Tag: Skull and Bones

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Ubisoft delays Skull and Bones for the sixth time, cancels three more games

Skull and Bones has been delayed for a staggering sixth time, Ubisoft has confirmed.

The open-world pirate game was most recently set to release on March 9th, 2023, but Ubisoft says it’s now simply slated to come sometime between now and early 2024.

The move comes amid a turbulent period for the French publishing giant. In a press release, Ubisoft acknowledged that it’s facing “major challenges,” including the cancellation of three unannounced games on top of the four it had axed last year.

The company also noted that its 2022 games — an unusually soft lineup that lacked new releases from such big franchises as Assassin’s Creed or Far Cry — “have not performed as well as expected.” Specifically, it points to the commercial underperformance of last fall’s otherwise well-received Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope and Just Dance 2023, the latter of which being the latest entry in a historically popular annualized franchise.

As a result, the company is projecting a $537 million USD (about $721 million CAD) loss for the fiscal year ending in March 2023. This has led it to cut around $215 million USD (about $289 million CAD) in costs. According to Kotaku, these cost-cutting efforts include layoffs and renewing fewer contracts at some of the company’s U.S. locations. It’s unclear how this might affect any of the publisher’s many Canadian studios, including Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Toronto.

Ubisoft’s rough patch, in part, stems from its ever-evolving production pipeline. Over the past few years, the company has been pivoting towards live service titles that continue to bring in players over long periods. One of its older games, 2015’s Rainbow Six: Siege, has been one of the most popular multiplayer games on the market, with over 70 million registered players.

While the company has still released some big-budget single-player games in the form of 2018’s Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, 2020’s Watch Dogs: Legion and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and 2021’s Far Cry 6, it’s been putting more of an emphasis on live service titles. This includes Assassin’s Creed Infinity, a future live service platform for multiple Assassin’s Creed games. Ubisoft even says it will be “the single entry point for fans into the Assassin’s Creed franchise in the future.”

Other Ubisoft live service games in the works include the arena shooter XDefiant and The Division Heartland. Meanwhile, it’s cancelled other online titles like Hyperscape and Ghost Recon Frontline. 

For now, though, the company said in an emergency investor call, via Kotaku, that its release plans for the fiscal year beginning in April 2023 include Skull and Bones, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Assassin’s Creed Mirage and at least one more big unannounced title.

Source: Ubisoft

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Ubisoft Forward to focus on Mario + Rabbids, Skull and Bones, and Assassin’s Creed

Ubisoft is hosting another installment of its Ubisoft Forward games showcase on September 10th. The publisher has revealed that the live streamed event is set to provide “updates on upcoming games.” Additionally, the publisher will offer a look at some new titles.

Throughout Ubisoft Forward, fans will be shown updates for Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope and Skull and Bones. The former is being developed in partnership with Nintendo and launches exclusively on Nintendo Switch on October 20th. Skull and Bones, the open-world pirate game, has seen a number of delays. However, the game is due to launch on November 8th on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, PC, Amazon Luna and Google Stadia.

Seeing as though both titles are to launch this fall, it makes sense that some time would be dedicated to highlighting gameplay, cinematics, and drum up excitement.

Last week, Ubisoft officially announced its working on Assassin’s Creed Mirage. The game is said to focus on a younger Basim, who was first introduced in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. The game also depicts a setting reminiscent of Baghdad. Previous reports claim Mirage will be a more contained game focusing on stealth and harkening back to the series’ roots.

The publisher has already confirmed that more on Mirage will be showcased during the Ubisoft Forward. However, the company notes that the event will incorporate “a special Assassin’s Creed showcase” where “the future of the franchise.”

This year marks the 15th anniversary of Assassin’s Creed. Alongside the announcement of a new title, it will be interesting to see how Ubisoft chooses to celebrate the occasion. Recently, Ubisoft had an Assassin’s Creed booth at FanExpo Canada in Toronto in dedication to the anniversary. However, with Mirage being a standalone title, one must wonder if a new mainline entry will be shown.

Ubisoft Forward will be available to stream on YouTube, Twitch, and Ubisoft’s website. The event kicks off with a preshow at 2:35 pm ET/11:35 am PT.

