Skull and Bones, Ubisoft's repeatedly-delayed multiplayer pirate game, finally has a release date. Again. After being delayed six times.
The release date is now set for February 13, 2024 for Ubisoft+ subscribers and February 16 for everyone else. We also learned that a new closed beta will take place between December 15 and December 18. The game is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC.
Skull and Bones has had a fraught development to say the least. It was first revealed at E3 2017, and at the time was planned to release on the last generation of consoles in fall of 2018. Then, in 2018, it got delayed to "2019-20"... and then never came out. Later, reports suggested that it had been quietly rebooted, before being delayed again to 2020, and then again to 2021. Then it was delayed into 2022-2023, later given a November 8, 2022 release date, and then delayed to March 9 of 2023, and then somehow delayed a sixth whole time to "early 2023-2024,"
While all that's been going on, we've also learned via reports that the game is allegedly being made in a fairly toxic work culture at developer Ubisoft Singapore, and it's seen three different creative directors depart in the time it took to get the game together. We did play a preview of the game back in August and found it to be pretty fun despite all the troubles, but it's nonetheless worrying just how many times this game has been rebooted and moved around amid reports that development is fraught. Hopefully the, er, seventh release window is the charm.
To catch up on everything else going on at The Game Awards tonight, you can read our roundup of everything announced here, and keep track of all the award winners right here.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
