In strangely fascinating news, the release of long-in-development piracy simulator Skull and Bones has caused a significant, sustained spike in the number of players revisiting Ubisoft's earlier effort, the corsair-filled Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.
PCGamesN corraled the numbers using SteamDB, noting that on 15th February 2024, the day before Skull and Bones was released, some 971 concurrent were playing Black Flag. On the 16th, that number almost doubled, reaching 1,662. On the 17th, it grew to 2600, and on the 18th, 3,226. A week of sustained playing ensued before a new zenith was reached on the 26th, with 3,594 playing at once. Considering the game's all-time peak was 16k ten years ago, it's a pretty interesting example of a high tide raising all ships if you'll pardon the pun.
We can't help but feel for developer Ubisoft Singapore on this one. We really enjoyed Skull and Bones once we got past the fact that it wasn't Black Flag, something which we grappled with in our review. The biggest thing working against Ubisoft's latest is seemingly players' preconceived notions, in addition to being allowed to sail rudderless for so many years.
Being an Epic Store exclusive, it's hard to determine how well Skull and Bones are actually doing, and console numbers haven't been forthcoming, either. Insider Gaming cites sources at the company which suggest around 850,000 players have booted up the game, with that number inflated by those using the eight-hour free trial provided by Ubisoft. Keep in mind, the powers that be didn't help by describing the game as "AAAA" quality, insisting upon selling it for $70.