Skull and Bones delayed yet again, this time to 2022

Skull and Bones
(Image credit: Ubisoft)

Skull and Bones, Ubisoft's pirate adventure game first announced at E3 2017, has been delayed yet again, this time *at least* to 2022.

Ubisoft buried the latest Skull and Bones delay in its yearly earnings report for 2020, where it's now pegged for release between 2022 and 2023. In the same report, the publisher shared that it's expecting to launch Far Cry 6, Rainbow Six Quarantine (oof), Riders Republic, The Division: Heartland, and Roller Champions before the fiscal year ending March 2022.

Skull and Bones has been plagued with delays right from the get-go, with its first delay pushing it ahead to the before times of 2019. Last year, Ubisoft announced that it was moving forward with a "new vision" for Skull and Bones and spoke a bit about why it's taking so long to finish. 

"Many of you have been wondering why we’ve had to postpone our launch," Ubisoft Singapore creative director Elisabeth Pellen said in a statement from September. "The answer is that we simply needed more time. We dreamt something bigger for Skull and Bones, and these ambitions naturally came with bigger challenges.

"These difficulties resulted in necessary delays for our game. Critical questions needed to be addressed over the past several months such as: how do we modernize the classic pirate fantasy? How do we ensure a more immersive and visceral experience? How do we create cool and memorable moments in-game? For most of these questions to be answered, it was clear that we needed more development time."

Ubisoft hasn't confirmed what exactly its new direction for Skull and Bones entails, but a July 2020 report from VGC claims it'll have "live storytelling" elements and Fortnite inspirations

Hopefully, we'll learn more soon, as Ubisoft has promised more details on Skull and Bones are coming this year.

Jordan Gerblick

After scoring a degree in English from ASU, I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. Now, as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer, I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my apartment, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.

Read more
Assassin's Creed Shadows screenshot showing Yasuke kneeling and praying while wearing a traditional purple robe
Assassin's Creed Shadows delayed yet again, this time to March 2025, amid Ubisoft's "renewed focus on gameplay quality and engaging Day-1 experiences"
Beyond good and Evil 2
Upcoming Ubisoft games: Every new Ubisoft game in development
The Big Preview: Yasuke and Naoe stand in front of text introducing the GamesRadar big preview
Big Preview: Assassin's Creed Shadows – Exclusive access and hands-on impressions with the huge open world Japan's impressive stealth and combat
Assassin's Creed Shadows cinematic screenshot
If Assassin's Creed Shadows' delay means lessons have been learned from Star Wars Outlaws, I say: let Ubisoft cook
A screenshot of a character in the Xbox Games Showcase June 2024 Fable trailer.
Fable is delayed until 2026, but Xbox Game Studios head says: "It's definitely worth the wait"
Hollow Knight
6 years and 1 prolonged delay later, Xbox is still calling "incredible" Hollow Knight: Silksong one of its "upcoming games"
Latest in RPG
A Dragon Age character stares out against a blue background.
BioWare makes a return to Dragon Age: The Veilguard with a surprise PC update, months after layoffs and a seemingly final patch
Baldur's Gate 3 the vampire Astarion covered in blood
Baldur’s Gate 3 Astarion actor Neil Newbon warns games industry that "AI will have deep ramifications" if not properly regulated: "I believe in experiencing life and art through human expression, not software"
Yasuke riding through a village looking for Knowledge in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows' prologue is the most gripping in franchise history, but I'm fixated on the tiny details
Cabernet screenshot showing vampire protagonist Liza sucking someone's blood
Cabernet is the kind of vampire RPG I've been looking for since Masquerade Bloodlines, and I'm already plotting my next run 6 hours in
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
While Bethesda celebrates The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion's 19th birthday with a "Happy Anniversary" post, fans of the RPG had more in mind: "It would be perfect to... announce something"
Baldur's Gate 3 Karlach
Baldur's Gate 3 Karlach actor says CEOs "just want to save money" with AI: "It'll destroy their reputation, their company, everything"
Latest in News
Xenomorph in Alien: Earth
New Alien: Earth clip shows the last of another expendable crew
Adam Scott as Mark S and Britt Lower as Helly R in Severance season 2
There might have been another reason for Mark's decision in the Severance season 2 finale
Silent Hill f art showing a person covered in plants
Silent Hill f has been pre-emptively banned in Australia, with no reason given for the 'refused classification' rating
Assassin's Creed Shadows review gameplay showing Yasuke overlooking the sea and lush green scenery
Assassin's Creed Shadows has already "surpassed the launches of AC Origins and Odyssey" with 2 million players and counting
Helldivers 2 screenshot showing someone using a big gun
Helldivers 2 boss says "death and rebirth" is a natural part of the games industry, but it's "unnecessarily brutal" right now "because we don't diversify enough"
A Dragon Age character stares out against a blue background.
BioWare makes a return to Dragon Age: The Veilguard with a surprise PC update, months after layoffs and a seemingly final patch