Skull and Bones Has Limited Land-Based Gameplay, No PvP

The long-in-development and relentlessly delayed Skull and Bones has seemed like a game that’s never going to launch for the longest time, but impossibly enough, it seems like that might actually change soon. Alpha gameplay footage of the pirate game recently leaked, with Ubisoft teasing an incoming update soon afterwards. Now, a report by known insider Tom Henderson on Exputer has revealed more details on the game- though they’re not exactly encouraging.

In his report, Henderson claims that as per the most recent round of playtesting, Skull and Bones won’t have PvP gameplay whatsoever- which, for a game that seems so perfectly tailor-made for multiplayer engagement, especially in a world where fellow ship combat title Sea of Thieves is going so well, comes as quite a surprise.

Additionally, Henderson also claims that Skull and Bones is going to have limited land-based gameplay. While the focus of the experience is, of course, on sailing and on ship-based combat, many had expected that there would be a significant chunk of the game that would also focus on on-foot gameplay, not unlike Sea of Thieves. That, however, seemingly won’t be the case.

As per Henderson, other than speaking with NPCs on land to sell loot, upgrade your ship, and the like, the vast majority of the gameplay will see you playing only as your ship. Even if you’re looking to harvest materials, you’ll do so by looking at resources on land while still controlling your ship and pressing a button. Meanwhile, if you’re looting settlements and forts, once you’ve weakened them with your ship, your crew will then raid it automatically, with no on-foot combat asking players to engage in those raids themselves.

Given how long Skull and Bones has been in development and how many times it has been delayed, the expectations for many would be for the game to come out swinging with its grand re-reveal, though based on this report, it seems like there’s plenty of disappointment to come. Of course, none of this has been officially confirmed as of yet- though perhaps it’ll be best to keep your expectations in check either way.

It seems like Ubisoft is gearing up to unveil the game in full not long from now, so stay tuned for more updates in the coming weeks.