It’s looking like maybe Ubisoft’s Skull & Bones’ sixth delay might have been its last, as Ubisoft finally announced this afternoon at Ubisoft Forward 2023 that the pirate MMO’s closed beta will kick off in August – August 25th, in fact. Ubisoft is now calling it a “multiplayer pirate open-world game” and says it’s still hoping to “work toward release this fiscal year.” (Which means it would be on track for 2024 as the last ETA suggested.)
Readers will recall that Ubisoft announced and demoed the game at E3 way back in 2017, but delayed it repeatedly in the years after along with its still-missing TV show.
Senior Producer Neven Dravinski says the devs have already been running tests through its insider program, which has prompted the team to “double down” on the game’s naval content and co-op on servers that can hold up to 20 players, with crossplay, in groups of three.
“We are creating even more depth to the combat by increasing the number of ship and weapon variants available at launch, allowing players to build customized playstyles to make the game experience their own. This depth in combat also extends to other aspects of the game. For example, improved naval navigation and the addition of an external ship camera are some of the ways that the community has made this experience better through our Insider Program. Answering another community request, we’ve ensured that the entire game can be played in co-op, with shareable contracts and rewards; a ‘call for help’ feature should you run into trouble; multiple chat functions; and other gameplay mechanics.”
Pre-orders and beta sign-ups are live on the official site; the new trailer – and sea shanty – are below.
