After years of development and multiple delays, Ubisoft’s pirate game Skull and Bones will launch on November 8, the company announced during its Ubisoft Forward Spotlight event today.
The game will be released that day on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Stadia, and PC (via Epic Games Store and Ubisoft Store but not Steam). The game will also stream on Google Stadia and Amazon Luna, and Ubisoft+ subscribers on PC can get the game at no extra cost.
Skull and Bones will be released one day before Sony’s God of War: Ragnarok arrives on November 9. For more, check out GameSpot’s brand-new preview of Skull and Bones.
In addition to announcing the game’s release date, Ubisoft confirmed there will be cross-play and cross-progression across platforms.
In Skull and Bones, players are on a journey to become a pirate kingpin and will grow their ill repute by taking part in naval combat in a variety of settings. Players will take contracts and gather resources, and they can also customize their naval fleet. Skull and Bones is specifically inspired by the end of the 17th century, known to be the second Golden Age of piracy.
Skull and Bones also supports co-op, whether by starting a session in a group with up to two others, or by finding these players in the game world and linking up together. The game also supports PvP, so players can go head to head, pitting their fleets against others.
Ubisoft also said it has an “ambitious” post-launch plan to support Skull and Bones for multiple years after launch. This will include “new content, activities, stories, and challenges” that will be free.
A Premium Edition of Skull and Bones will also be available, titled The Ballad of Bloody Bones Collection, and this includes cosmetics for players and their ships. This bundle also comes with two bonus missions, a digital art book, and a soundtrack, as well as a “Smuggler Pass” token, which sure sounds like a battle pass.
Everyone who preorders Skull and Bones gets the Highness of the High Sea Pack, and this includes the Notoriety Garb Captain Outfit and the Coronation Firework.
Development on Skull and Bones is led by Ubisoft Singapore, with Ubisoft’s teams in Belgrade, Sofia, Berlin, Chengdu, Kyiv, Montreal, Paris, Philippines, Pune, and Shanghai also contributing. Ubisoft Blue Byte is helping out as well.
Skull And Bones was announced at E3 2017, but its road to launch hasn’t been smooth sailing. The game is said to have undergone numerous changes throughout the course of its development, including a shift to a live-service approach in 2020.
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