This year's Ubisoft Forward event had a bunch of new info on some great games coming in the near future, but there was one conspicuous absence. Ubisoft's Skull & Bones didn't make an appearance yet again, and now the rumor mill says that a Skull & Bones reboot is on the way, making this new version a live service akin to Sea of Thieves.
If you don't quite recall this game, I wouldn't blame you — it's been M.I.A. in the gaming world for a couple of years now. Check out its original E3 2017 Announcement Trailer for a quick refresher:
VGC starts its report with a brief history of the game. First revealed in E3 2017, Ubisoft's Skull & Bones made a splash at the show and impressed many. It made another appearance at E3 2018 and promised a beta later in the year, but that beta never materialized. Since then, it's been nothing but radio silence on this project, and the passing of Ubisoft Forward means that the game has missed yet another major opportunity to reveal new information.
Now, VGC says that the game has had problems securing a niche amongst Ubisoft's current catalog according to sources speaking on the condition of anonymity. These troubles eventually led to a Skull & Bones reboot, and this new version of the high-seas adventure is going to be very different from what we were originally going to get.
How Will the Rumored Skull & Bones Reboot Work?
According to the rumor, Skull & Bones was originally supposed to be a premium game akin to Assassin's Creed: Valhalla. You'd buy the game, maybe pick up a few pieces of DLC, and you'd eventually be done with it. However, this design was said to have been too similar to Ubisoft's other properties and it has since undergone a complete overhaul.
The current version of the Skull & Bones reboot is rumored to work as a "live service" title — an online-only game with a living, breathing world. There will be a persistent game world with quests, characters, and a story that will evolve and change over time. Some of these elements can be affected by the community's actions.
If this Skull & Bones reboot rumor is true, Sea of Thieves may soon find itself with some competition for the open-world pirate game market. We won't be able to say whether this is true or not until we finally get to see the game again, but it certainly sounds like an interesting idea.
Would you prefer Skull & Bones to be a single-player premium title or an online-only live service game? Do you think it could beat Sea of Thieves? Let us know in the comments below!
