Skull & Bones | Ubisoft | 2022

[Mister Pink]

 

Skull & Bones was originally announced at E3: 2017. In September '20 it was announced that they're still working on this title but it needed more work "a new vision." I think the reveal for this will be this year's E3 with hopefully a release in Autumn/Winter '21. 

 

There was a gameplay video but you can read all the criticism in the comments. People really want a pirate game no doubt, but Skull & Bones demo displayed no sword fighting, treasure hunting or boarding ships. I imagine this is why they're developing this with a new vision. Not Black Flag 2. We want a standalone pirate game but with fighting, exploration, treasure-hunting, ship upgrades, RPG elements etc. I'm sure what was in Odyssey will be an indication. Being able to assign crew and recruit crews will be great. 

 

*sorry, I thought we had a thread for this all ready but can't find it. 

 

RELEASE DATE: November 8th, 2022

 

Edited July 7 by Mister Pink

[GhettoJesus]

I am disappointed so far. The UI looks like crap and if you are just going to shoot canons from the ship then I might as well not care about the game. How hard could it be to do a pirate RPG where you have a ship, you have a crew, you explore, hunt treasures, raid other ships and have swrodfights. The golden age of piracy is such an interesting era and we could have a fun RPG set during those years.

[Jason]

I have the strong impression that the game will look nothing like the early gameplay, I wanna say I heard that it got rebooted entirely.

[Space Cowboy]

Yeah, I heard that it got rebooted and supposedly more than once. As much as I want a pirate game, I do not have a good feeling about it. And Beyond Good and Evil 2 seem to be going through the same thing - very long development time, reboots, changing staff etc. I don't know what's going on at Ubisoft. Both games at some point looked amazing, but whether the final product will amount to something is uncertain.

[Uncle Sikee Atric]

I 'was' interested when we saw the the first trailers all that time ago, now I'm really not sure.  I guess we have to see what we get now.

[Mister Pink]

I'm still hopeful. I mean, if it got rebooted, it's for good reason, I assume. And I think it's for reasons in the comments of the game play videos. To me that can be a very positive thing, if this game is being designed with user feedback. 

 

I was thinking about the setting and came across this new pirate docu-series on Netflix. I didn't not know about the Republic of Pirates on Nassau, the backstory of 'privateers' and how they became or essentially pirates with a fancy name. Watching the episode, I has some ideas about a Carribean setting. My idea might be cliched but I think if you were an English deckhand skilled in combat and perhaps stealth you began in the British navy as a privateer, stealing Spanish ships to fun gain funding for the war with Spanish. When the war is called off with Spanish you are left broke and turn to piracy with other disenfranchised privateers. When your numbers dwindle and from battles and thievery, you come across rare slave ships, you free slaves and recruit them as pirates. Those former slaves are particularly vengeful and very aggressive. 

 

I would like to see chapters of missions that let you rise the ranks from being a unknown deckhand rising up to becoming Captain of your own ship. There is some good/bad roleplaying too. You and your crew can fight pirates, protect cargo and trading ships and free slave ships or you can be a pirate ship and recruit slaves and plunder ship you come across. Choice is yours. 

 

I would like some adventure-treasure hunts too - piecing together information from rumours overheard at ports, partially missing maps and things like that. Instead of 50 treasure hunting collectibles, maybe have 15 big multi-part treasure hunts over the course of the whole game. Really make it special when you do find treasure. 

 

Have a crafting system onboard where you can upgrade your whole crew's swords and daggers, Parts of the map should be no-go-zones where there are highly aggressive local indigenous tribes. Some treasures to collect could give you some moral dilemmas where you might knowingly might have to wipe out a local tribe in order for you to gain access to certain collectibles or treasures. This is of course if you choose to be a skull and bones pirate. If you choose to be a good "pirate" helping slaves and not massacring local tribes for riches, there are other unique items to unlock choosing a  more moralistic path. 

