UPDATE
As noted by Insider Gaming, PC gamers are also jumping in on getting back to the decade-old title, with over 3000 players jumping back into it over the last few weeks. That makes it one of the most-played titles in the franchise on PC currently.
ORIGINAL STORY
Picture this. You’re about to go watch a movie or TV show that has been “hyped up” by those who made it, and you’re curious what it will turn out like. However, once you’re through parts of it, or most of it, depending on how patient you are, you realize the hard truth: this isn’t anything close to what has been promised. Or, just as bad, the promise of it “being like that show/movie you like” wasn’t true in the slightest. What do you do when that happens? Simple, you go back to what was good! Something Skull & Bones has unintentionally done for itself.
You might recall that Ubisoft’s new pirate-focused title hit Early Access last week and was released in full on the 16th. The problem? The game wasn’t what Ubisoft had promised. Redditors were more than happy to say that and even claimed that it would only be worth it “once it was on sale.” The graphics weren’t the best, the gameplay loop is “meh” at best, and there are so many microtransactions within the game that it’s pointless to try and get certain kinds of loot because it won’t get you the items that you might desire for your future pirate king/queen.
And that’s where True Achievements comes in. They noted that after Skull & Bones had its early access period and launch, the players going “back in time” to play Assassin’s Creed Black Flag rose 31%! Why would that be the case? Well, the title was the one that fully introduced ship combat into the series. It was only lightly touched upon previously, but Ubisoft made an effort to make it a focus, even toning down the story in certain areas so more gameplay battles could be had through the ships.
They intended to capitalize on this love of ship gameplay to make their pirate-themed MMO-esque game. However, the game kept getting delayed and lacked a true “vision” of what they wanted to make. Based on accounts and reviews, the game is a lackluster washout of an “AAAA” title. Heck, there have been clips online showing the two games we’ve mentioned side by side and noting how the decade-old title has been graphics and animations than the new one on modern systems!
So what does this show us? Well, you can hype up a game all you want, but if it doesn’t deliver, gamers will go back to titles that DO work and ARE good. It’ll be interesting to see how Ubisoft defends this.
