Alex Hutchinson, the creative director of Assassin’s Creed III, has told PCGamer in a a recent interview that it was “bizarre” to see Ubisoft “re-shipping” the same content seen in the 2012 action-adventure title with Skull & Bones, in reference to the game’s naval combat loop.
Assassin’s Creed III was the first entry in the franchise to experiment with naval battles, as protagonist Connor could take part in side missions that involve him taking the helm of a ship to fend off enemy vessels. This mechanic was expanded greatly for Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, where your ship was the beating heart of the pirate-themed adventure.
Skull & Bones of course took this concept and built an original title out of Black Flag’s foundations, although it was originally conceived as an expansion of that game. Here’s what Hutchinson had to say about the project, which was met with numerous delays and a trouble development cycle.
“Ideas have a window… They age out and become stale,” he commented, adding that a “junior” attempting to “make Black Flag crossed with World of Tanks or World of Warships” was a bad idea. “And then they didn’t really have experience in making even an Assassin’s Creed game down there, because they really did co-development. And then I think it just got away from them,” added Hutchinson.
Skull & Bones was released for PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S in February 2024 after numerous delays, although its arrival wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. The game failed to attract positive reviews as its reception was somewhat mixed, and the game was discounted just weeks after launch. Despite this, Ubisoft has kept Skull & Bones afloat with a healthy dose of post-launch support, with the title now in its second year of content drops.