ESRB has rated Skull and Bones and coinciding with an earlier report of ours, it is only being listed for PS5, Xbox Series, PC, and Stadia.
While Ubisoft hasn’t officially confirmed that they have dropped the last-generation consoles, the same has happened with Gotham Knights which was scheduled for launch in 2022 and was originally confirmed for the PS4 and Xbox One. These consoles were later dropped when the game received a release date of this October.
Skull and Bones hasn’t been publically seen for a while. Ubisoft had conducted a closed beta test for it and some footage from the closed beta test did make its way online.
The ESRB rating does describe what to expect from the game.
This is a naval-combat action game in which players assume the role of a shipwrecked outcast on a journey to become a pirate captain. As players take on missions, they can explore settlements and engage in dramatic sea battles. From a first-person perspective, players command their crew to shoot cannons at rivals (e.g., warships, merchant ships, settlements/forts) in attempts to obtain loot/goods. Enemy ships can be rammed and boarded, resulting in brief cutscenes of crew members shooting or slashing at each other. Combat is highlighted by gunfire/cannon fire, explosions, and blood-splatter effects. Some territories depict corpses impaled on spikes or hanging from nooses; beaches may depict corpses and large bloodstains in the aftermath of battle. Settlements occasionally contain brothels and prostitutes that call out to players when approached (e.g., “Come spend your coin all over me”; “The price of my a*se goes up tomorrow, so buy a piece today!”). Players can also engage in quests to bring poppies to opium dens, which are depicted with patrons lying on couches smoking pipes. The words “f**k” and “sh*te” appear in the dialogue.
It appears that the original concept has been retained for the game while there will be in-game purchases as well according to the rating.
The last-generation versions being dropped for the game won’t be a surprise since it has been stuck in development hell for years. Ubisoft did confirm that they will release it in their current fiscal year which means a release date is likely being scheduled before May 2023.
