Remember Skull & Bones? Ubisoft announced a nautical open world game about pirates on the high seas, with Assassin's Creed's naval combat serving as a base for the action. It sounded like a winner, and we were pretty interested to see how it turned out. Unfortunately, the game has been delayed multiple times since its debut at E3 2017. Most recently, we heard the game will be skipping next financial year, meaning it won't release until mid-2021 at the absolute earliest.
However, the game is apparently still alive. A new report from VGC has the latest on the seafaring adventure, and it seems development veered into rocky waters. The project has reportedly been rebooted after failed attempts to make the game a "premium box" open world, akin to Far Cry or Watch Dogs.
This is according to anonymous development sources, who are also saying Skull & Bones is becoming a "live" game. As VGC writes, the title will contain a persistent world, featuring "quests, characters and storylines that will drastically evolve and change over time". Apparently, Fortnite's "live storytelling" aspects have been a big influence. It sounds like the game will end up in the same waters as Microsoft's Sea of Thieves -- a live, online multiplayer ocean full of pirates that evolves through seasonal updates.
Elisabeth Pellen, writer and director of cel-shaded shooter XIII, has taken over as creative director after Justin Farren moved to another studio.
So, Skull & Bones is still happening, but it's taking on a completely different format. Instead of a big open world blockbuster like Ubisoft's other games, it's becoming a persistent online experience. Here's hoping it's shipshape whenever it comes to shore.
[source videogameschronicle.com, via dualshockers.com]
Comments 33
i don't know if that's better or worse tbh.
I'll just stick to Sea of Thieves then
I don't really know what it's structure was before to judge whether this is good or not. It seemed to be single and multiplayer blended anyway. Still interested because the ship combat in UBI games is always really fun.
I was hoping it'd go the other way and would be more of a single player experience. Too bad if true, that's a pass for me.
Hard to comment when we don't know what guise the final project will take, but this sounds like it might be for the better. Taking the sailing component from Assassin's Creed and trying to flog it as its own full-fledged game was never going to work. This sounds more viable.
Sadly this is why i doubt I'll ever see another Splinter Cell/Rayman or even the potential they had for a Sid Meir Pirates style Black Flag spinoff...just more fancy hats, pet skins live service mtx nonsense. Sigh. Thats my interest walking the plank! Ubisoft just aren't interested in anything unless its an online grindfest!
@get2sammyb Its another liveservice game. 🤮
Hope this is not the case.
@get2sammyb ''Taking the sailing component from Assassin's Creed and trying to flog it as its own full-fledged game was never going to work.''
I dunno, that sounds pretty good to me. If it's just another Sea of Thieves we already have a game like that. It's called Sea of Thieves.
NNNNNOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! I was waiting for this forever!!! $0# 0{ @ &!t(#.
It already looked like a live service from the very beginning, and now they want to make it even MORE like one. Gross.
how unfortunate, I was looking forward to this, a campaign of any sort will probably be an afterthought, Ubisoft going to try and gouge everyone with vile mega transactions.
Wow Ubisoft are really listening to what people want. Seriously the market cannot support multiple live service games and they have failed with Divison 2 and Ghost Recond: Breakwind to make the money they were expecting or wanting.
Now maybe the project was failing and maybe this will be better than what was going to be released but how many of these games can they manage to support at any one time. Secondly, as @Octane said, there is a game that does something very similar and that has struggled.
@Octane True. Might as well just stick to Sea of Thieves. Interested on what happened behind the game's development.
Honestly I thought it already was one soooo....
The only reason why Sea of Thieves continues to get updates is because of Game Pass. Same with State of Decay 2 because they've said so themselves. Cosmetic microtransactions in Sea of Thieves are just optional, but everyone's fine if Fortnite does it.
You can't tell me that this wasn't supposed to become a service-game all along. The service just seems to be more ambitious than your usual set of skins and disposable side-missions, now.
I'm not into that stuff, because I don't wan't the feeling of missing out, when I'm not playing the game, when the game DICTATES ME, when I have to play it, so that I won't miss out on allegedly cool content. So I'll miss out on such games completely.
I would like to have a good pirate game, though. But this one needs on-land sections and a controllable character.
Ubisoft really is only interested in "serviceable" games, these days. That makes me worried about "Beyond Good & Evil 2". But I have faith in Michel Ancel.
And yes, you won't get another "Splinter Cell" or "Prince of Persia", folks. Not until Ubisoft figures out a way to put that open-world-gaas-coat on those franchises.
When this was first revealed they said it would be an online game. I remember my interest in it dropping faster than a footy trying to be caught by Jordan Pickford.
Expect it to be filled with MTs and LBs just like Watch Dogs Legion
@JON22 Isnt Fortnite a free game?
My problem with liveservice is the support if its not a hit it will be dropped. And the other thing how many liveservice games can we have. You have events with MHW, Battle pass with COD its just too much.
@Migoshuro Beyond good and Evil is a always online liveservice game how is that. 😆
@Flaming_Kaiser
At one point in life one will be tempted. This might be it. And it might be the exception of the rule, the same way I would probably play the ***** out of a "Mass Effect"-MMO.
@Octane agreed. Pirate like games have historically been some of my favorite games. The fact that it’s ever changing means I’ll likely never be able to reach god like status or feel a sense of completion.
Plus this sounds like a recipe for MTs
Sigh
Plenty of other games to play next gen.
Hoping we get a black flag 2 at some point.
@Migoshuro “ I would like to have a good pirate game, though. But this one needs on-land sections and a controllable character.”
^ this 100% this ^
Sea of Thieves seems to be a gargantuan success for Microsoft, so makes sense they would decide to follow its footsteps.
Honestly, I was awaiting this game, but now I'm seeing it be a cross-gen game if it does arrive. The thing is, I don't want to only play online, which is why I haven't touched Sea Of Thieves (granted I did play this one when I had Live and Gamepass for a few months free). Oh well, if it's online only, it won't be one for me...no point paying high costs for an online only title to where the servers can go down at any time...then you're stuck with something you can't play.
Cancel it and add the devs to the BG&E team...
Oh, whoop-dee-do. Another heavily-monetized Ubisoft live service, as if that hasn't become pretty much the only type of "game" they're interested in putting out anymore.
Sorry but this has killed my intrest in the game.
I am no longer interested, hard pass for me! I wanted a AAA single player pirate game, why are they so rare?
@Migoshuro Not if they put the story on the backburner.
I would prefer a single player pirate game, we allready have a mmo pirate game =(
Oh, where is the game called Skull & Bones?
Has it been sunk down to Davy Jones?
Is it not still the game that Ubisoft owns?
Then where in the h___ is Skull & Bones?
(At Yale, ye swabs, at Yale!)
[Use whichever sea chanty tune fits.]
Tap here to load 33 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...