its development starting as early as 2013, Skull and Bones was initially intended to be an expansion of the well-received Assassin's Creed Black Flag, which also had a core focus on piracy and sailing.
At this stage, the title was being developed as an MMO under the name of Black Flag Infinite, not to be confused with the upcoming live-service game Assassin's Creed Infinity. Due to the drawn-out level of this early development, the Black Flag technology that the game was set to feature quickly became outdated, marking the beginning of what would be a very tumultuous development cycle for what became Skull and Bones.
The Many Delays of Skull and Bones
Upon its original announcement, Skull and Bones was set for a late 2018 release date, with Ubisoft promising a continuous play-testing system to allow players to voice their opinions on the game's direction. Following a worrying level of silence despite this initial hope, Skull and Bones faced its first delay, aiming for a 2019 release date instead.
This marked a serious decline in direct news coming from Ubisoft in relation to the title, with several subsequent delays being announced with no tangible updates as to what state the game was in. With massive core elements of the game having to be redeveloped from the ground up after the original assets became outdated, Skull and Bones was finally given a more concrete release window of 2022, with 2023 also being given as a possible timeframe by Ubisoft.
The Current State of Skull and Bones
As well as going through redevelopments in its fundamental gameplay, Skull and Bones has also changed thematically within its current state. While originally intended to be a more historically-tied pirate experience, the game appears to now be led by more creative freedom in not being limited to the constraints of real-world pirating history. For example, it is confirmed that Skull and Bones will not feature any real-life famous pirates, allowing the player to write their own stories of legend instead.
Still maintaining its online focus, the title will see players work their way up the pirate world. Considering that the map of Skull and Bones is around 7x larger than Assassin's Creed Valhalla's, the nautical exploration of the game is clearly a massively extensive and integral facet of gameplay. With gameplay footage and promotional material finally being released for Skull and Bones, Ubisoft seems finally confident in the game's latest release date of November 8. Although the game is finally taking shape and looks promising, it remains to be seen if its historical development issues will have any lingering impact on the final product.
Skull and Bones releases November 8 for PC, PS5, Stadia, and Xbox Series X.