Back in December, I travelled to Singapore to get a hands-on look at Skull and Bones and was able to chat with the development team at Ubisoft Singapore about its live-service pirate game. Although I enjoyed my time with Skull and Bones, my biggest concern was whether it would be able to generate enough interest to succeed in a category that is seemingly suffering from player fatigue and new titles are having trouble establishing themselves long-term.
Today, Ubisoft announced its content plans for the four seasons of Year One of Skull and Bones – which are all free updates. Season 1, titled Raging Tides, will introduce a new sea monster – Kingpin Tylosaurus, a new pirate lord in Philippe La Peste, faction convoys, new takeover opportunities and other new rewards. Content for Seaons 2–4 was also revealed, which you can see in the image below.
During my trip to Singapore I was able to chat with Skull and Bones’ Creative Director Juen Yeow Mak and Senior Producer Neven Dravinski, and one of the questions I asked them was what makes them believe the game can be a successful live-service title given the challenges of launching a new live-service in a market that is dominated by a handful of games. Dravinski believes the team at Ubisoft Singapore has put in the work that will help the title can carve out a successful playerbase.
“We’ve doubled down on the things that make this game great and really focused on the positives, such as the setting, the naval combat, the commitment to co-op, the deep rich lore combined with economy and progression. We feel like we have the ingredients for creating fun, engaging content that people will always come back to.
“We believe in creating an additive experience where we’re continuously adding to the board, so to speak, creating new experiences, refining it with the community. It’s something that we believe has legs and longevity.”
Both Dravinksi and Mak point out the importance and impact of the game’s community on the game, not only in its development but also in its continued evolution.
“When we say we want to go on this journey with the community, I mean, that’s a big part of it, right?,” says Dravinksi.
“We’ve invested in insider programs, we’ve invested in user tests, previous betas, but these are all valuable data points that are going to help us create something that people want to keep coming back to.”
Mak reinforces that the team will continue to listen to the community after the game has launched.
“I think we have established this kind of relationship with them, to the point where how they share their thoughts about the game, they are really frank about it, and you tend to get to engage in discussions with them at times. I think it helps our developers to start to understand what it is to create better content for all players over time.
Time will tell whether Skull and Bones will be able to make a name for itself within the live-service market, but the commitment to free DLC is a great start, and it’s true what they say, the captain does go down with the ship, because it’s clear that Mak and Dravinksi are in this until the very end.
Skull and Bones hits PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC via Steam and Epic Game Store on February 16, 2024. If you slip Ubisoft some extra silver for the Premium Edition, you’ll receive access on February 13, 2024.
