Ubisoft’s latest title, Skull and Bones, was finally released earlier this month after being in development hell for almost a decade and multiple delays. The game hasn’t been able to impress the fans it once had excited but seems to be trying to make the experience better with the latest update.
Skull and Bones Season 1 brings new content in an attempt to retain players to save the game. Ubisoft has also announced that the game has achieved a player engagement milestone despite the lukewarm response, making Skull and Bones Ubisoft’s one of the most engaging games.
Season 1 Skull and Bones Raging Tides Update Launches
Skull and Bones Season 1 “Raging Tides” kicked off on February 27 and brings a new pirate enemy, new in-game events, leaderboard rewards, and quality-of-life improvements to make the experience better for players. Season 1 adds a new enemy called the “Plague King,” Philippe La Peste, with his pirate ship, La Potence, and the Fleet of Pestilence.
Players will go against the Fleet of Pestilence’s advance guard called Plaguebringers, who are all over the game world, and defeat them to obtain Plaguebringer Captain Heads. After passing a certain hostility threshold, players will face a “mighty foe” and will need to defeat them to get a “rare item.” There are several seasonal events in Season 1, including two Kingpin Bounties.
The Kingpin Bounties are Jaws of Retribution: Introducing Zamaharibu, which runs from March 5 to March 26; and Anguish from the Abyss: Rode Maangodin, which runs from March 26 to April 16. There are three unique contracts in Skull and Bones Season 1 called The African Ailment, The Pursuing Plague, and The Encroaching Epidemic, and one repeatable contract called Peste Control.
Season 1 also brings the game’s first Battle Pass, called Smugglers Pass, which features rewards such as Healer Barque, Carronade, Wailing Ward, and more. Several gameplay and bug fixes have also been made with the update to improve the game.
Skull and Bones Has Achieved an Engagement Milestone
Alongside the launch of the Skull and Bones Season 1 update, Ubisoft revealed that the game has achieved a new milestone with “record player engagement” since its launch, and players are averaging four hours daily in the game.
This makes Skull and Bones the second most successful launch for Ubisoft. However, it did not reveal any sales records, monthly or daily active players, and also did not mention if these recorded hours were of players playing the 8-hour free trial version of the game or not.
But it would be safe to assume that these may include both paid players and those on free trial. Additionally, Ubisoft’s claim is contrary to the reports of the game losing players after a week of its release.
It remains to be seen if Season 1 will be able to keep the players interested after its less-than-stellar launch. The game has received mixed reviews so far, with FandomWire‘s Daniel Boyd calling the game “dry, jagged, ugly, empty shell left on the plate” in his 4/10 review.
Are you excited about Skull and Bones Season 1? Let us know in the comment section below.
