Skull and Bones has been out for almost a week now, and many players are sharing their very negative, but also partially positive opinions about the pirate MMO.
Ubisoft’s pirate MMO Skull and Bones has finally been available since February 13, 2024. The pirate MMO was first announced at E3 2017, but development is said to have begun as early as late 2013. Skull and Bones was then postponed multiple times.
The idea behind the game emerged at that time due to the success of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, which put players in the role of the British pirate Edward Kenway and allowed them to traverse Caribbean waters.
Just before the release of Skull and Bones, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot was asked during a conference call regarding Ubisoft’s Q3 of the fiscal year 2024 about the high price of the pirate MMO. He explained this with the statement, Skull and Bones is a ‘AAAA game that will prove itself in the long run.’
Almost a week after the full release, the first players have extensively played Skull and Bones and formed their opinions – but the conclusion of many players is likely to disappoint Ubisoft.
What is the general sentiment towards Skull and Bones? There are some players who like certain aspects of the pirate MMO, but most express really sharp criticism. Many wonder where the development time and costs went.
“The Gollum-like genre is growing”
What do players criticize about Skull and Bones?
- rollin340 via Reddit: “All they had to do was make a new AC:BF [Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag] without anything from the AC story.”
- skywideopen via Reddit: “I wouldn’t be surprised if the product we have in our hands was developed in just a few months.”
- NoNefariousness2144 via Reddit: “The Gollum-like genre is growing.”
- Skill Up via YouTube: “Ubisoft has developed a spin-off of Black Flag that is objectively worse in every way than Black Flag.”
- felix_mateo: via Reddit: “Skull and Bones… what have they been doing all this time? […] My frustration with Skull and Bones is about 90% based on expectations. As a standalone game, it’s fine. Not great, not terrible, but fine.”
Even on the review platform Metacritic, many user reviews are rather negative. One user even writes: One of the most boring games I have ever played. The developers call it AAAA, congratulations Ubisoft, your game is one of the worst ever made.
“I love the game and I’m glad it’s not a ‘Black Flag’ MMO”
What do they say positively about the game?
- oliath via Reddit: “Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I love the game and I’m glad it’s not a ‘Black Flag’ MMO.”
- ethanokes via Reddit: “This game is way better than people are saying. It has so much depth where people claim there is none. There are excellent endgame activities like hostile takeovers in PvP and the more difficult delivery missions. There are tons of little immersive things that I just love […].”
- DevonSun via Reddit: “Personally, I think it’s a great game with a lot of potential. But I don’t believe it’s worth the current price. I believe that if the game came from an indie company and was released as Early Access for $30 to $40, we would see tons of videos praising it to the sky. A lot of the hate comes from expectations.”
Overall, Skull and Bones has to face a lot of negative feedback. Not only players but also critics are strict with the pirate MMO. On Metacritic, the PC version of the game only scores 64 out of 100 points.
- GameStar gave 66
- IGN gave 70
- PC Gamer gave 68
- PCGamesN gave 40
- Jeuxvideo gave 75
The PC version of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag has an overall score of 84 points since 2013, performing significantly better than Skull and Bones. The pirate MMO had to endure complaints shortly before the release after the final open beta: Players complain about the pirate MMO Skull and Bones: “The free beta was too expensive”
