Skull & Bones has a “new vision”, don’t expect to see it at Ubisoft Forward

Boot up any Assassin’s Creed game since the underrated Black Flag entry (but meh not Syndicate), and I think we can all agree on one thing: Sailing is a bloody awesome distraction. Especially when said sailing involves firing off volleys of flaming arrows, unleashing cannons and storming the poop decks of enemy ships in pursuit of dat booty.

For years, people said “hey why not make a game that’s just about sailing?” and then Ubisoft decided to do just that. That game was Skull & Bones, a massive ocean of naval warfare featuring scallywags and buccaneers as they crossed paths with one another. If you were hoping to see some announcement on the progress of Skull & Bones tonight in the latest Ubisoft Forward event, bad news: That ain’t happening.

In a new blog post, creative director Elisabeth Pellen confirmed that Skull & Bones has basically been given a new direction (not the boy band), with the vision for the game having been expanded and thus leading to multiple delays. “Many of you have been wondering why we’ve had to postpone our launch. The answer is that we simply needed more time,” Pellen said.

We dreamt something bigger for Skull & Bones, and these ambitions naturally came with bigger challenges. Critical questions needed to be addressed over the past several months such as: how do we modernize the classic pirate fantasy? How do we ensure a more immersive and visceral experience? How do we create cool and memorable moments in-game? For most of these questions to be answered, it was clear that we needed more development time.

That being said, something is coming in 2021! Ubisoft’s Singapore, Berlin, Chengdu, Kiev, Paris, and Philippines teams are handling this project, and Pellen hinted that a proper re-reveal will come in the new year. “We’re proud of the work we’ve done and we hope you will be too when you see more of Skull & Bones at our comeback next year,” Pellen said.

Last Updated: September 10, 2020