Skull and Bones has a story after all – sort of

Yar har, but like Sherlock Holmes too

It turns out Skull and Bones, Ubisoft’s beleaguered pirate game, does have narrative elements, even though the development team previously said it focuses on multiplayer gameplay with no linear story. Skull and Bones' world unfolds in Investigation sequences, which Ubisoft showcased in a new developer deep dive, following news that Skull and Bones is delayed once more. 

Narrative director Joel Janisse talked viewers through one of these Investigation quests and gave some background about the larger forces at play in Skull and Bones' pirate fantasy.

Players can take on Investigations at outposts, which are essentially pirate-y fetch quests. The one Janisse played involved sailing to a certain location, finding an item, and moving on to the next location for more simple tasks and item hunting.

In the process, though, you learn more about the characters involved in the local region. This quest shed some light on a pirate legend in Skull and Bones lore named Captain Freeman, but potential seemingly exists for some even deeper lore connected to the game’s colonialist themes.

Janisse briefly discussed how the situation in the game’s West Africa Coast region developed after a French corporation tried moving into the area, disrupting trade flows, angering local people, and turning some of them violent.

When you’ll have a chance to unravel Skull and Bones’ lore is still up in the air for now. Ubisoft hasn’t provided a new release date following the delay announcement.