‘Ubisoft, this ain’t it’—Skull and Bones beta testers quit in droves due to boredom

The Skull and Bones closed beta test is live until Dec. 18, and it lets players experience some of what the full game will offer. But many players with access to the closed beta aren’t enjoying what they’ve played so far, and some are calling the experience “boring.”

A recent Reddit post by user achilleasa is rapidly gaining traction as it highlights several issues with Skull and Bones that many players agree on. The Redditor begins the post by addressing the publisher directly, saying “Ubisoft, this ain’t it.” They explain how little fun they had with the game, particularly within its first hour, which they claim has “zero combat or excitement other than the combat tutorial at the start.”

The player also lamented that Skull and Bones is “literally a walking simulator” with “bland and sterile” dialogue. They ended the post by saying they “wouldn’t even play this if it was free to play,” a truly scathing criticism.

The thread blew up less than 24 hours after it was posted, with over 11,000 upvotes and 1,500 comments. Players flocked to the comments section to agree with the poster, with some saying that the core gameplay experience and many other elements are incredibly unsatisfying. 

“Even the core gameplay is boring,” said user aLcAty, “I mean, it’s cool to fight ships but to do it endlessly and fetch things for NPCs would bore me to death.”

“I also thought it was terrible. The dialogues are horrible and the whole structure feels like a really bad, bland mobile game,” said Larxian, “It’s boring, the dialogues are awful, the gameplay loop feels like something from an old school mmo mixed with a mobile game.”

But, despite the game’s mostly negative reception, a few players chose to defend it, with some saying they enjoyed Skull and Bones and are excited for launch. “Pssh, L take,” said azerick89. “I had a fantastic time and played the entire 6 hours. I can’t wait for the full release.”

The second Skull and Bones closed beta test started on Dec. 14 and ends on Dec. 18. The beta is invite-only and gives players a maximum of six hours to explore the open seas, interact with vendors, partake in ship combat, craft items, find hidden treasure, and more. 

While some players haven’t had a great time with the beta so far, we can only wait and see how the full game will be received when it launches on Feb. 16 for PC and consoles.