Is Skull and Bones finally ready to set sail?

Ahrrr! This game’s road is more twisty than the route of a ship with a drunk monkey at the rudder!

Our tale begins back in 2013, when Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag was all the rage. The naval battles thrilled gamers so much that a DLC only featuring them was planned. That was the seed from which Skull and Bones sprung. It was first officially announced in 2017, and not long after the planned release date was moved to 2018. Alas, it was not to be. The release was soon moved to 2020, and then further and further away to March 2023. This, too, proved too optimistic, as Skull and Bones is currently scheduled for the first quarter of 2024. Will it come to pass this time? Your guess is as good as ours, only time will tell. What’s certain is that the patience of gamers is wearing thin, and many players who a few years ago were thrilled about this game have now lost interest. All we can do is wait and hope for the best.

Be this or that, a pirate’s life for me!

Skull and Bones has changed format more than once since the initial concept. In the beginning it was a multiplayer game, where a group of players man a ship, each with their own role, and try to sink opponent ships manned by other players. If that gives you a sense of deja-vu we have just three words for you: Sea of Thieves! Therefore it’s no surprise that the game structure has been altered drastically, and now it’s a survival kind of game, where players start from the humblest beginnings as shipwrecked outcasts to try and become the top pirate in the whole Indian Ocean. They will collect resources to build their first small vessel, search for treasure, collect salvage and accept missions to increase their Infamy and get more recognition in the pirate community, thus gaining access to better missions. it will also be a good idea to keep enough food on board, else should your crew mutiny.

Sloops, Brigantines and Man-o’-wars

As the game progresses you will be able to build and outfit several kinds of vessels, broadly falling into one of three categories:

• Cargo - big, heavily armored ships with a large hold, able to transport a lot of loot but slow and unwieldy, and basically useless in battle.
• Firepower - a force to be reckoned with, Firepower ships have little space for cargo and don’t excel at maneuvering, but can quickly gun down and sink any opposing vessel with overwhelming… well, firepower.
• Navigation - small and nimble, these ships only have room for a little bit of loot and possess minimal firepower, but are fast and agile, capable of scouting ahead, weave through enemy fleets and deliver unexpected hits to unsuspecting vessels.

It’s easy to see that a successful fleet should have a mix of all kinds of ships.

Be a crew of one, or get your own crew!

Skull and Bones can be played entirely as a single player experience, but players will also have the option to invite some friends to help with the fighting and looting. An additional option will be to open your game world to PvP, so that when you’re sailing back to port with a hold full of treasure you may be targeted by human-controlled ships in search of an easy prey. Either way, do not expect Skull and Bones to be a narrative-driven game. There is some plot and lore, but the focus will always be on the adventuring and on the Infamy system.

Sail on any modern vessel!

The initial support planned for Playstation 4 and Xbox One has long since been scrapped, today Skull and Bones is planned for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The good news is that, should the game ever be actually released, it will be playable cross-platform, so players won’t have to worry about their friends’ gaming systems.