After many years of development, Ubisoft has confirmed that Skull & Bones is still on track to release before April 2023. Skull & Bones has been one of Ubisoft's most fabled titles following its reveal in 2017, but the publisher has been incredibly quiet regarding the title since then. While there have been updates here and there, Skull & Bones was expected to have been released many times over by now, leaving many to believe the game is in development hell.
While it's still coming, Skull & Bones allegedly restarted development in 2021. Ubisoft refuses to give up on this game for whatever reason and wants it to see the light of day. Since Ubisoft has reportedly been working on this game since 2013, it'll be about ten years between the start of production and the time it could actually release. At the time it began development, it was a spin-off of Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, the game that really popularized ship combat and exploration in the series. Ubisoft has strayed away from that in the Assassin's Creed games in recent years, so it'll be interesting to see how much of an audience remains for Skull & Bones, if any.
Nonetheless, Ubisoft (via PCGamesN) confirmed in a recent financial earnings report that Skull & Bones is due out during its 2023 fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2023. Of course, this doesn't actually mean it will hit this window. Skull & Bones has had release troubles for years, resulting in numerous delays. Perhaps it's in a better position to actually release now, but it's not hard to imagine the game getting delayed once again. Ubisoft also may be ready to stop dumping money into it, so it may just bite the bullet and push it out.
It seems likely that fans will have a better idea of whether Skull & Bones will release within the next year by this summer. Although E3 appears to be completely canceled, Ubisoft will likely still have some kind of event to give updates on its upcoming releases. Hopefully, Skull & Bones will get a concrete release date and give fans some confidence.
As of right now, players will have to sit tight and hope for the best. Skull & Bones reportedly has an open world based on Madagascar and will feature some rather ambitious gameplay ideas to make players feel immersed in the pirate fantasy. It's unclear if Ubisoft will be able to deliver on its ambition, but the studio seems to believe in its vision and wants to see it through.