A technical playtest for Ubisoft's multiplayer pirate game Skull and Bones is reportedly going to take place later this week. A quick trip to the Skull and Bones section of the official Ubisoft website also shows that instead of the more iconic pirate imagery that the game was announced with, Ubisoft seems to have rebranded the title and has opted for a yellow skull and crossbones painted on a black flag.This news comes from industry insider Tom Henderson, who claims that invites for techincal playests of Skull and Bones have been sent out and that they'll begin as early as next week. For those who don't know, playtests are essentially when a bunch of people try out an unfinished version of a game so the developers can fix any potential glitches or bugs, fix any flaws in the gameplay, balance the game properly if it's a multiplayer title, or a host of other fixes and tweaks.As for the strange, rather sudden change in direction on the Ubisoft website, Skull and Bones has reportedly undergone a multitude of problems during development. The design of the game was allegedly a sticking point in particular, with people in the development team reportedly asking questions like "Do you play as a pirate or do you play as a boat?" This shift in branding could indicate that the game is finally on track after over 8 years of development hell and ready for a fresh reveal.
In fact, Ubisoft seems so confident that Skull And Bones is in a good place nowadays that it recently launched an insider program for fans to sign up to. You'll have to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), but you'll also get the chance to play early versions of Skull and Bones to offer feedback for the devs to use to improve the game. This program was announced in March, although it looks like you can still sign up on Ubisoft's website if you're interested.