The planned release of Skull and Bones It appears to have been postponed again, according to initial reports. Furthermore, three previously unannounced Ubisoft projects are said to have been scrapped.
According to Stephen Totilo of Axios is the release of Skull and Bones Now planned for the beginning of the 2023/24 fiscal year, which could ultimately mean a few weeks. A beta test is also scheduled soon, implying that they want to take more time for final changes and feedback. However, the further delay could also simply be due to the desire to release the title in the new fiscal year.
This year has apparently fallen somewhat short of expectations for Ubisoft, with lower sales than hoped. As a result, the development budget has reportedly been cut by 200 million, and other optimizations are being implemented, including not filling any open positions.
The past Christmas season, in particular, was probably not what they had hoped for. Nevertheless, they are sticking to their current plans and believe that live-service games are what can lead to long-term success. New projects in this area also appear to be in development, which are yet to be announced and will then be released at some point. Currently, Ubisoft is placing a strong focus on... Assassin's Creed-series, for which several games will be released in the coming years. Furthermore, the company wants to refocus more strongly on core brands such as... Ghost Recon, Far Cry, Rainbow Six & Co. .
In addition, three more previously unannounced titles have reportedly been canceled, possibly falling under the aforementioned cost reduction measures. In total, Ubisoft has halted seven projects since last year.
All of this information is unofficial and still needs to be confirmed by Ubisoft. This is expected to happen with the upcoming financial report this January.
