Skull and Bones, Singapore's first major video game title, launches to mixed reviews after decade-long wait

Ubisoft Singapore officially launched its first major video game, Skull And Bones, for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on Friday, ending an unusually long development saga that spanned over a decade.

"It's the first time that this type of game was led by a Singaporean or Southeast Asian studio, so the atmosphere around achieving it has been great," Jean-Francois Vallee, managing director of Ubisoft Singapore, told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" on Monday.

The Singaporean government has taken steps to bolster its domestic gaming industry. Ubisoft Singapore received a grant from the Economic Development Board in 2016 to aid in the development of an "AAA" game title from the city-state.

The "AAA" game classification refers to titles that are produced and distributed by large, well-known publishers that will typically have high development and marketing budgets.

According to data collected by market research company YouGov in 2020, at least three-quarters of the population in Singapore plays video or mobile games, which jumps to 90% among those aged 18 to 24.

But of those gamers who have played Skull and Bones, reviews so far have been mixed. Metacritic, a website that aggregates reviews of games, lists a critic rating of 64 out of 100 and a "Generally Unfavorable" user rating.

Ubisoft's Vallee said, however, that he was pleased with the game's reception so far. He noted millions of people signed up to play an open beta of the game for free, leading up to its official release.

"It's meeting my expectations, and it's just the launch. So far, players are engaged with it, they're giving us feedback, and we already fixed a few bugs," he said.

The "co-op open world pirate action RPG" sits at a price tag of $60 for the standard