Skull & Bones 2021 launch is unlikely as development restarts again

Skull & Bones
(Image credit: Ubisoft)

Skull & Bones was forced to restart development for a second time according to an inside source familiar with the game who spoke to GameLuster. Ubisoft Singapore, the developer behind Skull & Bones, returned to square one after allegations of sexual harassment caused its managing director to step down.

According to the same report, Skull & Bones will be taking on a similar form to Microsoft's Sea of Thieves. One of the few details we know is that the point of view is in the first-person when on the ship, but in the third-person when you're off of it. This source also confirmed that a 2021 launch seems unlikely, which lines up with a claim Ubisoft made in an earnings report.

This isn't the first time Skull & Bones has received an internal reboot. Ubisoft revealed that the game would be taking a new direction last September. This was due to the company expressing disinterest in where the game was going, and at the time, the game was "in full swing with a new vision."

Creative Director Elizabeth Pellen wrote in a blog post that "Our teams at Ubisoft Singapore are fully committed to launching the game, as well as supporting it for many years to come" and promised that the game would be shown sometime this year. Whether or not this is still the case is unknown.

Skull & Bones was announced in 2017 and has had a turbulent development since. It also received a gameplay overview back in 2018, but due to the game's multiple delays and reboots, it's hard to imagine the final product will look anything like what was initially shown.

Momo Tabari
Contributing Writer

Self-described art critic and unabashedly pretentious, Momo finds joy in impassioned ramblings about her closeness to video games. She has a bachelor’s degree in Journalism & Media Studies from Brooklyn College and five years of experience in entertainment journalism. Momo is a stalwart defender of the importance found in subjectivity and spends most days overwhelmed with excitement for the past, present and future of gaming. When she isn't writing or playing Dark Souls, she can be found eating chicken fettuccine alfredo and watching anime.