Skull And Bones - What We Know So Far

Games focusing on the pirate life have grown in popularity recently. With the release of "Assassin's Creed: Black Flag" in October of 2013 and "Sea of Thieves" in March of 2018, it's become apparent that what gamers want is to be pirates. And Ubisoft Singapore is prepared to answer this desire in a big way with a new game called "Skull and Bones."

"Skull and Bones" is an action adventure game centering around your search for treasure in the high seas. This photorealistic title with its gorgeous graphics and intensive game mechanics has been anticipated for quite a long time, and though gameplay demos were present at both E3 2017 and E3 2018, pirate enthusiasts have been wondering when they'll get to play the finished version. The answer: soon. 

There have been several delays in production throughout the development of "Skull and Bones," but Ubisoft is still adamant that the game is on track to be released in the near future. So here's all the information you need to know before "Skull and Bones" finally sails into port.

Despite being in development for close to a decade and being officially revealed all the way back E3 2017, "Skull and Bones" has unfortunately been subject to several delays over the years. The action-adventure title was originally slated to be released at the tail end of 2018, only to be later pushed back to 2019. The 2019 release for the game unfortunately never came to pass; "Skull and Bones" would then be delayed until March 2020 and omitted from E3 2019 (per IGN). Since then, further delays have become the norm. The game missed its March 2020 target and would be pushed back a few more times afterwards.

The (current) official release date for "Skull and Bones" is listed as being March 9, 2023. And according to Ubisoft, the game is technically finished and just requires a bit of fine tuning. The game's official Twitter account explained, "Although 'Skull and Bones' development is finished at this stage, the invaluable feedback received during our various technical tests ... convinced us we could use a bit of extra time to polish and balance the experience."

Because of how long development on the game has taken to this point, there are several trailers for "Skull and Bones" that gamers can check out. However, given the constant delays and reported redesigns of the game, some of the earlier trailers out there may no longer be accurate representations of "Skull and Bones."

Luckily, a new trailer for "Skull and Bones" was revealed during the 2022 Ubisoft Forward. In this preview, viewers are treated to some high-octane action involving pirate combat on the seas. Several different kinds of canons are advertised, and even giant crossbows that can placed on a ship. The trailer also makes mention of how players can customize their playing style, showing ships equipped with different fortifications such as steel guards and spikes. Players can apparently choose to sacrifice offensive power for more durability should they wish.

Overall, the game's scope shown to be quite vast. As opposed to similar titles such as "Sea of Thieves," "Skull and Bones" shows ships being occupied by massive crews engaging in large-scale combat with other pirate factions.

In 2017, Ubisoft announced that announced that "Skull and Bones" would be coming out for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and the PC. Upon the release of the next-gen consoles — the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S — in 2020, it was only natural that the game's eventual release would also be supported on those consoles. Unfortunately, after all of the delays and hiccups in development, it seems that things have changed quite a bit.

Since the latest delay, it's been announced that "Skull and Bones" will no longer be supported on all consoles and will instead be exclusive to next-gen platforms. While this may be disappointing to some who have yet to get their hands on the newest Xbox or PlayStation consoles, it could bode well for the game from a performance perspective.

One of the main focal points of the cinematic and gameplay trailers that were featured at E3 was the multiplayer aspect of Skull and Bones; so much so that many players were concerned that there wouldn't be a single player campaign at all. While Ubisoft has confirmed that there will be a single player campaign with a rich narrative, it still seems that most of the emphasis is on the multiplayer aspect of the game.

The ability to strategize and devise a plan of attack for taking down an enemy ship is an exciting prospect for an open-world game. And this, of course, also brings with it the possibility for rival factions and some element of PVP. Though Ubisoft hasn't given many details concerning the extent of the multiplayer options for Skull and Bones, what we do have so far looks like it will provide an incredibly unique and entertaining player experience.

Given the amount of time that the game has taken to develop, it's obvious that Ubisoft sees "Skull and Bones" as a big project with massive narrative potential. To further flesh out this narrative, Dark Horse Comics will be publishing a series of comic books based on the game titled "Skull and Bones: Savage Storm." Written by John Jackson Miller — who has worked on comics for other video game IPs such as "Halo" and "Mass Effect" in the past — "Skull and Bones: Savage Storm" takes place on a merchant vessel that is first sieged by pirates before crashing ashore a remote island after a storm. From there, the two factions must survive the elements on the island. The comic will be illustrated by Christian Rosado and colored by Roshan Kurichiyanil, while additional art is provided by James Mishler, who has also been credited as a co-writer.

The first 32-page issue of "Skull and Bones: Savage Storm" is currently scheduled to be released on March 1, 2023, a little over a week before the game's debut. The comic will retail at $3.99, which can be cut down to $3.59 should fans decide to pre-order its print edition.