Skull and Bones is an upcoming Action-Adventure title under development by Ubisoft. The game will focus on naval warfare and it takes inspiration from the previous Ubisoft classic ‘Assassin’s Creed IV: The Black Flag.
The game has been in development since 2013 having originally been conceived as an expansion of Assassin’s Creed IV. Since that time, there were many design changes and reiterations before its eventual announcement at E3 2017 for the PS4 and Xbox One.
The title was originally supposed to release at the end of 2018. It was delayed for the first time to 2019, and later again to March 2020. In May 2021, Ubisoft eventually settled on a 2022-2023 fiscal year launch window. It seemed like this may be the last of the delays, but alas it has now been pushed back even further to the 2023-2024 release window.
Why Was Skull and Bones Delayed?
Why has the game been delayed so many times, you may wonder. Ubisoft as an explanation for the latest delay, cited underperformance of their latest titles as a major factor. With the rising costs of AAA games, it is a major issue if financial targets are missed by a large extent. Just Dance 2023 and Mario and Rabbids: Sparks of Hope are two significant Ubisoft games from late 2022 that may have contributed to yet the latest delay. The latest delay also came alongside the announcement that the company would be “restructuring” and cancelling multiple other games in development.
Another potential reason to consider for its delay may relate to internal issues within Ubisoft itself. Skull and Bones is notable in that it is the first title to have development lead by the Singapore subsidiary of Ubisoft. This is notable because Ubisoft Singapore was one of the companies under scrutiny for reports of discrimination and sexual harassment. In response to these allegations, the ‘Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP)’ started its own investigation in August 2021 into practices within the company and into its work culture which has been deemed as ‘toxic’.
According to one anonymous report from one former developer “Ubisoft Singapore has always been kind of known [internally] to be one of the worst Ubisoft studios in terms of culture,”. “People would visit [from other studios] and be like, ‘What the fuck is wrong here?’. As a result, the alleged toxic work culture within Singapore, may be another reason for the multiple delays of Skull and Bones. Such an environment would likely have a negative impact on productivity. There could thereby be more than first meets the eye as for why Skull and Bones has been beset by so many delays. Supporting this theory yet further is the fact that additional Ubisoft studios such as Ubisoft Berlin have now started to develop the title alongside Ubisoft Singapore.
When considering all the facts, a clearer picture starts to possibly emerge. Since Ubisoft Singapore is a smaller, more isolated studio compared to many others, development was likely to be a bit slower to begin with. Then, this has clearly been compounded by multiple different factors. Firstly, there are clearly some financial issues within Ubisoft due to the lacklustre performance of certain titles. Secondly, the current corporate structure may not be sustainable hence the need for ‘restructuring’ cited by the company. Lastly, the alleged toxic work environment of Ubisoft Singapore could have further stifled progress on Skull and Bones.
Skull and Bones Release Date
After all this, the Skull and Bones release date looks very likely to be sometime in early 2024, unless of course, it is delayed yet again. In the time since the game was first announced in 2017, it has now jumped to the current gen consoles so specifically the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
We can only hope that Skull and Bones is now right around the corner after having been in development for 10 whole years now. The general premise of naval combat is a promising one. This type of combat was a true highlight of Assassin’s Creed IV: The Black Flag, and so Skull and Bones has a lot of potential despite having been stuck in development hell for the past 10 years. Dead Island 2 was another title with many difficulties in development, and it turned out fairly well in the end.
Fingers crossed that Skull and Bones will turn out just as well when it launches, seemingly in early 2024.