The open-world multiplayer pirate game Skull and Bones was announced in June 2017 and was slated for release in fall 2018. Initial impressions were good, we said, "it felt like Burnout, like Black Flag." It was postponed so many times that Ubisoft felt compelled to reassure everyone that production was still going on, and shortly after, the managing director of Skull and Bones Studios in Singapore was ousted after multiple accusations of bullying and sexual harassment.

In its full-year financial report for 2020-21, released today, Ubisoft postponed it again: it will be released in 2022-23.

"'Skull and Bones' is now scheduled for fiscal year 23. We strongly believe in the creative vision of our team and have been given an increasingly ambitious mandate for this game," said Frederic Duguet, CFO of Ubisoft, during today's earnings call. The production led by (Ubisoft's) Singapore team has been progressing well for the past 12 months and we are more excited than ever. This additional time will allow the team to fully realize its vision."

This statement echoes a statement made last year by Creative Director Elizabeth Peren regarding the expanded scope of the game. We dreamed of bigger things for Skull and Bones, but that ambition naturally came with greater challenges. These difficulties brought about the necessary delays in our game."

CEO Yves Guillemot said later in the call that Ubisoft is putting more help into the game to actually finish it.

"What we've done to make sure that they're really able to really power through Skull and Bones is that we've increased the number of associate studios that are currently working with them," Guillemot said. They've had a really good last 12 months in terms of the way things have been going." So we are confident that they can really bring something special to the market."

Development may be well underway, but it's far from over: Ubisoft's 2022-23 fiscal year doesn't begin until May 1, 2022. Expect more information to be shared at the next Ubisoft Forward event on June 12 as part of E3 2021.