For the supposed pirate epic Skull & Bones, things don’t go on like this at all. Ubisoft has now actually confirmed the next postponement – but it gets worse than that! Three previously unannounced projects were scrapped internally.
Ubisoft is in high spirits right now! The company has now adjusted the financial targets for the fiscal year 2022/2023, which ends on March 31 of this year; changes were also made with regard to planning for the coming financial year.
What sounds unspectacular at first glance has a certain explosive content, because it all has a concrete impact on the players. Three previously unannounced games from Ubisoft were completely scrapped in the course of this and will no longer see the light of day. And: The pirate epic Skull & Bones, which has been postponed so many times, has actually been postponed again – for the sixth time!
In connection with the realignment, Ubisoft emphasizes that it wants to focus on expanding its own brands and live services into the largest brands in the gaming industry. In order to be able to concentrate better on the essential brands, the three other projects in question have now been discontinued after four games had already been canceled in July 2022.
There are major challenges ahead as the games industry continues to focus on “mega-brands” and long-running titles. You have therefore already adjusted your own orientation over the past four years – towards live service games and adaptations in your own largest franchises. Nonetheless, the latest releases haven’t performed as well as expected either.
Despite excellent reviews and an ambitious marketing plan, one was surprised that, above all, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope had below-average sales at the end of 2022 and the beginning of January. The same also applies to Just Dance 2023. The live games as well as the long-running tactical shooter Rainbow Six: Siege and the Assassin’s Creed games turn out to be robust and solid.
However, other concrete backgrounds for the renewed postponement of Skull & Bones were left largely open. In this regard, it was only stated that the additional time should be used to deliver a more mature and balanced gaming experience. Nevertheless, the question may again be asked as to whether such a development might not have been foreseeable earlier and whether the numerous postponements could not have been done without.
Ultimately, Skull & Bones had already disappeared after the original announcement and had no release date for years – until the pirate title was presented again and given a date that has since been postponed several times and well over a year. In the meantime, November 8, 2022 was originally planned for the release on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Luna, but the date was then postponed to March 9, 2023 – and that’s not working either. Instead, Skull & Bones should now appear in the early period of the new fiscal year 2023/2024, which makes a release in the first fiscal quarter from April to June 2023 likely – or not. In this case, who knows for sure!
Skull & Bones – Ubisoft Forward Gameplay-Trailer
Additional gameplay for Skull & Bones was shown at Ubisoft Forward.
