Among all the games that Ubisoft has announced and released over the past few years, Ubisoft Singapore’s Skull and Bones has been shrouded in mystery. The developer offered an update recently, confirming that it wouldn’t be at today’s Ubisoft Forward presentation. However, creative director Elisabeth Pellen said that development is in “full swing with a new vision.”
Pellen said, “Many of you have been wondering why we’ve had to postpone our launch. The answer is that we simply needed more time. We dreamt something bigger for Skull & Bones, and these ambitions naturally came with bigger challenges.
“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.”
Pellen noted that she had joined the project as its creative director two years ago, along with many other new talent across the globe. Along with Ubisoft Singapore, teams from Paris, Kiev, Chengu, Berlin and the Philippines are also involved. “The dedication and passion of our developers continue to fuel our drive to make Skull & Bones something all of us can be proud of. Our confidence in each other’s talents is what motivates us to push Skull & Bones towards the finish line and beyond.”
More information on Skull and Bones will be available in 2021 and the development team is still committed to having years-long support for the game. Though it hasn’t been explicitly stated, rumors have been ongoing about developing being rebooted in favor of “live service story-telling.” At the very least, Pellen’s joining the project lines up with when the previous creative director left.
Skull and Bones is currently in development for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Expect Ubisoft to announce a jump over to Xbox Series S/X and PS5 at some point in the future, if not making the title cross-gen.