Insider Gaming has been speaking to over 10+ playtesters this week who have had the opportunity to play Ubsioft’s Skull and Bones for up to six hours in its recent playtests. Although one or two comments were satisfied with the game, the overall feeling with those who played the game is that it’s still nothing special.
The playtest comes following Yves Guillemot’s announcement that the game would be delayed again from its March 9, 2023 release date. Why? According to Guillemot, the delay will allow for “a much more polished and balanced experience and to build awareness,” whilst promising that players will be “positively surprised by its evolution”.
However, according to Insider Gaming sources, players are not positively surprised by its evolution at all. In fact, we’ve even seen comments on my Twitter status from invitees this week that they will not even be trying the recent playtest, despite being invited.
Two developers and second-hand accounts of the progress of the game say that they wouldn’t be surprised if the game didn’t release until the second half of 2023 “at the earliest” due to the game still being incomplete. In fact, one playtester, who attended a week-long playtest event in person recently reported that devs responded to playtester concerns about the lack of combat on land because “they’re too far deep into the game to do anything severe”.
The concerns continue to mount up for Skill & Bones, too, after playtesters have reported to Insider Gaming that the game is still plagued with game-breaking bugs. It’s a sentiment that isn’t just being expressed by playtesters too, as Ubisoft has also delayed a media hands-on preview event that was scheduled for the first week of February.
Unfortunately, it seems like delay after delay isn’t going to fix the fundamental problems Skull and Bones has, but Ubisoft’s apparent obligation to the Singapore Government means the company can’t just cancel it.
The burden that became Skull and Bones now feels like a wedged anchor at the bottom of the ocean, and in order for Ubisoft to set sail again, it feels like the chain needs to be cut as soon as possible.
For more from Insider Gaming, check out the leaked PS Plus Essential games for February.
