With open beta starting next week, Ubisoft has revealed more details about the Skull and Bones beta and a new dev diary video focused on the setting, background, and more.
Open Beta begins on February 8th and runs through February 11th. You can play until Infamy level Brigand tier and take part in features like getting a ship, take on world events like a sea monster, face and try to take Merchant convoys, a mysterious ghost ship, and more.
Now, there are some things to know about the beta and launch. The beta features cross-play, so you can start on your PC and maybe finish up on your Xbox. Progression in open beta will carry through to launch, so make your decisions carefully if you want to make them count for the long haul and not have to start over. There’s also cross-progression, so once again, start on PS5 and end the night sailing on your PC if you want. You can also earn up to five rewards by playing through the beta, including ship cosmetics, a weapon, the sign language emote, and a pet, Cookie the lemur.
With Skull and Bones having taken some time to get to this point, maybe you need a refresher. A new video, “Building a World of Piracy” goes into how the team created a world inspired by the second golden age of piracy. As senior producer Neven Dravinski says in the video, most think of the Caribbean when thinking about widespread piracy, but the second golden age was in the Indian Ocean. This diverse area, from the coast of Africa to the East Indies, is where the game draws its inspiration from. In fact, the starting location of the Red Isle is inspired by Madagascar. That lemur pet should make a little more sense now.
Discover the content of our Open Beta and play for free from February 8-11!Learn More here: https://t.co/FKmCljz1r7 pic.twitter.com/SxZDHfi0i7
— Skull and Bones (@skullnbonesgame) February 1, 2024
The Ubisoft Singapore team explored some of the real regions from the coast of Africa to the East Indies and even based some of the outposts on real locations. Among them are Angkor Wat in Cambodia, which inspired the Lost City of Prey and coral rocks inspired by the second largest coral atoll, Aldabra Island.
They worked to create a living world with distinct factions that are all working towards their own agendas, and you have the opportunity to get in there and execute your own.
Watch the full dev diary for more, and head to Skull and Bones for more info.
