Ubisoft has announced an open beta for Skull & Bones, with its February release looking set to actually happen.
Development on the co-op pirate open-world RPG experience Skull & Bones started in 2013, with the game being made public at E3 2017. Since then, it’s been delayed numerous times with several different directors taking the helm.
“Nobody knew what the fuck they were doing,” one former developer claimed, but it seems Ubisoft is now sticking to the February release date it confirmed at The Game Awards 2023.
The studio has now announced an open beta for Skull & Bones. Starting February 8 and running until February 11, the beta will be available via the Epic Games Store and Ubisoft’s own store, alongside the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles. Cross-play and cross-progression will also be possible, with players able to reach level 6 and earn a number of exclusive items including an emote, a weapon, a pet and ship cosmetics.
According to a developers blog, players can engage in a number of main campaign contracts, which is the most “direct” way to make progress within the game as you build your reputation and discover more about the world of Skull & Bones.
“Despite the main contracts progression lock, we have heard the feedback from many of you and will allow you to continue explore the world of Skull & Bones for the entire duration of the Open Beta,” added Ubisoft. Any progress made in the beta will be carried over to the full game when it launches February 16.
The PC requirements for Skull & Bones can be seen below:
Ubisoft has also shared a trailer detailing the first year of Skull & Bones, titled Year Of The Kingpins.
The season will be split into four different chapters (Raging Tides, Chorus Of Havoc, Into The Dragons Wake and Shadows Of The Deep) with each one offering unique rewards, raid battles and limited-time events. A pair of quality of life updates are also planned for the latter half of the season. Check out the trailer here.
In other news, Berserk Boy, a high-speed 2D platformer inspired by Mega Man and Metroid has been announced for Nintendo Switch and PC.