Highlights
- Skull and Bones, Ubisoft's open-world pirate game, has lost its third creative director, adding to the list of setbacks it has faced during development.
- The game has been delayed multiple times and faced a lackluster reception during its recent beta, raising doubts about its future success.
- Despite the challenges, Skull and Bones is still set to release before March 2024, but its delayed development and potential competition from other major releases may affect its reception.
Skull and Bones was already experiencing a troubled development cycle, but now, Ubisoft's open-world pirate game has lost its third creative director. To say that Skull and Bones had a difficult road thus far is certainly understating things a bit, and things have just gone from bad to worse.
Fans were initially intrigued as Skull and Bones looked to be inspired by the naval battles in the fan-favorite Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag game. However, the new IP has been marred by one setback after another since then. Initially slated to release in 2018, the game kept being pushed back until it was announced in 2020 that Skull and Bones was moving ahead with a "new vision." Since then, PlayStation has even issued refunds on Skull and Bones pre-orders.
Now, after the lackluster reception of the recent beta, Kotaku is reporting that Skull and Bones has lost yet another creative director, Elisabeth Pellen – its third so far. Pellen has been with the development team since 2018 but reportedly left the Ubisoft Singapore, the team currently working on Skull and Bones, to join the Paris headquarters earlier in the summer. This news lies in the wake of the larger picture for the publisher as Ubisoft announced the cancelation of another four games back in July.
Skull and Bones' recent delay pushed the game out of 2023, but it is still reportedly set to release before the end of Ubisoft's fiscal year in March 2024. Again, another delay isn't exactly a surprise for those following the development of the game, and perhaps it may even be beneficial as the fall schedule looks packed full of major releases. Ubisoft alone has Assassin's Creed Mirage and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora both slated to release before the end of the year. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown isn't far behind as it is scheduled for January 2024.
Skull and Bones is one of only a handful of games shown off at the publisher's summer Ubisoft Forward showcase. Still, many wonder if the ship has already sailed on Skull and Bones. After countless delays, it seems likely that enthusiasm for the title may have died down.
Perhaps all will be smooth sailing if the game finally arrives and surpasses expectations. While previews were mixed, some outlets were high on Skull of Bones. Maybe a great game with some solid word of mouth can be enough to help keep the ship from sinking. The road ahead might be even more difficult than expected, though, if a rumored Assassin's Creed 4 remake is actually in the works.
Skull and Bones is in development for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Kotaku
