After suffering in development hell for the last few years, Skull and Bones — Ubisoft’s live-service pirate game — is finally seeing the light of day. The developer showed off new footage of the game as a part of its Ubisoft Forward event highlighting all the timbers you’ll get to shiver and buckles you’ll get to swash.
Skull and Bones takes place in the waters of the Indian Ocean during what was known as the “golden age of piracy.” Players start off marooned on an island and must work to build their reputation — known as infamy — in order to become the most feared pirate on the high seas. Infamy seems to be at the core of the game. Players can engage in all kinds of activities from looting, hunting other pirates, and treasure hunting to increase their infamy. The higher the infamy, the higher rewards they can earn through lucrative contracts. It seems that all of these activities can be solo, but the Skull and Bones developers emphasized that this is a social game allowing players to group up to take on difficult enemies. You can get a full look at all the gameplay features in the video below.
Skull and Bones has been a long time coming. It was first introduced at E3 2017 before getting buried in all kinds of development issues, including a probe into Ubisoft’s Singapore studio regarding of pay discrepancy and sexual harassment. Earlier this year, leaked footage of Skull and Bones hit the internet, revealing an unofficial look at what to expect from a game it’s taken Ubisoft five years to develop. Today’s footage doesn’t seem too different from the leaked video, but with the rise of Our Flag Means DeathI’m sure we can look forward to having a lot of Stede Bonnets and Blackbeards and Spanish Jackies roaming the high seas.
Skull and Bones sets sail on Xbox Series S / X, PlayStation 5, PC, Stadia, and Luna on November 8th.