Insider Gaming sources have revealed that Skull and Bones, which is dubbed as Ubisoft’s first “AAAA game” by its CEO has less than one million players total.
Speaking with sources, the game currently has around 850,000 players total at the time of writing, which includes those who have opted to play the game with the eight-hour free trial provided by Ubisoft. At the moment, players are seemingly fairly engaged, with the average player playing between three and four hours a day. However, whether or not that will change once the free trial expires, or if will convert players into full purchases remains to be seen and we won’t likely get the data until the company’s next earnings call (around May 2024).
One major factor in low player numbers has been attributed to the decision to make the game fully priced at $70, a decision that has been criticized both publically and internally, sources said.
“I think we all know this is a $30-$40 game at best, but it’s not in our control to determine those things”, said one employee who worked on the project.
In a past report by Insider Gaming, where I dived deep into the internal tensions at the company, sources revealed that the game was forecasted to cost the company around $200 million in its decade-long development – A sum that the company doesn’t expect to make back. The game’s development saw thousands of developers working on the game across 11 different studios which saw countless changes in creative direction and constant internal delays.
The game, which officially launched on February 16th, currently sits at a 57 Metacritic score and a user score of 3.6 based on over 800 user ratings.
GameSpot said, “Everything that was great about Black Flag has been ripped out to accommodate tedious live-service elements and a half-baked multiplayer that makes you feel disconnected from other players.”
Eurogamer said, “Ubisoft’s long-in-the-works pirate adventure boasts a beautiful world and bombastic ship-to-ship combat, but it sinks amid boring busywork and tedious traversal.”
If you’re loathing for some pirate action, there is some good news though, as the development of an Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Remake, under the codename Obsidian is under development. Whilst Insider Gaming understands that the game is still years out, it’s understood that it will be a full remake rather than a remaster and be integrated into Assassin’s Creed Infinity – The central hub for Assassin’s Creed.
Skull and Bones is available now on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Amazon Luna.
What do you think of Skull and Bones’ player numbers? Let us know in the comments section below.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that a cute Rainbow Six game has landed on Netflix