The much maligned Skull and Bones might have gotten off to a shaky start (to say nothing of its agonisingly prolonged development), but this is a Ubisoft live service game — and that means it's getting major post-launch support.

The publisher has released a new video in which the developers talk through their plans for the game's second year, and they're adding a lot of new features, updates, and fan-requested content to entice players to set sail once again.

Season 1, which begins today, 15th April 2025, introduces a new item ascension feature. When you ascend an item of loot, it will gain randomised perks and modifiable slots, essentially giving your equipment unique qualities.

World Tiers allows players to take on trials to gain access to higher difficulty challenges, and a new ship, the schooner, is also coming to the game. There are also new features coming to the Helm Empire portion of Skull and Bones, including a new upgrade tree.

Finally, Season 1 introduces Death Tides, a new team-based PvP mode.

Season 2 comes in the summer and adds a new threat in the form of an enormous fort, and to help combat it, will also add the frigate, a much larger ship class.

Autumn will bring Season 3, adding a rogue warlord you'll fight back against using Officers, which add various buffs to your crew and improve various attributes of your sailing and combat.

Perhaps the biggest change of year two is Season 3's introduction to land combat; from the brief gameplay shown, it allows you to fight on terra firma using a combination of swords and guns.

Season 4 rounds things off in the winter with the addition of a new threat: the kraken. Additionally, hunting will get an overhaul, and a new ship type, the corvette, will support that.

On top of all this, a patch will be coming soon to implement support for PS5 Pro, though no details were shared on what that will look like.

A free weekend, from 17th to 21st April, will be available for new players to give the game a try, and it'll also be reduced in price during that time.

What do you think of all these updates coming to Skull and Bones? Set sail in the comments section below.

[source youtube.com]