''Skull and Bones'' is an upcoming

action-adventure The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a storyli ...

video game developed by

Ubisoft Singapore Ubisoft Singapore Pte. Ltd. is a Singaporean video game developer and studio of Ubisoft based at Fusionopolis. The studio was founded in 2008 and has contributed to the majority of ''Assassin's Creed'' games. It is currently leading the developme ...

and published by

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', '' ...

. The game is set to release during the 2023–2024 fiscal year for

Amazon Luna Amazon Luna is a cloud gaming platform developed and operated by Amazon. Luna was announced on September 24, 2020, with early access available to subscribers by invitation beginning on October 20, 2020. In its early access state, Amazon Luna ...

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, it was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North Ame ...

and

Xbox Series X/S The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 2020, t ...

. A version for

Google Stadia Stadia is a cloud gaming service developed and operated by Google. Known in development as Project Stream, the service debuted through a closed beta in October 2018, and publicly launched in November 2019. The service was to compete with Sony' ...

was planned before the service's shutdown. The game revolves around

piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

and

naval warfare Naval warfare is combat in and on the sea, the ocean, or any other battlespace involving a major body of water such as a large lake or wide river. Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Even in the interior of large la ...

Gameplay

''Skull and Bones'' is a

tactical Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to: * Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks ** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield ** Chess tactics ** Political tacti ...

action game An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, and platform gam ...

set in an open world environment and played from a

third-person perspective Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the a ...

. Players take control of a customizable pirate ship, and may choose to sail the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

by themselves and set off on a

single-player A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. A single-player game is usually a game that can only be played by one person, while "single-player mode" is usuall ...

campaign, or gather up to five other players to ally in

player versus player Player versus player (PvP) is a type of multiplayer interactive conflict within a game between human players. This is often compared to player versus environment (PvE), in which the game itself controls its players' opponents. The terms are mos ...

gameplay in Disputed Waters. Wind positioning can be assessed to gain an advantage in battle. Players may collect additional ships throughout the game, such as

sloops-of-war In the 18th century and most of the 19th, a sloop-of-war in the Royal Navy was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. The rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above; thus, the term ''sloop-of-war'' enc ...

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

s and

brigantine A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts. Older ...

s, whose weapons include

mortars Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a village i ...

broadside Broadside or broadsides may refer to: Naval * Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare Printing and literature * Broadside (comic ...

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

s, and

rockets A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...

. 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 A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...

mode Loot Hunt, where two groups of players are challenged in

treasure hunting Treasure hunter is the physical search for treasure. For example, treasure hunters try to find sunken shipwrecks and retrieve artifacts with market value. This industry is generally fueled by the market for antiquities. The practice of treasure ...

to further accumulate their riches. Each given ship's

crow's nest A crow's nest is a structure in the upper part of the main mast of a ship or a structure that is used as a lookout point. On ships, this position ensured the widest field of view for lookouts to spot approaching hazards, other ships, or land by ...

is scalable for use as a lookout point and spyglasses can be availed of as well.

Microtransaction Microtransactions, often abbreviated as mtx, are a business model where users can purchase virtual goods with micropayments. Microtransactions are often used in free-to-play games to provide a revenue source for the developers. While microtransact ...

s will be included.

Development and release

''Skull and Bones'' is the first video game led by developer

, which drew inspiration from the naval battles of '' Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag''. The game began development in 2013, being initially envisioned as an expansion of ''Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag'', then an MMO spinoff title under the name ''Black Flag Infinite''. It was then spun off as an independent project, in part due to its initial technology becoming outdated. According to a ''

Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...

'' report, the game has undergone multiple changes in direction and scope during development, exceeding its budget multiple times. Initially set in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

, it was moved to the fantastical

Hyperborea In Greek mythology, the Hyperboreans ( grc, Ὑπερβόρε(ι)οι, ; la, Hyperborei) were a mythical people who lived in the far northern part of the known world. Their name appears to derive from the Greek , "beyond Boreas" (the God of ...

, then finally the

. Gameplay was redesigned multiple times, focusing variously on naval exploration and ship-to-ship combat, before both were scrapped in favour of land-based survival elements inspired by games like ''Rust''. Developers contacted by journalist Ethan Gach attributed these difficulties to conflicting ideas, management issues, and lack of consistent direction. The project reportedly cost Ubisoft more than $120 million. It was revealed during

's press conference at

E3 2017 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2017 (E3 2017) was the 23rd E3, during which hardware manufacturers and software developers and publishers from the video game industry presented new and upcoming products to the attendees, primarily retailers a ...

. It was confirmed for

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

and

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

, with enhancements for PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X. Alongside the game, Ubisoft Singapore announced the "Keepers of the Code" program, designed to allow players to aid in the fine-tuning of its live-service aspects. Originally set to be released in Q3/Q4 2018, the game was later delayed into 2019, and again to sometime after March 2020. On a call with investors in October 2019, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot confirmed that the game had been pushed back to at least the 2021–2022 fiscal year. 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. In May 2021, Ubisoft announced a subsequent delay to the 2022–2023 fiscal year. In July 2022, the company revealed a November 8 release date for the game, and that the game would launch on the

and

(replacing that of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One). In September 2022, Ubisoft announced that the release was pushed back to March 9, 2023. In January 2023, Ubisoft delayed the game to sometime during the 2023–2024 fiscal year due to recent launches underperforming. However, new footage for the game was released.

Awards

Following E3 2017, ''Skull and Bones'' was nominated for

Game Critics Awards The Game Critics Awards are a set of annual awards held after the Electronic Entertainment Expo, E3 video game conference since 1998. The awards are given to products displayed at E3 with the title Best of E3 of their category. Format The nomine ...

' Best Original Game and Best Online Multiplayer awards. It was nominated for Outstanding Animated Character in an Episode or Real-Time Project at the 21st Visual Effects Society Awards.

Adaptation

It was announced in early 2019 that Ubisoft was partnering with

Atlas Entertainment Atlas Entertainment is an American film financing and production company, started by Charles Roven, Bob Cavallo and Dawn Steel in 1995. History In 1990, Charles Roven and partner Bob Cavallo formed Roven/Cavallo Entertainment. At the same tim ...

to adapt ''Skull and Bones'' into a television show. It will be executive produced by Danielle Kreinik, Jason Altman, Andy Horwitz,

Richard Suckle Richard Suckle (born January 1969) is an American film producer. Suckle was one of several producers nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture for the 2013 film '' American Hustle''. Suckle graduated from the New York University Gallatin ...

and Amanda Segel, who is slated to write the

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.ubisoft.com/en-US/game/skull-and-bones/ Upcoming video games Action-adventure games Cancelled Stadia games Multiplayer and single-player video games Naval video games Open-world video games Cancelled PlayStation 4 games PlayStation 5 games Real-time tactics video games Ubisoft games Vaporware video games Video games about pirates Video games developed in Singapore Video games set in the 18th century Windows games Cancelled Xbox One games Xbox Series X and Series S games