Ubisoft has once again delayed Skull and Bones, its upcoming action-adventure pirate sim, due to poor overall sales of recent titles and company-wide changes planned for the next fiscal year. This is the sixth chronic pushback for the naval title, previously scheduled for release on March 9th. It is now scheduled to be launched in the next fiscal year, which runs from April 2023 to March 2024. According to a press release from investors, Ubisoft is focused on strengthening its long-term growth and has also decided to cancel three unannounced projects. A good chunk of that shock has been attributed to Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope and Just Dance 2023 underperforming in the final weeks of 2022 and into January, which was “significantly and surprisingly slower than expected.”
“During skull and bones is now complete, we are using the remaining time until our launch to use the feedback from our ongoing technical testing and the upcoming open beta to improve and balance the experience.” Ubisoft speaker tells kotaku. the press release notes that the extra time has “paid off” with multiple delays and has impressively improved the quality of the game. The studio also has a live showcase scheduled for later this week on January 13th at 10:30pm IST/9am PT over at the Ubisoft Twitch Channel. development on skull and bones started in 2013 when it was intended as a multiplayer extension about pirates Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. The project eventually took shape, morphing into the standalone open-world pirate game we know today. That adds up to a total of 11 years of development.
To combat the losses, Ubisoft will proceed cautiously and confirms a new package of measures in the press release. As mentioned, this means the cancellation of three unannounced projects, in addition to the four that were canceled in July last year. Two of these have been confirmed as Splinter Cell VR and Ghost Recon Frontline. Since Ubisoft has already teased a remake of the original Splinter Cell, it’s safe to assume – no pun intended – that it’s safe. Apart from that, the company plans to release another premium game in addition to Skull and Bones. Assassin’s Creed Mirageand Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora within the next financial year.
Ubisoft is also writing off 500 million euros (approx. Rs. 4,398 billion) in R&D costs for upcoming free-to-play and premium games, in addition to those just discontinued. “In particular, this reflects the increased caution in connection with the currently challenging video game market and the macroeconomic environment as well as the necessary increased focus on fewer titles,” it says. The company also plans to reduce its operating costs by more than 200 million euros (approx. Rs. 1,759 billion) over the next two years.
“The long-term prospects for the industry remain promising and I believe the strength of our teams, brands, manufacturing capacity, technology and balance sheet places Ubisoft well-positioned to capitalize on this momentum. Our back catalog remains very healthy with remarkably robust activity Rainbow Six Siegegreat momentum for our Assassin’s Creed Games and generally a solid performance from our live games,” said Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft.
Skull and Bones will no longer start with the previously decided Date March. Further updates on this should be announced in good time.
