Ubisoft has just finished its E3 2017 press conference and one of the new games debuted on stage is the pirate game Skull and Bones. If you tuned in half-way through the presentation and thought Ubisoft was showing off old footage of Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, you wouldn’t be far off.
Skull and Bones is an online multiplayer game set during the Golden Age of Piracy in the Indian Ocean. Players will build a fleet of ships, forge alliances with other pirates and take down anyone who comes near.
Once out at sea, gameplay looks remarkably like the naval combat seen in the Assassin’s Creed games. Players can use a spyglass to scout nearby enemies or targets to destroy, use a multitude of different weapons like cannons and mortar blasts to weaken the opposing ships, then swoop in and claim the ship as your own. It looks like there are even going to be sea shanties your pirate crew will sing while cruising the seas.
Although no release date has been confirmed for Skull and Bones yet, Ubisoft has said plans are for the game to launch in the fall of 2018 on Xbox One, PS4 and PC. If you want to try and play as early as possible, you can sign up for the beta right now at the official Skull and Bones website. The site does not mention when the beta period will begin, or even when to expect to hear more information about the beta.
Thinking back to previous releases from Ubisoft, online multiplayer games have not served the company very well. Most recently, For Honor had some massive hype and huge interest right as the game was launching, but the player count has dropped by a whopping 95 percent. Hopefully, the same fate will not befall Skull and Bones. Seeing as how the naval combat from Black Flag is still remembered fondly after four years, there may be hope for players to stick around after release.
So what do you think? Are you excited to see more about Skull and Bones? Are there any other games Ubisoft showed off today you are excited about? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
