Skull and Bones has its release date delayed by over a quarter of a year, but in our opinion, that's actually a great thing. Here's why:

Until now, Skull and Bones has been scheduled for a November 8, 2022, release date, coming out on Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Amazon Luna, and PC. However, concerns over “shallow gameplay” has led to Ubisoft to push back its release schedule by four months, with the game now expected to come out no later than March 9, 2023. While many people would bemoan this, we believe that this is actually a good thing for Skull and Bones.

When the November 8, 2022, release date has been announced earlier this year, we pointed out that this strategy by Ubisoft will end up harming the game. Among other things, having a release date so close to the Holiday Season without the game getting a strong marketing push and with game journalists who have played preview versions still having negative views about the game would definitely make it hard for Ubisoft to sell copies. Besides, it's coming out right beside God of War Ragnarok, so good luck competing with that.

Hence, actually delaying the game is a good thing all by itself for Skull and Bones. March 2023 is a much better window than November 2022, as it comes right off the very heavy February 2023 release calender for video games. It wouldn't have to compete with games like God of War Ragnarok, too. But the fact that Ubisoft is going back to the drawing board to address concerns about the game's shallow gameplay is also a good sign. Above all, Ubisoft committing another four months for the game's development might just do the trick in winning over reluctant people into purchasing the pirate-themed adventure game.

Meanwhile, Ubisoft also announced that an Open Beta for the game will be held for the game ahead of its global launch. However, the exact dates for this haven't been revealed. Expect this Open Beta testing to be open through Ubisoft's Insider Program. Ubisoft has been criticized for both the game's very long development period as well as its very slow progress in making the game. Many feel that the game's current state does not merit the long development period that the game has experienced so far. Furthermore, many people see the game as a stripped-down version of Assassin's Creed Black Flag, saying that Ubisoft has turned a whole game into just one of its features just to launch a product to sell to people who love piracy and the high seas.

Hopefully, the additional time in the oven and Ubisoft's extra four months of work would help change these perceptions – of course, through the presentation of convincing new evidence to counter these views.