High seas pirate simulator Skull and Bones has had a rocky ride, but does its appearance at The Game Awards finally signal that Ubisoft is ready to get off the pontoon and put the wind in the sails of this troubled beast once and for all? Well, considering the game’s release date is February 16th, with playtesting taking place from December 14th to 18th, it appears that’s the case.
On tonight’s show, Ubisoft once again reminded us of the game’s existence – six years after it debuted at E3 2017. The game has reportedly been in development since 2013 and was originally slated to launch in 2018, but was later pushed back into 2019, then 2020, and then into FY21-22. Finally, now we see an assertion that it will be available to everyone in the first quarter of 2024. Though you’ll forgive us for being skeptical.
You can check out the game’s latest trailer below. If nothing else, at least it’s still a good looker, right?
Watch on YouTube
It’s no surprise that Skull and Bones showed up at TGA. The game has seen a lot of activity this year; a beta test for curious players this summer; a bizarre marketing push for a “narrative game” at the beginning of the year; and news that Ubisoft is The game was canceled again in early 2023.
I played the game last year, and while I thought it had a great approach to naval combat, and the physics underpinning it were certainly admirable, I wasn’t quite sure who it was designed for.
Based on the preview, I’d call it “a replica of the nautical parts of Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag and Rogue, taken out and given more content, and then rolled into multiplayer servers. The kind of thing that comes out and gets people talking .” for a few weeks and then walk away. “
Hopefully I’m wrong on this; it would be a shame if a decade of work turned out to be nothing more than a blip.