If you thought that Ubisoft’s Skull and Bones pirate MMO wasn’t going to have lootboxes, seriously, what rock are you living under? (And is it comfy? And can you maybe scoot over and make room for the rest of us?)
In a new interview with Gamespot, Ubisoft creative director Justin Farren says that the studio is going for “more of a service-based approach so that when you pay for this game, you have a commitment from us to develop content, new gameplay, modes, new content for the player to earn, and then of course, new regions to explore, and those things will unfold as the game launches and provide service over time.”
“We don’t want to create pay to win,” he says. “We don’t want to create something where players have to pay to compete. Our PvP is completely horizontal in a way that gives players a chance to develop their skills and compete against other players.”
But Overwatch-style lootboxes are definitely still on the table.
“Our economy emulates the real economy of the Indian Ocean, so things that are important to the people who are shipping goods, the merchants, … the empires, those things are important to you. There’s nothing more pirate-y than the treasure chest. […] What I don’t want to players to feel it is, that it’s some abstraction from the fantasy. It should feel like the things that you’re hunting, using your spyglass to see the things that are on board, should directly relate to the things that you need.”
The interview also touches on PvP, ocean hazards, ememy boardings, community feedback, the company’s “Keepers” superfan group, parallels to Assassin’s Creed, and live events. The company announced Skull and Bones back at E3; don’t miss our hands-on with it from the show!
