Skull and Bones is Ubisoft’s newest pirate adventure game set to be released on November 8, 2022. The creative director, Elisabeth Pellen, recently shared some behind-the-scenes information about the game’s historical inspirations in an interview with Seasoned Gaming. As we look forward to the beautiful open world and exciting naval combat features, we now have a little insight into their real-life counterparts.
Skull and Bones takes place in the Indian Ocean, a setting choice that the interviewer homed in on. It turns out that historically speaking, the Indian Ocean had much more interesting pirate action than the more common Atlantic and Pacific oceans. During their extensive history research stage, the Ubisoft Singapore team found that during the 2nd Golden Age of Pirates, the Indian Ocean was a hotbed of ruthless and lucrative piracy. Young pirates could go in broke, make an enormous amount of wealth in a day, and then turn around to re-invest their gold into secret trading routes. It was regarded as one of the most dangerous seas at the time.
This rags-to-riches tale is also incorporated into the gameplay. Players start at the bottom as solo outcasts stranded on a deserted island, but they can play their way up to the very top. They must fight in epic naval battles to become one of the most infamous pirates around.
The ships were also originally based on the real deal as well. Ubisoft began with common warships and sail ships of the time. The customization was added mostly for the sake of individuality and vanity, but the team also drew inspiration from a shipwreck off the coast of Madagascar. There were signs of modification to the ship’s cannons, indicating that the crew tried to gain an advantage in battle by tweaking their weapons. In Skull and Bones, not only will the ships be customizable, but the weapons will be as well.
The creators of Skull and Bones want to bring players the ultimate pirate fantasy game, where you can explore, fight, and rise in the ranks. With so much research put into it, we’re looking forward to playing the game this November. Play it on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Stadia, Epic Games, and Ubisoft Connect.
