Just when you thought Ubisoft’s Skull and Bones was finally going to set sail, it appears the ship has run aground again. The pirate-themed game, which revolves around naval warfare, was initially supposed to launch in March this year. But now, Ubisoft has pushed back its release date, targeting Q4 of the fiscal year 2023-2024 for its debut.
Ubisoft originally announced Skull and Bones back in 2017. Fans were pretty excited about the idea of a detailed, open-world pirate game from a well-known publisher. Years have passed with multiple delays, and the latest comes from Ubisoft’s first half of fiscal year 2024 earnings report. But Skull and Bones isn’t alone; it shares its new release window with other big Ubisoft titles, like Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR, and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.
What we do know is that when Skull and Bones finally makes its entrance, it will be available on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. The game even had a closed beta testing phase in August, giving some players a taste of what’s to come. However, it’s worth noting that creative director Elisabeth Pellen, who was the third person to hold this position on the project, left in September. That adds an extra layer of questions about the game’s future.
Skull and Bones is a chapter in a larger Ubisoft narrative that includes consistent hits and several games that have faced delays or failed to meet initial expectations. This game’s repeated postponements raise questions about Ubisoft’s project management and whether they’re spreading too thin with too many ambitious projects.