Ubisoft shows off Skull and Bones' "narrative gameplay" in new devstream

Following this week’s announcement of yet another delay for Skull and Bones, Ubisoft has shared 30 minutes of new footage from its beleaguered pirate adventure, focusing on what it calls the game’s “narrative gameplay”.

It’s perhaps something of an unexpected place to return after a lengthy absence, given Ubisoft insisted Skull and Bones was “not a narrative-driven game” last summer, but it does at least give players a better idea of how the publisher is attempting to inject a bit of variety into its action.

As Ubisoft explained last year, Skull and Bones is overwhelmingly focused on sailing and combat, with players only able to disembark their ships and explore dry land at a limited number of locations, defined as outposts. Functionally, outposts serve as places players can trade, cash in contracts, pay off factions, and meet other players – but, as detailed in Ubisoft’s latest gameplay devstream, they’re also locations where they might find narrative content Ubisoft is calling “investigations”.