After a decade of turbulent development, Skull and Bones has changed shapes more times than Peter Pettigrew. And even though the game recently underwent a play test suggesting we were going to be able to take to the seas soon, the devs have now confirmed that Skull and Bones has been delayed - again.
In a tweet from the official Skull and Bones Twitter account, the development share the details of how they have had to delay the pirate game "a little more" to get it ready for release.
"This extra time will help us in providing further polish and balancing to our game experience," the team says. The tweet also promises exclusive gameplay footage and new episodes of The Deck - a live Twitch show charting the game's creation - are coming soon, but you can't help but see this as papering over the holes in an already-sinking ship.
The post continues. "Additional information regarding our new release date and upcoming tests phases will be shared with you all very soon." What's interesting here is the mention of further gameplay tests before the game is actually launched, meaning there might be more to the delay than some more simple polishing.
While the Skull and Bones team has no doubt worked hard on getting the game to us in shipshape, the game has had a very troubled past, and this does not bode well for the final product.
Originally a spin-off from Assassin's Creed Black Flag, the game has morphed into its own bespoke pirate-warfare game and was finally revealed as the Skull and Bones we know in 2017, with a release date set for early 2018. That was five years ago, and the title has been the recipient of delay after delay.
At this point, audience enthusiasm for the game is no doubt waning, and this comes amid Ubisoft's cancellation of three other projects and some stern words from CEO Yves Guillemot to employees.
At this point, will we ever be able to play Skull and Bones? And, will it be any good?