Ubisoft first announced its pirate-themed game Skull and Bones over six years ago in June 2017. Since then the game has suffered through a long series of delays. This year, it felt like we were actually getting close to a launch, as Ubisoft held a closed PC beta test for the game in August.
Unfortunately, it looks like Skull and Bones will take a bit more time to hit the virtual seas. As part of Ubisoft"s quarterly financials results this week, the publisher said it would be launched in its "Q4 2023-24" fiscal time period. That means Ubisoft plans to release the game between January and March of 2024.
In addition, another unnamed "large" game which was supposed to be released before March 31, 2024, will now be launched sometime in Ubisoft"s next fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2025.
It"s not all about game delays at Ubisoft. The publisher says it has seen early sales successes for Assassin"s Creed Mirage, along with The Crew: Motorfest. In December it has another major game, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, due for launch.
In a separate announcement from Ubisoft this week, the publisher stated it would be shutting down the online multiplayer services and features for a number of older games for several platforms on January 25, 2024.
Officially, Ubisoft"s support page for this event states that owners of the following games "will be unable to play multiplayer, link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features. Additionally, the Ubisoft Connect rewards will be unavailable."
- Assassin"s Creed II - Xbox 360
- Assassin"s Creed Brotherhood - MAC
- Assassin"s Creed Liberation HD - PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
- Assassin"s Creed Revelations - PC
- Ghost Recon Future Soldier - PC
- Heroes of Might and Magic VI - PC
- NCIS - PC
- R.U.S.E - PC
- Splinter Cell: Conviction - XBox 360
- Trials Evolution - PC
Ubisoft stated that owners of these games will still be able to play them offline after January 25.