Believe it or not, Ubisoft is doing another Skull and Bones closed beta later this month

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You have to give credit to Ubisoft for persistence: Another developer might've scuttled Skull and Bones ages ago, but Yves Guillemot and co. keep blowing into its sails, trying to propel it forward, and so it is that another Skull and Bones closed beta is coming next week.

For those just tuning in, Skull and Bones was announced in June 2017 as an open-world game of high-seas piracy, based on the seafaring bits of Assassin's Creed: Black Flag, which came out in 2013. It was supposed to be out in 2018, but multiple delays have kept it from setting sail. In 2022 it looked like we were really and truly going to finally get our hands on it, but after a brief period of heady hope, a long-awaited gameplay reveal failed to impress, and just a couple months before the slated launch in November 2022, it was delayed again. And then, for good measure, again.

We still don't have a new release date, but the upcoming closed beta suggests that Ubisoft has at least a general target in mind. In this session, players will explore the Red Isle and the pirate den of Sainte Anne, as well as the coast of Africa, where they'll encounter various in-game factions and interact with them either peacefully or otherwise. There will be a main storyline to follow during the beta, as well as various side contracts and bounties to pick up, and a "Merchant Convoy World Event."

Players who take part in the closed beta will earn rewards in the full release including ship cosmetics, some fireworks, and a special emote. Unfortunately, not everyone will get in: To take part, you'll need to register at ubisoft.com and then wait for the invitation to arrive. If you're admitted, preloading will begin at 3 am PT on August 22, while the beta itself will start at 7 pm PT on August 24 and run until 12 am PT on August 28. The beta is PC only, and will run exclusively through Ubisoft Connect.

And this is what you'll need to play:

Minimum requirements (1080p at 30 frames per second)

• Operating system: Windows 10
• Processor: Intel Core i7-4790, AMD Ryzen 5 1600, or better
• RAM: 8 GB (running dual-channel mode)
• Video card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB), AMD Radeon RX 570 (8 GB), or better
• Hard drive: 65 GB available storage (SSD recommended)

Recommended requirements (1080p at 60 frames per second)

• Operating system: Windows 10 / Windows 11
• Processor: Intel Core i7-8700K, AMD Ryzen 5 3600, or better
• RAM: 8 GB (running dual-channel mode)
• Video card: NVIDIA RTX 2070 (8 GB), AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (8 GB), or better
• Hard drive: 65 GB available storage (SSD recommended)

Recommended 2K configuration (1440p, 60 frames per second)

• Operating system: Windows 10 / Windows 11
• Processor: Intel i7-9700K or AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, or better
• RAM: 16 GB (running dual-channel mode)
• Video card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (8 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 6800 (16 GB), or better
• Hard drive: 65 GB available storage (SSD required)

Recommended 4K configuration (2160p, 60 frames per second)

• Operating system: Windows 10 / Windows 11
• Processor: Intel Core i5-11600K or AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, or better
• RAM: 16 GB (running dual-channel mode)
• Video card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (10 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (16 GB)
• Hard drive: 65 GB available storage (SSD required)

For those who don't get in, there's no NDA or anything in place, so the good news is that even if you can't play, you can watch.

So, is it really happening? My instinct is to play the odds and say no: That something, somewhere will go off the rails at the last minute, and Skull and Bones will be pushed into fiscal 2025 or beyond. But at some point, it has to happen, right? It's like the heat death of the universe: Assuming no divine cancellation, simple momentum will get us there sooner or later. And who knows? Maybe this beta is a sign that entropy is finally doing its thing.

It is possible that Skull and Bones will actually arrive this year. Ubisoft said in May that it remains on track for release sometime in the company's current fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2024. And if it doesn't, well, we'll always have the shanties.