Despite the free trial, Skull and Bones may have attracted less than a million players Xbox

After 11 years of development, Skull and Bones is struggling to attract players, despite the fact that Ubisoft considers it AAAA. Unfortunately, given the investment of development time and resources, it appears that the game was a commercial failure.

Less than a million players have launched Skull and Bones

Insider Gaming reports that the game has less than a million players, according to media sources. More precisely, only 850,000 would have started the venture.

It is important to note that this figure also includes players who started the game through a free trial! So it seems very low for such a game. Despite everything, player engagement seems strong, with the average pirate still playing between three and four hours a day.

Among budding sailors taking advantage of the free trial, it will be interesting to see if they purchase the game to continue the adventure.

Still according to insider gaming sources, the price of the game explains the low number of players. In fact it is offered for 70 dollars (79.99 euros), a decision that was strongly criticized internally and publicly. An employee working on the project revealed:

I think we all know this is a great $30 or $40 game, but we just can’t pinpoint it.

Insider Gaming revealed in another article that, according to sources, the game cost around $200 million during its 11-year development process, which involved thousands of developers at 11 different studios, leading to numerous design changes. Creative direction and constant internal procrastination.

If you want to try out the game before possibly checking out, you can take advantage of the free 8-hour trial on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and PC. Also, don’t hesitate to consult our full test.