Ubisoft knew they'd be marching Skull and Bones out to die no matter how complete it was.

WB honestly believed SS would be a huge success because it checked the right boxes and had a live service which meant constant profit for them, and that's what makes its failure more entertaining.

I keep thinking of the scene in Goodfellas where Tommy gets executed; WB thought they'd be walking into a promotion and opportunity but ended up getting whacked by the gamer community.