 

Also, would love some more realistic sailing. In games like Assassin's Creed when you sail it doesn't matter what direction you go, your sailing at optimum speed (and it's ridiculously fast). I want to be able to sail and know that sailing close to the wind (on a beat) will be slower and you'll have to tack zig-zag to go towards the wind, because it's harder to sail towards the wind. And when the wind is at your side (on a reach) it's more leisurely except if the wind is too much your boat will keel over and in high winds if you don't reduce your sails the mast can break (in old ships, not by modern standards). And then you are on a run (the wind behind you) you go the fastest and it's the easiest sail. OK, I grew up sailing so, I'm a little biased but I've done more gaming than sailing in the last 10 years so I'm more of a gamer than a sailor these days but I think it would be great. 

 

The map should show current wind directions or you should be able to change sailing tactics based on current winds or tides. If you have a navigator with you, he should always be informing you if low/high-tides and wind directions. He might even give you tips on sailing for the day. But ultimately if there is more sailing implemented and we're playing a game where we feel more skilled as a gamer, more empowered by the game mechanics, I think it can be more rewarding. I think thats what this game has to be to different from Assassin's Creed. It needs more in-depth sailing.  

 

For those interested in the Netflix docu-series..

 

Edited March 17, 2021 by Mister Pink

[Space Cowboy]

An interesting article detailing how much of mess the development of Skulls & Bones was and still is (and to an extent in also mentions other game with similar problems - Beyond Good and Evil 2), how many iterations it went through, what was the gameplay focus of each iteration and what's the current state of the project. It doesn't look good at all, and it seems like the only thing holding this project together is the fact that apparently the deal with Singapore government requires a release of a new title.

[Jason]

I seriously do not get what's so difficult about it tbh.

 

It was born out of the success of Black Flag, where people wanted a proper fully fledged pirate game... except they completely misread what people loved from Black Flag and instead made some weird PvP game where you only control the ship. It then seemingly got rebooted / entered development hell.

 

Just... Make a great big open world with lots of ocean and pirate coves, towns and lost treasure, let us make a pirate captain, customisable ship and crew and some pirate story to go with it. Ezpz.

 

No doubt with current Ubisoft it'll end up turning into a f2p hero-cannonballer in their plan to conquer the f2p space by throwing so much sh*t at the wall with the expectation that eventually one of them will stick.

[Space Cowboy]

Yeah, I think it would have been out for a while now if it was a singleplayer pirate open world game and not a live service game. Even if it was just an AC spin off with focus on pirates, the game would do great if it delivered on key aspects like exploration, combat, ship customization etc. And I think it would deliver on that easily, if it was any similar to recent AC games.

But making a live-service game, a successful one at least, is much harder. A live service game has indeed a potential to make much more revenue than any singleplayer title, but there is a limited space for live service games on the market. They often require huge time commitments on players' part and/or additional purchases, neither of which will be made by many casual players. Ubisoft already wasted $120 million on the project, and they will waste even more with no guarantee it will be profitable at all.

A singleplayer game with support in form of dlcs and expansions would have been much safer option for Ubisoft, but alas it's probably too late.

[Jason]

It doesn't even have to be single player, it could've been online, it could've been co-op, it could've been an MMO-light, a service game, or whatever. It just had to deliver and build on the pirate fantasy people enjoyed in Black Flag. Open world, customisation, on foot and ship combat, exploration, treasure, etc. Doesn't need to be a specific genre to nail that.

 

When it was finally revealed it was the polar opposite of what people wanted, I seriously do not get how they misread their fans so much, it's one of the worst examples of a developer misreading what their fans want ever pretty much.

