Ubisoft has announced that it is delaying the release date of Skull and Bones yet again. Skull and Bones has been trapped in development hell since the game was first announced at Ubisoft's E3 2017 presentation. It has undergone significant and numerous changes behind-the-scenes, forcing Ubisoft to delay the project multiple times.
Ubisoft's open world pirate game was originally supposed to launch in 2018, but the game was delayed to 2019. Ubisoft then kept pushing the Skull and Bones release date back until it settled on a November 8 release date. The November 8 release date for Skull and Bones is no more, as Ubisoft has announced that the game will now be releasing on March 9, 2023, pushing it back an additional four months.
Ubisoft stated that it is delaying the Skull and Bones release date to allow for additional polish and balancing ahead of launch. The delay will allow Ubisoft to deliver "the best possible experience" to its fans. But while those looking forward to Skull and Bones will now have to wait for 2023 to play the full game, they will still get the chance to play it before then. Ubisoft has confirmed that a Skull and Bones open beta is going to be held "in the near future," with more information on registration and the like to come "soon."
The official explanation as to why the Skull and Bones release date is being delayed is because the game simply needs more time in the oven, but there could be more to the story. It's no secret that Skull and Bones gameplay presentations have underwhelmed many fans, with many expressing disappointment in how the game handles certain things, like relegating ship boarding to a cut-scene instead of making it part of the gameplay like fellow pirate game Sea of Thieves, for instance. It's possible that the negative reaction to the game has played a role in the decision to delay it, but if that's the case, Ubisoft has not said so.
Another possible reason why Skull and Bones may have been delayed beyond Ubisoft's explanation is because it was releasing at any extremely busy time for the industry. Open world Sonic game Sonic Frontiers is set to launch on November 8, the same day that Skull and Bones was going to release before its delay. Then merely a day later, the highly-anticipated God of War Ragnarok is going to release to the masses. A week after that, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will be out. The November 9 Skull and Bones release date was always questionable because of this, and perhaps the game will have a better chance by putting some distance between itself and those other major releases.
Skull and Bones will launch March 9 for PC, PS5, Stadia, and Xbox Series X.