Skull And Bones Players Aren’t Sold On Ubisoft CEO’s Claims That It’s A ‘Quadruple A Game’
Now that the Skull and Bones open beta has ended, the only way you’ll be getting into the game is to pony up $59.99 for the base edition. We can’t blame you if you’re on the fence though, and you’re not the only one thinking that the box price seems a bit too steep for a live service game.
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, however, is confident that the experience will be well worth the box price, selling Skull and Bones as a “quadruple A game” during its last investor call. While players have a lot of good things to say about the multiplayer pirate game, most agree that the price is a bit on the high side, especially for a game that also offers season passes, premium cosmetics, and other in-game purchases on top of the your buy-in.
The community has also been nitpicking at every detail of the multiplayer pirate game, pointing out tiny flaws that break immersion, from the way ships move through the water to how mast flags don’t move with the wind, or against the wind. They probably would have let those slide if Skull and Bones was a $30 game.
Players also expressed disappointment over Skull and Bones’ core gameplay loop, which they describe as The Division but with pirates and ships. Not that The Division or its DC-based sequel is bad, there are a lot of worse games to be compared to, you just can’t justify it as a quadruple A game either.
“I feel like this won't gain much traction,” wrote one player on Reddit. “If this wasn't in development hell and they didn't need to recoup development costs, I could see this as a $30 to max $40 game, or better yet, free to play.”
Skull and Bones started out as an expansion for Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag back in 2013. While it’s retained at least part of the original concept and much of its piratey charm, it’s since branched off into a different development path.
After more than a decade in development and at least seven delays, the long-awaited game will finally be launching on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on Friday, February 16. Whether it will be worth the wait (and the price) is still up for debate. In the meantime, you can check out the official release times below.
📆 Save the dates of our Early Access starting February 13th! If you liked our Open Beta, you will love our endgame content with new challenges and PVEVP activities!
Tip: enjoy the carry over of your progression from the Open Beta and reach the endgame content faster. pic.twitter.com/vyuPyUhSxX
— Skull and Bones (@skullnbonesgame) February 11, 2024