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Skull and Bones guide

The Skull and Bones release date has sailed over the horizon, so if you're hitting the high seas, here's all our Skull and Bones guides.

Skull and Bones release date: A pirate captain mans the helm of his ship in Ubisoft's nautical adventure.

Where can you find Skull and Bones guides? Following a difficult start, a grand total of six delays, and wavering support, Skull and Bones was finally released in February 2024 to mixed reviews. What was originally an AC Black Flag DLC became a full game of its own that many were expecting to be Blag Flag but better – so was it?

Skull and Bones was years in the making, so many – including us – held out hope for a fine-tuned adventure and a worthy contender among the best pirate games. Following it's release, we spent hours sailing the high seas and plundering the depths for guides, solutions, and answers, and our Skull and Bones review can tell you exactly what our thoughts are about the Ubisoft game, while the guide below directs you to our extensive Skull and Bones guides.

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Skull and Bones release date

The Skull and Bones release date was February 16, 2024. Following multiple delays, this launch was a long time coming, and many expected more from the supposedly AAAA game than was delivered.

Skull and Bones is available on PC via Ubisoft Connect and the Epic Games Store, as well as on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Amazon Luna, with full cross-progression and Skull and Bones crossplay between platforms.

Given that Skull and Bones was originally slated for release on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 in 2018, it’s not been the smoothest of journeys for Ubisoft on this pirate adventure. It was also slated to arrive on Google Stadia, though the service shut down in January 2023.

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Skull and Bones guides

Here is a list of our exhaustive Skull and Bones guides to help you reach the highest infamy and claim legacy as one of the best pirates around:

Skull and Bones open beta

The final Skull and Bones open beta took place between February 8 and February 11, 2024, concluding just a few days prior to launch.

Not only did this open beta offer full cross-progression and cross-play between next gen consoles, Epic Games, and Ubisoft Connect, but participants’ progress carries over into the full release, giving beta players an early hoist to infamy. There are also five beta-exclusive rewards to show off by participating in the beta and leveling up to Infamy tier six, including ship cosmetics and an adorable Pandal Lemur pet.

Skull and Bones release date: an intricately decorated pirate ship sails towards us, showing off custom flags, spiked armour, and a mystical figurehead

Skull and Bones delays

There have been six key delays to Skull and Bones since it was first announced in 2017. The first delay came in 2018 with a development reboot that pushed the release window into 2019. The second delay push Skull and Bones into 2020, and the third into 2021. The fourth delay pushed the release date to November 8, 2020, but it was delayed again shortly after to March 9, 2023.

The last Skull and Bones delay took place in January 2023, when it was revealed Ubisoft is targeting a fiscal 2023-2024 release. The official release date of February 2024 was finally announced on December 8, 2023, just ahead of the open beta.

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Skull and Bones trailers

The official Ubisoft YouTube channel now features a selection of Skull and Bones trailers to keep the anticipation as high as the seas, and each shows off spectacular scenery, alongside customization options, combat features, and crazy explosives. The seven-minute Skull and Bones gameplay overview gives you a more detailed idea of the story and surroundings, from your humble beginnings as a shipwreck survivor on Sainte-Anne, through your rise to an infamous pirate with a fleet of your own ships, including the striking and powerful Padewakang.

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Skull and Bones multiplayer

While you can play any of the activities solo, Skull and Bones is a multiplayer game first and foremost. All activities can be completed alongside other players, and the open world is full of player-controlled pirates on the hunt for fame and plunder.

However, that doesn’t mean you’re always at risk of being sunk. You also can’t just start firing on other pirates willy-nilly. Instead, you can initiate PvP activities like retrieving treasure maps, which prompts your rivals to descend in hot pursuit to claim the loot for themselves. There are optional PvP servers for those who prefer a little more risk, while alternative PvE servers offer a reprieve from player assaults. Of course, you can also invite friends and people you meet to join your party and set sail side by side.

That’s everything there is to know about the rough seas surrounding the Skull and Bones release date, the delays, the reception, the gameplay, and the guides. If you’d rather stay off the seas for a while, there are plenty of racing games to try, so why not trade in your ship for a car, or just check some of the other new PC games we’re loving right now.