Some Gamers Can Play Skull and Bones Early

Some gamers will soon be able to start playing Skull and Bones a few days early even without placing a pre-order or purchasing its higher-tier edition, so long as they have a Ubisoft+ Premium membership. This early access period is scheduled to kick off on February 13, three days ahead of Skull and Bones' official release.

To say that Ubisoft Singapore's live-service pirate game went through development hell would be an understatement, as underlined by the fact that the project began over a decade ago, in 2013. 11 years, three creative directors, and seven Skull and Bones delays later, the game is now finally set to reach PC and current-generation consoles on February 16.

As has become customary with AAA releases, Skull and Bones will be playable early for people who buy its premium edition—which is priced at $89.99—or pre-order any version of the game. But unlike most such titles, its early access period will also be available through a subscription. Specifically, shelling out $17.99 for the recently rebranded Ubisoft+ Premium membership will allow players to experience the Digital Premium edition of the game, thus automatically enrolling in its three-day early access period.

Ubisoft+ Premium is currently available for Xbox, PC, and Amazon Luna users. Ubisoft does have a PlayStation subscription service bundled with PS Plus Extra and PS Plus Premium, but that offering only includes access to its classic releases, leaving owners of Sony's consoles without a way to play Skull and Bones early for under $20. As for PlayStation gamers planning to jump into early access with a pre-order, they should make sure that their purchase is actually still valid if it was made prior to 2024. Namely, Sony has been automatically refunding some Skull and Bones pre-orders in early 2023, around the time the game suffered its sixth delay.

Skull and Bones has been available for preload since the 11th or 12th of February, depending on the region. The game is roughly 50GB in size across all