[Uncle Sikee Atric]

The developer, Ubi Singapore, is now under watchdog investigation for alleged workplace harassment and sexual assault.  As if it wasn't in enough levels of development hell.

https://www.pcgamer.com/ubisoft-singapore-under-investigation-for-alleged-workplace-harassment-and-sexual-assault/?utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR02nOylINWKoAcfz1i6UJL_5lxEexlshcTDxQpTBUHaCHswpmQdWdoUOCM

 

[Grichka Bogdanoff]

 

 

 

[Ivan1997GTA]

Looks like a more involved version of Sid Meier's Pirates.

[Themanwiththeplan]

That is sounding great! Glad they dropped the idea of multiplayer only. 

I really don't understand why there aren't more games set in the Pirate era. Looing forward to this game now. 

[Mister Pink]

Loving the sound of this. I could have done without parkour but I was really hoping they would add some hand-to-hand combat. 

 

I especially like the sound of this...

 

Quote

You start the game as a nobody, building a raft and then eventually a small fishing boat, where you can then explore the open sea. You collect quests, increase your pirate rep and collect resources to get your first pirate ship.

 

And the part about how smaller ships could outrun a bigger ship in some instances. They say by going close to an island or the shore can help a small boat outrun a big one as a big boat might run aground. True that.. But growing up sailing myself, we used to sometimes race closer to the shore in some cases because it would avoid the major swells if we were going against the tide.

[Mister Pink]

Sorry for the double post.. this game is very much alive and well... Playtesting invites have been sent out. Excited to see what this game is going to be like but not very hopeful TBH. Ubisoft has been woeful with the live-service output and games in general. If this got rebooted, just like Extraction did... It's probably bollox. Both games got rebooted around the same time so maybe some leadership there is thinking with their potential bank balance and not what gamers want. 

 

I'm not sure of the new logo.. seems like a generic logo from 2007. I'm just not a fan of that printed paint look that you'd see in a bunch of games in late 00's and early 2010's. it's not even a custom logo. It's just a font. It's also in the same colour palate as Extraction. Nothing about black, yellow and white screens "pirates" to me, I'm afraid. It screams bold marketing. 

 

 

 

Edited April 29 by Mister Pink

[Jason]

Got an invite for an unannounced (now announced) Ubisoft game but not this.

 

reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

 

Oh well at least we'll get the leaks of what it plays like. Be interesting to see what it is now, it was originally a ship based PvP game where you exclusively controlled the ship, but then it was seemingly rebooted into something else.. then probably something else? Who knows.

 

The whole reason people wanted a stand alone Black Flag game was they wanted to be able to control a pirate lord and then go do piratey stuff, and Ubi completely missed that with the initial reveal.

[DEADWOODZ]

Just watched the leaked technical build test footage, so far it does peak my interest.

 

Love sh*t like taking down merchant ships, finding outposts and taking down settlements. It's also shown that you can hunt and skin wild animals, harvesting raw materials for crafting.

 

The last pirate game i dabbled in was Atlas...yeah & SoT never really did anything for me.

Edited April 29 by DEADWOODZ

[E_S]

10 minutes ago, DEADWOODZ said:

Just watched the leaked technical build test footage, so far it does peak my interest.

 

Love sh*t like taking down merchant ships, finding outposts and taking down settlements. It's also shown that you can hunt and skin wild animals, harvesting raw materials for crafting.

 

The last pirate game i dabbled in was Atlas...yeah & SoT never really did anything for me.

Wait a second. Isn't this game sea battles only? I heard you can't even go on foot.

 

What you described is exactly black flag by the way. You can play that instead of this.

[DEADWOODZ]

Just now, E_S said:

I heard you can't even go on foot.

Shown from the footage you can, aye.

 

There's also an Island which must act as the main hub for players. You can pick up contracts and it's where you'll craft ships too

[E_S]

1 minute ago, DEADWOODZ said:

Shown from the footage you can, aye.

 

There's also an Island which must act as the main hub for players. You can pick up contracts and it's where you'll craft ships too

Smells like online only drm black flag copy but suit yourself.

[Jason]

7 minutes ago, E_S said:

Smells like online only drm black flag copy but suit yourself.