Image credit: Ubisoft

Source: Ubisoft via @geoffkeighley

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Here’s how you can join the Skull and Bones early live testing program

Ubisoft’s long-awaited Skull and Bones is finally on the horizon, and fans who’ve been waiting to try out the game for the better part of the last four years couldn’t be more excited.

According to Ubisoft, the game will release on November 8th (fingers crossed 🤞), but if you want to get early access to the pirate-themed adventure, Ubisoft plans to release early betas for the title on PC, Xbox and PS5.

To register for early betas/live testing of the title, visit the Skull and Bones Ubisoft website and click on “Register” on the top right. Select the platform you want to register for (PC, Xbox Series X/S and PS5 only) and click on register again.

It’s worth noting that you’ll be asked to sign in to your Ubisoft account, though you can also sign in with your Facebook, Microsoft, Twitch or PlayStation account in case you haven’t registered with Ubisoft already. Also worth noting is that signing up doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll get access to the live testing of Skull and Bones. The post-registration prompt reads, “you are registered to receive news for Skull and Bones on PC. You will receive an email with detailed instructions on how to access live phases if selected.”

Ubisoft did not indicate how many people it will choose for the live tests and when, so you’ll still need to wait before you play Skull and Bones.

Another way to get into live testing the betas is by joining Ubisoft’s “Insider Program.” The insider program, however, is more exclusive, and to register for it, you’ll have to answer a bunch of questions. “The Insider Program is an ongoing live testing initiative for which we’re inviting carefully selected players to play an early version of our game in real conditions before anyone else,” reads the program page. “Meaning for the very first time, members of our Insider Program get to play Skull and Bones and get a sneak peek at the work our development team has been doing behind the scenes.”

Before registering to be a part of the Insider Program, you’ll have to answer questions regarding the games you like to play, your hardware configuration and internet bandwidth, if you are a content creator or not and more, as seen in the image above.

If you’re not interested in trying out the title before it comes out, and want to play the polished game, you can pre-order the title for PS5 and Xbox Series X on Best Buy.  Head here to pre-order the game for PC and Stadia.

Image credit: Ubisoft

Source: Ubisoft

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That leaked Skull and Bones gameplay video is real

It seems Skull and Bones still exists.

Since its reveal back in 2017, not much information about the Ubisoft pirate title has appeared, though it’s clear the game has undergone a troubled development cycle. It’s also important to note that developer Ubisoft Singapore is under investigation for issues tied to workplace harassment, discriminatory pay and more.

As first reported by Kotaku, a recent video leaked via Reddit user ‘Wesam_L’ offers the best look at the pirate title yet. Based on the leaked footage, Skull and Bones seems to borrow elements from Ubisoft live-service titles like The Division 2, and 2013 third-person pirate action game, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag.

In the leaked video, a voiceover outlines how the game’s “infamy” system works. This stat is increased by taking down fellow pirates, uncovering treasure and completing contracts. Some contracts seem to be multiplayer-focused and can be played with other human players.

The video also outlines how the player will upgrade their ship with scavenged materials throughout the game and states that ensuring your crew has food, water and ammo prevents mutiny. There also seem to be segments where the player leaves their ship and visits pirate encampments and towns. It’s believed that previous versions of Skull and Bones didn’t allow players to leave their ship.

The footage has since been removed from Reddit.

Ubisoft confirmed to Kotaku that the leaked footage of Skull and Bones is legitimate. The official Skull and Bones Twitter account also tweeted a brief clip of the title following the footage’s leak (its first tweet since September 2020).

A source that spoke to Kotaku says that Ubisoft plans to release Skull and Bones by the end of 2022.

As a fan of all things pirates and boats, I’m cautiously optimistic for Skull and Bones. Based on what I saw in the brief video, it seems like the pirate game I’ve always wanted. However, given the title’s tumultuous development cycle, there’s a strong possibility that it won’t end up being a game worth playing.

Image credit: @skullnbonesgame (Screenshot)

Source: Kotaku, Reddit (Wesam_L)