Skull & Bones (video game)

The player sails past approaching enemy ships.

Skull & Bones is a tactical action game set in an open world environment and played from a third-person perspective.[2][3] Players take control of a customizable pirate captain,[4][5] and may choose to sail the Indian Ocean by themselves and set off on a single-player campaign, or gather up to five other players to ally in player versus player gameplay in Disputed Waters.[6][7][8][9]

Wind positioning can be assessed to gain an advantage in battle. Players may collect additional ships throughout the game, such as sloops-of-war, frigates and brigantines, whose weapons include mortars, broadside cannons, and rockets. Ships can be charged into with brute force and boarded. The rate of inflicted damage is gauged by the health bar. A core component is the multiplayer mode Loot Hunt, where two groups of players are challenged in treasure hunting to further accumulate their riches. Each given ship's crow's nest is scalable for use as a lookout point[2][9][10] and spyglasses can be availed of as well.[5] Microtransactions will be an added feature.[11]

Skull & Bones is the first video game led by developer Ubisoft Singapore, which drew inspiration from the naval battles of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.[8] Ubisoft Singapore is allowing players to aid in the fine-tuning of its live-service aspects with a community program called "Keepers of the Code".[7][12]

Skull & Bones was revealed during Ubisoft's press conference at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2017. It was confirmed for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with enhancements for PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X. Originally set to be released in Q3/Q4 2018,[7] the game was later delayed into 2019,[13] and again to sometime after March 2020.[14] On a call with investors in October 2019, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot confirmed that the game had been pushed back to at least the April 2021–March 2022 fiscal year.[15]

In September 2020, it was revealed that, while development was continuing, a "new vision" for the game had emerged, which resulted in the release delays as more development time was needed. As well, it was stated that additional Ubisoft Studios, such as Ubisoft Berlin, were co-developing the game alongside Ubisoft Singapore.[1]

Following E3 2017, Skull & Bones was nominated for Game Critics Awards' Best Original Game and Best Online Multiplayer awards.[16][17]

It was announced in early 2019 that Ubisoft was partnering with Atlas Entertainment to adapt Skull & Bones into a television show. It will be executive produced by Danielle Kreinik, Jason Altman, Andy Horwitz, Richard Suckle and Amanda Segel, who is slated to write the pilot episode.[18]

• Official website