Ubisoft releases a Year 1 road map along with what players can expect from the endgame in the long-anticipated pirate game Skull and Bones.
Ubisoft’s Skull and Bones has released a roadmap for the title’s first year and what players can expect in the endgame. The long-awaited pirate game finally got a launch date during the Game Awards 2023 ceremony and is scheduled to launch on February 13 for players subscribed to Ubisoft+ and on February 16 for everyone else.
The game was revealed at E3 2017 with an expected fall 2018 release and was seemingly inspired by the ship battles from Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag. However, Skull and Bones was postponed for several years following a rocky development cycle, including rebooting the project and even losing three creative directors, including Elisabeth Pellen, who left the Ubisoft Singapore team last September. Considering the number of delays, some fans believe that Skull and Bones must make an impact at launch if it is to survive in the long term.
With less than a month to go, Ubisoft has released a YouTube trailer detailing a content roadmap of what players can expect from the game in the first year of release. The game’s first year, titled Rise of the Kingpins, will be divided into four seasons that will last for 12 weeks. Each season, players must engage in a number of activities like Legendary Heists, world events, and takeover opportunities to build their power and carefully customize their ship in Skull and Bones to challenge a fearsome Pirate Lord and take them down. According to Ubisoft, there will be a number of items that players can earn each season, such as new ships, weapons, and cosmetics.
Ubisoft’s Year 1 Content Map
Ubisoft also promises a more dangerous endgame with higher stakes that involves becoming fierce rivals with once-allied Kingpins. In addition, players can form groups of three and tackle the leaderboards to earn rewards, which will reset every season. Skull and Bones will also have several time-limited events throughout the game’s first year, like a Dragon Boat race in the second season, where players will have to work with others in community events to earn loot. Ubisoft also plans to add several quality-of-life features, with two major ones being scheduled for release during the third and fourth seasons.
Last December, a beta tester revealed on Reddit that they quit playing Skull and Bones because of “sheer boredom,” which prompted others to share similar experiences. While the released and beta test versions may not be too far apart, the developer revealing this roadmap now seems to indicate that Ubisoft Singapore is determined to make Skull and Bones a fun experience for players.
by NIKO BALKARAN 25 Jan 2024
