Skull & Bones has kind of proven to be the disaster that many thought it would be, having launched to some pretty dismal reviews and an even worse user rating on Metacritic. None of this is good for a game’s launch, particularly one as heavily criticized as this one was in the run up to launch, and it seems like Ubisoft may be feeling the consequences, as Skull & Bones is reportedly struggling to build up a substantial player count.
According to a new report from InsiderGaming, Skull & Bones has failed to crack the one million player milestone, with the game’s player count currently sitting at around 850,000. That’s obviously not a number to sniff at, but it looks far less impressive when you consider this is including the players that have been trying out the game via it’s 8-hour free trial, and is presumably the game’s player count across all platforms.
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It’s currently unknown as to quite how many of the people that played the free trial will convert into paying customers, though Ubisoft hasn’t really given it the best chance. According to one of InsiderGaming’s sources, one of the major reasons behind the lack of players is due to the game’s $70 price tag, which Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot defended recently due to Skull & Bones’ status as a “quadruple-A” game.
This price tag has been criticized quite heavily by both fans and critics, but it also appears as though it has also been criticized internally too. One Ubisoft employee that spoke with InsiderGaming said that “we all know this is a $30-$40 game at best”, but that aspects such as a game’s price are “not in our control”. Skull & Bones has many live service elements, and asking players to stump up $70 just for entry was never going to go well.
There is a silver lining though, and a chance for Ubisoft to change things and turn around the game’s fortunes. According to this report, those that are playing Skull & Bones are playing on average three to four hours a day, meaning engagement is fairly high. It seems as though once players are in, they’re hooked, with just the $70 price tag standing in the way. It’s unlikely Skull & Bones will shift to a free-to-play model now that people have spent their money, but a Game Pass release could give it the shot in the arm it needs before it’s too late.
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