Skull and Bones is getting a closed beta test the weekend of August 25th through 28th.
This announcement came at Ubisoft Forward, and was presented in a way that didn't include an update or new trailer, and no developer introduction. There was a sea shanty (“Skull and Bones” by Home Free) over a montage and the end card showing that a closed beta is on the way.
The game has been delayed multiple times, most recently to spring 2023 and then to 2023 to early 2024 window. With the announcement of a closed beta test at the end of August, it's clear that it will still be a while before the game comes out. It could be this fall at the earliest, but closed beta is usually followed by more open testing (an open beta was announced to be 'coming' last fall), so we’re still looking at a while before we could potentially set sail and kit out our pirate ships.
It is telling that there was no new trailer or no big presentation made, and that the team did not promise any kind of release window this time after several windows were named in the past and then the game was delayed out of them. That said, Ubisoft and the team have held playtests before via select groups internally, but now it seems that the game will be ready for a closed beta for a wider audience.
As Kotaku’s Ethan Gach points out, “Skull and Bones went gold a year ago. Now it doesn’t even have a new gameplay trailer at Ubisoft Forward.”
After the presentation, Ubisoft and the Skull and Bones team officially opened closed beta registration across all platforms. It will be available on PC via Ubisoft Connect as well as on Xbox series X|S and PlayStation 5
You can find out more and register for the closed beta weekend over at the Skull and Bones site.
