Skull & Bones isn't dead, but we won't see more until next year

(Image credit: Ubisoft)

Ubisoft revealed Skull & Bones way back in 2017 and it's been floating around in purgatory ever since. Originally due out in 2018, it was pushed to 2019, then 2020 and now the vague future. But it's still happening, apparently, with a "new vision" that we'll have to wait until next year to hear about. 

Creative Director Elisabeth Pellen shared the not-really-an-update in a blog post today, offering few details while attempting to clarify why it's been postponed (a few times) in the last few years. 

"We dreamt something bigger for Skull & Bones, and these ambitions naturally came with bigger challenges," she says. "These difficulties resulted in necessary delays for our game. 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."

It's not clear what this big new vision for the pirate game actually is yet, unfortunately. In July, it was rumoured to have changed from the usual Ubisoft open-world formula to a live service game, apparently with a living story, community elements and world events triggered by players. Sounds familiar

Skull & Bones will be skipping today's Ubisoft Forward, like it's skipped everything for the last couple of years, so don't expect new details soon. It will apparently be finally reappearing next year, but we don't know when, and giving its penchant for missing dates, I wouldn't hold my breath either.

Fraser Brown
Online Editor

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.