Ubisoft Skull & Bones gameplay video leaks online

The pirate game, long lost at sea, mysteriously re-appears

Ubisoft’s Skull & Bones has been in development for quite some time. Now, thanks to what seems like a leak of test gameplay footage of Skull & Bones, it looks like the wait might be getting shorter.

A video was posted yesterday to the r/GamingLeaksAndRumours subreddit. It’s a sort-of tutorial, explaining how the gameplay of Skull & Bones works. It gradually walks the player through systems like infamy, resource collecting, and ship battles.

The video, labeled as part of a technical test build, shows missions the player can tackle for rewards. There are also supplies to manage, customization options, and even a morale mechanic. Apparently, if one doesn’t give food and drink to their motley crew of scoundrels, they’ll mutiny. True to life, I guess.

For its part, Ubisoft seems to have somewhat acknowledged the leak. It posted a video this morning of some footage, asking fans to keep their “eyes on the horizon.”

Keep your eyes on the horizon… 🏝️ pic.twitter.com/BWaH9QfYUb

— Skull and Bones (@skullnbonesgame) April 29, 2022

A pirate’s life

Since its reveal in 2017, Skull & Bones has sailed murky waters. It has been pushed back and delayed, sat quietly on the sidelines. Like fellow Ubisoft venture Beyond Good & Evil 2, Skull & Bones has resurfaced a few times, but had trouble locking in a hard date.

Maybe this little tease from Ubisoft means some big news is on the way. The publisher, as of this writing, has yet to announce its plans for a very E3-less summer of games. Really, only Microsoft has, through yesterday’s confirmation of the Xbox and Bethesda showcase happening at the same time as usual. Just without the ESA.

Meanwhile, Ubisoft itself has been in a strange place. A recent report from Bloomberg said private equity could be eyeing the video game publisher. It also announced a game and then quickly insisted no, Project Q does not have NFTs. We’ll see what the summer holds, for both aspirational pirates and Ubisoft alike.