Skull and Bones now has an ESRB rating

Ubisoft's seafaring adventure, Skull and Bones, has been rated "Mature" by the ESRB.

It'll be good news for pirate-loving players who've been waiting some time for information about Ubisoft's all-new IP, Skull and Bones, which - at the time of writing - still doesn't have a release window, let alone a solid date (although rumor has it, that may be about to change).

"This is a naval-combat action game in which players assume the role of a shipwrecked outcast on a journey to become a pirate captain," the description on the ESRB website explains, giving us a sneak insight into the game's gameplay and mechanics. 

"As players take on missions, they can explore settlements and engage in dramatic sea battles. From a first-person perspective, players command their crew to shoot cannons at rivals (e.g., warships, merchant ships, settlements/forts) in attempts to obtain loot/goods. 

"Enemy ships can be rammed and boarded, resulting in brief cutscenes of crew members shooting or slashing at each other. Combat is highlighted by gunfire/cannon fire, explosions, and blood-splatter effects. Some territories depict corpses impaled on spikes or hanging from nooses; beaches may depict corpses and large bloodstains in the aftermath of battle."

We even get a little information about the settlements we may visit, too, which sound like they'll include opium dens and brothels, the employees of which will shout saucy stuff at us to shiver our timbers. 

Of course, this isn't the first time Skull and Bones has gone before a country's rating board, and it's already received classification in Brazil and, last month, Australia. It does, however, suggest the game is coming sooner rather than later. Hopefully, anyway. 

The pirate multiplayer game from Ubisoft will seemingly launch across PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Google Stadia, and its "production" year is listed on these rating sites as this year in 2022. That makes sense, as Ubisoft has long said Skull and Bones was targeting a release date near the end of the 2022 financial year, which would be March 2023 at the latest.

It all adds credence to yesterday's rumor that Ubisoft is set to showcase Skull and Bones' changes and improvements sometime in the week commencing July 4.

"Sources have said that Ubisoft is preparing to re-reveal Skull and Bones during the week of July 4," the insider said at the time. "Details on what will be revealed are vague, but it’s understood that Ubisoft will finally confirm a release date for the long-awaited title, officially reveal gameplay, and share some other additional details."

Beleaguered by setbacks and delays, Skull and Bones was originally revealed at E3 2017, and we've seen and heard surprisingly little since then beyond getting delay announcements in 2018 and then again in 2019.

Read up on our new games 2022 guide for a complete look at all the games launching over the next few months.