Skull and Bones hasn't been in Ubisoft's spotlight for some time now, and now after numerous delays, it's looking like Ubisoft has entirely rebooted the game. Skull and Bones was originally announced as a game with an open-world model, but according to new reports from Ubisoft, that may not entirely be the case any longer.
First revealed at E3 in 2017, Skull and Bones more or less disappeared from the gaming industry's radar after that, aside from a small preview at E3 in 2018. The game was supposed to release in late 2018, though obviously that didn't pan out; instead, Skull and Bones ended up being delayed for three years in a row.
Now, however, Skull and Bones has reportedly been rebooted as a whole after years of difficulty throughout its development. According to VGC, which got the information from an anonymous source at Ubisoft, Skull and Bones had been struggling to find its unique niche in the grand scheme of Ubisoft's titles, and the multiple delays were a result of the development team attempting to refine its concept.
Apparently, the decision was made last year to reboot the game and take it in a different direction from Ubisoft's other open-world games. As of right now, Skull and Bones is moving towards a 'live' game model instead, which means it'll feature a persistent game world with quests and storylines that'll change over time based on the community's collective actions.
Since many of Ubisoft's other games have static, open-world models, this will be a major departure from tradition for the developer. Another Ubisoft source told VGC that the live storytelling aspects of Fortnite heavily inspired the concept behind this newly rebooted version of Skull and Bones. The new iteration of the game will have a strong focus on collaboration, and Ubisoft reportedly also wants to appeal to fans beyond those who play Ubisoft's other competitive action titles.
With no mention of Skull and Bones at yesterday's Ubisoft Forward event and now the news of the game being rebooted, it'll likely be some time before any major updates on the game are released. Only time will tell if this reboot will do the trick and finally get Skull and Bones out of its development rut.
Skull and Bones is in development at Ubisoft Singapore.
Source: VGC