Ubisoft's upcoming slate might be in some hot water, with one of its flagship games, Skull and Bones, recently suffering yet another lengthy delay. Beginning development all the way back in 2014 following the release of Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, Skull and Bones has been one of the most infamous cases of a game trapped in development hell. In July 2022 it finally looked as though Skull and Bones was on the right course, with a release date of November 8, 2022, being announced. Of course, Skull and Bones wouldn't hit that release date, and its laundry list of development issues continues to unfold.
In September 2022, Ubisoft announced that Skull and Bones would be delayed again, pushing it from its November 8 release window and firmly distancing itself from some strong end-of-year releases like God of War Ragnarok. And then in January of this year, things only got worse for Skull and Bones, with Ubisoft announcing that it had been delayed yet again, this time potentially out of 2023 altogether - though that might actually be in the game's best interest.
Skull And Bones May Have Narrowly Avoided a Packed 2023
When Skull and Bones first reared its head again in 2022 after its array of delays, gamers were quick to criticize the state of the game. The biggest point of criticism across the board was that Skull and Bones simply looked like it had missed the boat. Though it looked pretty, Skull and Bones seemed like a fairly generic naval combat game, and its emphasis on online multiplayer and limited progression systems immediately drew comparisons with Rare's Sea of Thieves, which launched all the way back in 2018. Skull and Bones seemed like too little too late.
While that might still be true, Ubisoft at least seems to have made the right decision in delaying the game out of 2023. This year has already been a packed one for high-profile video game releases. Hogwarts Legacy, Dead Space Remake, and Resident Evil 4 Remake have all launched this year already, and that's just scratching the surface of what's left to come this year.
Every month for the rest of the year has at least one big video game release that would have easily overshadowed Skull and Bones. And some months are lucky enough to boast two or three. This month, for instance, has three high-profile releases to look forward to. Dead Island 2, a game that was stuck in its own development hell, launches in just a few weeks, as does Horizon Forbidden West's Burning Shores DLC. Then to cap off the month, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, one of the most anticipated games of the year, is set to make a triumphant launch. The rest of the year follows a similar pattern with Redfall and Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom launching in May, Diablo 4, Street Fighter 6, and Final Fantasy 16 all releasing in June, Pikmin 4 in July, Baldur's Gate 3 in August, and Starfield and potentially Spider-Man 2 in September. And that's just the games with announced release dates.
Skull and Bones is guaranteed to have a rough time attracting a player-base regardless of when it releases, but launching in 2023 would have been an immediate and definite nail in the game's coffin. At least if Skull and Bones releases in 2024 it can have the chance to stand out in an otherwise empty month, gaining an audience of gamers desperate to play something new, which it just wouldn't have had if it released this year.
Skull and Bones is in development for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.