It appears that Ubisoft has been refunding Skull And Bones preorders on the PlayStation Store. Further, a quick check of the PlayStation Store this morning reveals it is indeed no longer possible to preorder the game, only wishlist it.
Reports of unexpected refunds began to filter through yesterday when a fan posted to the r/SkullAndBones subreddit, trying to confirm if anyone else had received a refund.
As the weekend has worn on, more fans have begun to notice the refunds coming through and started contacting Ubisoft support. Ubisoft has been taking these questions to the DMs.
@ubisoft @skullnbonesgame @PlayStation my preorder of skull and bones has just been automatically refunded, whats going on? #Ubisoft
— Tom Crute (@tcrute88) January 20, 2023
It’s standard procedure on the PlayStation Store to refund preorders when an unreleased game is removed from sale. Skull And Bones was recently delayed for the umpteenth time, with no new release date put in place. With the game rolled back to Wishlist status, it makes sense that the PS Store’s refund policy would kick in.
Of course, PlayStation’s (I think reasonable) rule-of-thumb is not applied everywhere.
The Xbox Store is still happily taking preorders at $109.95 for the standard edition. The Epic Games Store on PC is also still taking preorders, with the standard edition starting from $89.95.
Skull And Bones has had many release dates since it was first unveiled in 2017 — to date, the only time this journalist has seen or played the game in person. It’s been in production since 2013, when it began life as a naval expansion to Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, and has been through many design changes and creative leads in that time. For a company that prefers the factory-like rollout of sequels and the occasional bit of new IP, Skull And Bones is considered one of the most troubled projects Ubisoft has ever embarked upon. Every time the game seems like it is finally bound for release, it slips back into development hell.
From a certain point of view, Ubisoft’s willingness to keep a troubled game in active development for a decade is to be admired. But from a pure business perspective, there comes a point where it is longer reasonable or responsible to throw money at a doomed project. It’s usually at that point that the publisher has to draw a line in the sand and just get the game out the door, come what may.
You can wishlist Skull And Bones on the PlayStation Store, so you can be alerted the next time Ubisoft gives it a release date and preorders return.
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