Skull and Bones Has Lost Its Third Creative Director

Skull and Bones is suffering yet another breach in the hull, as Ubisoft’s long-delayed pirate game has lost another creative director.

According to a report from Kotaku, creative director Elisabeth Pellen left Ubisoft Singapore to return to Ubisoft’s Paris headquarters earlier this summer. Pellen had been working on Skull and Bones since 2018. This marks the third time Skull and Bones has lost a creative director. Kotaku’s report also says Ubisoft Singapore is facing an organized labor campaign from Singapore’s Creative Media and Publishing Union.

“Five years ago, Elisabeth Pellen went to Ubisoft Singapore with a mission to reboot the creative direction of Skull and Bones,” an Ubisoft spokesperson told Kotaku. “She succeeded, and the Skull and Bones team is now fulfilling her vision to deliver a unique naval action RPG experience to our players.”

But when Ubisoft will actually deliver Skull and Bones remains to be seen. At the beginning of 2023, Skull and Bones was delayed for the sixth time. Back then, Ubisoft slated Skull and Bones for sometime in its 2023-24 fiscal year, which we’re in the middle of right now. It seemed like we were finally approaching more concrete news on the game, but that changed when all Ubisoft brought to its Ubisoft Summer Forward presentation was an admittedly catchy musical performance and some closed beta dates.

And, amidst the wait for Skull and Bones, reports have surfaced claiming Ubisoft is working on an Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag remake — which is the very game with the pirate ship combat that kicked off Skull and Bones to begin with. Time really is a flat circle.

We went hands-on with Skull and Bones in August, and had positive impressions of the long-awaited pirate game. “After a good chunk of time climbing the ranks of notoriety in Skull & Bones’ beta, I’m more excited to dive into the full experience than I was even way back when it was announced at E3 all those years ago,” we wrote in our Skull and Bones gameplay impressions.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over seven years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.