Skull & Bones has finally found a safe harbor to land after years mired in development hell.
With rumors and test footage leaking onto the web, gamers were already speculating that Ubisoft’s open-world pirate game was ready for a re-reveal shortly. After skipping Summer Game Fest, it seems like final preparations for the launch are underway. Over the weekend, the ESRB rated the game as an M-rated title, with warnings of “Blood, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs, and Violence.” Ratings typically only happen when a project is near completion, and a rumor that also popped up this weekend states that the game will see the public eye again in July.
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Try Hard Guides has published the rumor about the July reveal alongside a repost of the leaked gameplay that began the current Skull & Bones scuttlebutt. While it may be easy to think that Ubisoft may launch a game in development for this long right away, Ubisoft has said in an earnings call that it expects the game to release in the second half of its fiscal year, which starts in October and runs until March of next year. It also teased more was coming back after those aforementioned leaks.
First revealed at E3 back in 2017, Skull & Bones was initially set to ride on the momentum of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag’s ship-to-ship combat. While shooting across the bow is still part of the experience, the game has reportedly expanded to include open-world segments and other elements more akin to a games as a service title. Previews from E3 2018 only described the ship combats similar to Black Flag with minor changes to accommodate the expanded scope of the experience. It’s easy to look at games like Riders Republic to see where Ubisoft could take a title focused on such a tight gameplay loop, especially considering how much shared tech there typically is between its games.
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Ubisoft was quiet this year during the typical E3 period, skipping their own Ubisoft Connect broadcast and choosing not to participate in Summer Games Fest. It’s entirely possible that the return of Skull & Bones could come alongside other announcements from the company, especially considering how many games from other publishers have seen delays out of the 2022 holiday. Either way, anyone waiting for a multiplayer pirate game with fewer accordions and more cannon fire should have something to look forward to very soon.
