Skull & Bones was featured once again within Ubisoft Forward, as the long-in-development game gears up for release on 8th November 2022 across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, Google Stadia and Amazon Luna. See new gameplay and ship battling here with a developer breakdown:
That built up to a snappy trailer touting the game’s key features:
Set in the vast expanse of water from the coasts of Africa to the tropical East Indies, you’ll venture out as a fresh outcast taking to the waves on your small Dhow and basic spear for fishing, looking to build up your gear and skill to become an infamous pirate. On the way you’ll assemble a fleet of your own, gathering resources, crafting tools and weapons and building your ships to strengthen your position. As your infamy grows you’ll be able to take on bigger and more challenging contracts from other pirates, building up your ship as you go.
The game is set on the open seas and you can meet up with other players, taking on jobs in co-op similar in some ways to Sea of Thieves, but the game also includes PvP. You’ll need to opt into PvP servers, so you won’t have to constantly watch your own backs. You will have to keep an eye on your ship’s crew, though. If your ship’s condition falls too low, and you don’t have enough provisions for food and drink, the crew might mutiny. Not only that, but privateers are pirate hunting experts that will want to take you down.
If your ship is sunk? Well, you’ll respawn at the nearest outpost, but you’ll then want to race back to where you were felled to try and quickly snag your cargo. You’ll have plenty of different ship types to choose from, from cargo ships to bruising ships that bristle with cannons and heavy armour.
You can build up to attacking forts and settlements, as well as diving into live dynamic world events with high rewards for facing off against high-stakes enemy fleets. You’ll probably want to bring some friends along with you for something like that.
Announced way back in 2017, Skull and Bones has been through some fairly choppy waters and repeatedly delayed from one year to the next. It’s felt almost impossible that this game would see the light of day, at times, but here we are. Originally billed as a multiplayer game inspired by AC: Black Flag’s naval warfare, it’s grown and evolved into something much bigger.