7 years after Skull and Bones first set sail, Ubisoft stays calm: "Our goal remains the same then and now – to deliver an immersive pirate experience"
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“In the beginning, you’ll need to raise your Infamy by completing activities such as taking up contracts, going on treasure hunts, plundering forts, and much more,” Dravinsky says. “As you climb through the ranks, you’ll gain access to blueprints that will allow you to craft better ships, weapons, attachments, and furniture with resources gathered from the world.”
“Players will immerse themselves in a gritty pirate fantasy as they build their empire and spread their dominance across the seas. They will explore a visceral world, with unique biomes and characters such as cutthroat individuals who will either aid or hinder their progress depending on the players' choice.”
Setting sail
“Six years ago, our game was actually quite different,” says Dravinsky. “It was more centered on a quick session-based experience that is PVP only. However, we saw the potential to dream bigger with the game. And with the market evolving each year, so did our game.”
“With Skull and Bones, the team is constantly innovating to find new and better ways to bring a unique perspective of the pirate fantasy to life by working with the community. This is especially so with the recent Closed Betas we’ve held. Putting the game into the hands of players for the first time was momentous for a lot of us - and the positive response we received reaffirms that we’re on the right path. Our goal remains the same then and now – to deliver an immersive pirate experience to our players.”
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Naval combat will of course be a big part of the “immersive pirate experience”. After all, the more infamous you are, the more likely it is you’ll be hunted down by others. And it’s once again thanks to player feedback that major features such as ship-based battling have continuously been improved and iterated on. Alongside closed betas, the Insider Program has given members of the initiative a chance to try out early versions of the game to provide feedback that helps the team expand and refine ideas.
“Creating a new IP is as fulfilling as it is challenging and takes time to fully develop,” Dravinsky says of the additional development time in the wake of delays. “Over the last few years, we’ve been iterating on this version you’ll see today, by working closely with our community through the Insider Program and regular user tests. The community feedback we received has helped us to improve the game, especially in our co-op, naval combat, and gameplay variety.”
“Our game already has an amazing solo experience. But we’ve made recent investments in the experience, the most important one was ensuring the entire game can be played in co-op. We continued to add depth to our weapon system to strengthen our naval combat system has been further enhanced with improvements to our weapon system, making each weapon choice feel unique, and encouraging different playstyles.”
With more fantastical activities also added, such as ghost ships, sea monsters and more, Dravinsky teases that we can look forward to new events and features in “our seasonal post-launch”. He adds: “Our mantra is we’re going on this journey with our community, and this is what we believe differentiates a successful live game. It’s important that we’re ensuring that people who are playing have a voice, and we’re able to create experiences that would resonate with them.”
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I started out writing for the games section of a student-run website as an undergrad, and continued to write about games in my free time during retail and temp jobs for a number of years. Eventually, I earned an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University, and soon after got my first official role in the industry as a content editor for Stuff magazine. After writing about all things tech and games-related, I then did a brief stint as a freelancer before I landed my role as a staff writer here at GamesRadar+. Now I get to write features, previews, and reviews, and when I’m not doing that, you can usually find me lost in any one of the Dragon Age or Mass Effect games, tucking into another delightful indie, or drinking far too much tea for my own good.
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