 

Online only isn't DRM if it's a game designed to be online which this is, it's just the nature of the game. It's also nothing like Black Flag based on the footage lol.

 

But anywho, this looks... okay... but that's it so far.

 

There's bits that peak my interest too, but then there's bits where they still clearly haven't figured out what people loved about Black Flag. Ship combat looks fun but one of the absolute best bits about Black Flag (and Sea of Thieves, which this is taking inspiration from 100%) is boarding, as in proper boarding. Based on the footage thus far it looks like there's zero on foot combat at all, with on foot gameplay simply being walking around the hubs and maybe around your ship to a degree.

 

So while it sorta looks like it might nail the ship part of a pirate game, it looks like it's completely forgotten the on foot part. Exploring islands for lost treasure, hitting outposts and forts with your crew, boarding other ships, etc.

[Mister Pink]

Watched the leak and I'm impressed. I take back what I said about the colour theme!

 

• I like the idea of when your ship gets sunk you lose infamy and start back on land but then have the opportunity to recover some of your lost cargo from the wreckage - and others can steal it too. 
• I'm curious to see more about attacking forts and settlements. 
• The claim you can do it all solo as well as teaming up. I'd like to play with others but I'll probably end up soloing a good bit. 
• Also that your crew will become mutinous if you don't take care of them 

 

It's just the microtransactions system I'm worried about now. Going off AC Valhalla, It might just be you can buy very unique sails/boats themed outfits etc. I'm really hoping if it will be just cosmetic things. I just hope they don't go overboard with it, pardon the pun. Thing is, I want to be relatively role-playing as a pirate and if I'm in the Caribbean I don't want come across some dickless half-wit with some Assassin's Creed Valhalla Viking themed crew and boats to kill the mood. Same with some of the character and clothing customization. I hope options are quite faithful to the location and time. 

 

Time to recommend some pirate films/TV shows for anticipation! I already recommended Netflix series above. Going to pick that up again. 

 

Been years since I've watched this. I think I was a kid and it was one of those films that came on on Sunday. Marlon Brando too! Before I knew who he was. Ship built just for the film, shot on location too in places like Tahiti and Pitcairn. Amazing. 

 

Is it against our rules to post the leak? 

Edited April 29 by Mister Pink

[Jason]

4 hours ago, Mister Pink said:

I hope options are quite faithful to the location and time. 

 

Best hope is that they start okay, because they won't end okay.

 

Ubisoft go mad with flashy cosmetics. AC games and Rainbow Six Siege being two big examples of this now.

[Themanwiththeplan]

5 hours ago, Mister Pink said:

Watched the leak and I'm impressed. I take back what I said about the colour theme!

 

• I like the idea of when your ship gets sunk you lose infamy and start back on land but then have the opportunity to recover some of your lost cargo from the wreckage - and others can steal it too. 
• I'm curious to see more about attacking forts and settlements. 
• The claim you can do it all solo as well as teaming up. I'd like to play with others but I'll probably end up soloing a good bit. 
• Also that your crew will become mutinous if you don't take care of them 

 

It's just the microtransactions system I'm worried about now. Going off AC Valhalla, It might just be you can buy very unique sails/boats themed outfits etc. I'm really hoping if it will be just cosmetic things. I just hope they don't go overboard with it, pardon the pun. Thing is, I want to be relatively role-playing as a pirate and if I'm in the Caribbean I don't want come across some dickless half-wit with some Assassin's Creed Valhalla Viking themed crew and boats to kill the mood. Same with some of the character and clothing customization. I hope options are quite faithful to the location and time. 

 

Time to recommend some pirate films/TV shows for anticipation! I already recommended Netflix series above. Going to pick that up again. 

 

Been years since I've watched this. I think I was a kid and it was one of those films that came on on Sunday. Marlon Brando too! Before I knew who he was. Ship built just for the film, shot on location too in places like Tahiti and Pitcairn. Amazing. 

