Skull & Bones: Production Is in 'Full Swing with a New Vision'

Skull & Bones, Ubisoft's upcoming pirate game, will not be at September 10's Ubisoft Forward, but its production is "in full swing with a new vision." Skull & Bones' creative director Elisabeth Pellen gave an update on the game's development, saying the team at Ubisoft Singapore is "fully committed to launching the game, as well as supporting it for many years to come." Pellen and the team "dreamt something bigger for Skull & Bones, and these ambitions naturally came with bigger challenges." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2017/06/12/skull-and-bones-cinematic-announcement-trailer-e3-2017-ubisoft-conference"] She also ran through some of the critical questions the team had to ask themselves, including "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?" The answer, according to Pellen, is "more development time." As this new vision for Skull & Bones became clearer, "fresh eyes have joined the team" to help make it into a reality. Not only that, as Ubisoft Berlin, Chengdu, Kiev, Paris, and the Philippines are also working hard on helping this game become what the team knows it can be. While Skull & Bones may not appear at the next Ubisoft Forward, it will be having its "comeback next year." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=skull-bones-e3-2017-reveal-trailer-stills&captions=true"] This news follows previous reports that Skull & Bones was being rebooted with a "live" game model with ongoing storytelling inspired by Fortnite. Furthermore, it was said that it was also shifting away from the "premium box model" used by most of Ubisoft's AAA franchises like Assassin's Creed and The Division. Skull & Bones was revealed during E3 2017, and was originally going to allow players to captain their own pirate ship in 1721 in a world that was shaped by the player community and the pirate gangs they form. It was scheduled for a release date of Fall 2018 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/06/13/skull-and-bones-gameplay-demo-ign-live-e3-2018"] You can read Elisabeth Pellen's full statement here. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.