Despite—and perhaps because of—getting hands-on experience with the game more than two years back, reports surfaced earlier this year that Ubisoft’s pirate adventure Skull & Bones had undergone several reboots. Now sources allegedly close to the game’s development are offering more insight into the nature of the reboots themselves. Should these claims prove true, Ubisoft Singapore is currently hard at work on a live-service—or a persistent living-world, according to VGC’s specific wording—title. As such, Skull & Bones‘ game world is one of a persistent quality, replete with characters, quests, and storylines that evolve based on community behaviors.
Sources familiar with the project spoke to Video Games Chronicle, divulging that Skull & Bones long struggled to establish an identity of its own amid Ubisoft’s robust catalog of open-world experiences. Such indecision resulted in multiple reboots, ultimately culminating in several delays. The Singapore studio finally landed on a vision last year, effectively abandoning the title’s original “premium box model.”
As VGC explains it, Skull & Bones won’t function in the same vein as a games-as-a-service title like The Division 2. While Ubisoft Massive’s live-service does indeed regularly receive updates, its world and content is essentially static. Skull & Bones, on the other hand, is expected to be livelier, taking inspiration from the “live storytelling” features that pervade Fortnite and more recently, the way Bungie is handling Destiny 2. Additionally, according to another VGC source, Ubisoft wants Skull & Bones to center on collaboration in an effort to further differentiate it from the publisher’s other live-service projects.
The creative team at Ubisoft Singapore has undergone its fair share of changes, too. Most notably, Creative Director Justin Farren exited his role and now works at World of Tanks studio Wargaming. Reportedly, Ubisoft’s former Editorial VP Elisabeth Pellen presently serves as the Creative Director of Skull & Bones. This is separate from the recent resignations at the publisher due to misconduct allegations that have been circulating.
Ubisoft last shared an official update about Skull & Bones‘ progress ahead of E3 2019,. At the time, the company simply noted it would endure another delay to a nebulous 2019 to 2020 window. Since we’re more than halfway through the year with no news, it’s obvious 2020 isn’t Skull & Bones‘ year either. While not officially reported, it’s likely the delay means the game will also be coming to PS5 whenever it finally does launch.
[Source: Video Games Chronicle]