 

Is it against our rules to post the leak? 

You have hit the nail on the head regarding the microtransactions. While I was watching the trailer I was thinking "Some dickweed is going to be sailing around in a bright pink ship, with a multicoloured unicorn on the bow." Even if they don't have microtransactions with stuff like this at launch, I reckon they will be added at some stage.

I'm also a little disappointed it's set in the Indian Ocean, I really wanted a Caribbean themed game with places we all know and recognise from popular pirate lore/culture. But I guess I can live with the location if it's done well.

[Mister Pink]

On 4/29/2022 at 8:48 PM, Themanwiththeplan said:

'm also a little disappointed it's set in the Indian Ocean, I really wanted a Caribbean themed game with places we all know and recognise from popular pirate lore/culture. But I guess I can live with the location if it's done well.

Yeah, I'm kind of with you on that. However, it's also nice to see something new. 

 

Looks like we'll probably get some news at Summer Game Fest

 

 

[RARusk]

What I want to know is if you can dress up as Guybrush Threepwood.

[Mister Pink]

It's kind of hard to find information that isn't academic on piracy in the Indian Ocean during the golden age of piracy. I'm kind of glad they're doing the Indian Ocean first because it's completely new. It's a fresh idea rather than doing the Caribbean. However, I love the Carribean and it if the make a Skull & Bones 2 it's more than likely it will be set there; presumably an improved and much better Skull & Bones. So while they do something fresh, new and somewhat experimental, I'm OK with it being in the Indian Ocean. 

 

I would argue the biggest issue with setting anything anywhere relatively unfamiliar is people don't have any reference points. With the Caribbean we have some many films, TV shows and other games to reference the Caribbean.  So I wanted to see if there were some videos or some kind of entertainment or documentaries of pirates in the Indian Ocean and all I can really find is academic papers. One academic paper states that piracy during that era is glossed over by historians and pretty much forgotten about. 

 

So, England had settled in India and created the East India Company. English trade merchants came into conflict with pirates as the moved shipments between India and England. 

 

The pirates in the Indian Ocean greatly threatened the trade activities that passed by. They were concentrated on a few islands in the Indian Ocean. From these islands, they sailed out to overtake ships and then came back to these islands loaded with booty looted from these ships. Since the English people had settled in India and established the East India Company, England came into conflict with these pirates in defending its trade and its position as a great sea power that was threatened by the predations of these pirates. English records documented many aspects of the life of pirates at that time

An aspect of the life of pirates in the Indian Ocean, A historical study from English documents (repec.org)

 

I'm not sure what islands these will be. Looking on Google Maps there is the Chagos Archipelago. 

 

 

But even closer to India and more inhabbitable, you have the Maldives...

 

 

[Commander S]

Weapons-grade *oof*, here - looks like this one is being sent out (to die?), purely as an obligation:

 

 

 

 

To recap: one of the provisos of Ubisoft getting government subsidies from the Singapore government is that Ubi Singapore had to launch a new IP, and Skull and Bones was meant to fit the brief. The game's had development struggles, and now Ubisoft's stuck in a position where they've got to release something, and soon - even if in any other circumstances, the game would either need a delay, or just get canned entirely.

 

This latest news really isn't good at all: delays, cancelled testing due to the state of the current build, but ...f*** it, it's still going to get released in whatever state, because something has to at this point. At this rate, it's going to be 2022's answer to last year's GTA Trilogy, or Cyberpunk the year before - except in this case, I imagine most people are just assuming the worst already.

[Jason]

From the leaked gameplay overview it looks a mile away from what it should've been - what fans were shouting at Ubisoft for it to be. If that government obligation is true and I do know that type of funding is real, then the state of the game makes a lot more sense. They've speedran it's development to get it out before the deadline.

 

Would not shock me if this comes to GP day 1 like Extraction did, and if it does, that's a a sure sign Ubi have zero faith in the game.