Skull and Bones Year 3 DevStream AMA Highlights Notes (14th May 2026)

Following the Year 3 Devstream, it was important for us to sit down with the community and answer questions directly. So we joined r/SkullAndBonesGame for a full AMA covering what lies ahead for Skull and Bones.

In case you’ ve missed the AMA, we’ve pulled together some of the key questions that can give you more context and explain the direction of Year 3 and the thinking behind it. For the full AMA thread, click here. Links to the original message are added.

Q (u/degigikroket):
When will we get some new things to do? In Y1 we got each season a story with new bosses and their fleet. I dont want to play the same bosses over and over again with a new ship.

A (Sam Quek, u/Abyssal_Kwaken):
For Y3S2 we are looking to bring new enemies that will make their impact felt in gameplay mechanics, as well as new world activity(s) that also expand on the story and stage of Skull and Bones. It will continue to build up till what we have in store later in the year. We understand how it seems like Y3S1 is more of the same, but the change in how a season and content is played through does change. New stories and bosses in plans, we just needed to set the stage a little.

Q (u/Wysteria_SeaKriger):
I have invested 7000+ hours into Skull&Bones because I love this game, and I’ve built a community here through that dedication. Here we are now, entering Year 3 with yet again a lack of foundational content, and my concern has reached peak heights…

The core of this game is at its best when shared, yet the roadmap seems to be moving toward a solo grind rather than the social and structural depth that brings players together.

I know the roadmap for “Sails of Power” is set, but is there any possibility that More Storage, Map Expansion, Core Social features+social management tools, more PVP and PVE Content (new, improved, and rewarding) are being worked on behind the scenes for later in Year 3, or is the scope of Skull&Bones staying where it is?

A (Alexis, u/Cpt_Aodh):
Hello and thank you for your passion and the time you took to share your concerns with us.

Foundational content is exactly where our focus is going to be moving forward, but as I'm sure you'll agree, there are a lot of areas that require our attention.

The intention behind the seasonal mastery tree isn't just to give players a way to increase their power - it's meant to give more different ways to do so, and have more variety to develop different playstyles. Through a higher variety of playstyles, we hope to also develop more synergies between ships, and more reasons for players to play in a group setting.

We also understand "more world tiers" isn't something the community directly asked for. And our goal here isn't to just add 2 more difficult world tiers on top of what we have. The purpose is really to streamline the seasonal power progression, and give all players (new and veterans alike) a better sense of progression with every season. New World Tiers will eventually bring with them new enemies and content that will justify the need for you to progress through the seasonal mastery tree and experiment with different loadouts/playstyles, whether you play solo or as a group.

PvP is yet another topic we'd like to revisit at some point, but doing so inevitably requires us to revisit our core gameplay loop in PvE first - which is what we are doing with Year 3.

Faction War is also something we want to build upon, for now mostly reusing existing game mechanics and systems, to slowly expand into new territories in the future (which could include Faction PvP).

About your main question - you will notice our roadmap for Y3 is set but only for Y3S1. The rest is very clearly indicated as "In Development for Year 3". This is intentional as we want to give ourselves the flexibility to adjust our plans according to your feedback and potentially add/reprioritise certain topics if we feel confident in our ability to deliver on time and at the level of quality that you expect from us.

Map Expansion would require a significant amount of work if we want to do it right, which is why it is not a priority at the moment, but not off the table entirely for the future.

Storage is something we're actively and continuously working on to address, knowing we can't increase warehouse space indefinitely.

Core Social Feature is also a top priority - a few things will come throughout the year and we are actively looking into having more of that in Year 4 (including potentially clans, guilds and group PvP content).

Long story short - we are very aware of and aligned with all the features, content and improvements you feel the game needs, and will progressively work to address all of it - but we can't do everything all at once.

Q (u/zupzero307):
How big is the Team working on skull and bones and how big was it at year 1? Did the development of the ac black flag resynced impact the team?

A (Alexis, u/Cpt_Aodh):
We don't communicate publicly about team sizes in general across Ubisoft, but I can reassure you that the team working on Assassin's Creed: Black Flag - Resynced is a completely different team that was put together a few years ago already when they started working on the project.

We share office space, and some people move across projects, but we are on a very different trajectory since we've launched 2 years ago already!

Q (u/magsical_):
In the Keepers/Content Creator video it was mentioned the game is taking a more community oriented direction. I'm not speaking for everyone, just an observation of mine, but given how nothing you showcased today (aside from the Galleon, cheese and hippo nuggets) was nothing pretty much anyone in the community asked for, how will you work towards what we ARE asking for, such as map expansion, clans/guilds (and subsequently clan wars), and new content, new stuff to do, not just the same stuff we've had for two years, only harder this time. People are asking for map expansions and content, not skill trees and world tiers.

A (Alexis, u/Cpt_Aodh):
Looking at community feedback, we hear very clearly that the community is starving for new activities to do, not just with every season, but within the seasons itself. Based on your feedback, we believe the way we have been releasing that content in the last 2 years isn't enough to keep you all engaged and entertained for a whole season. But we also know we can't realistically release a new Megafort, or a new Kraken, or even just a new world event every couple of weeks or months, due to the amount of time it takes us to create that content in the first place.
Not to mention the issues that arose from us focusing on delivering new content with every season (bugs and stability).

Same goes with Map Expansions or new features like Clans/Guilds. To make sure these kinds of addition work well within the game, they need to come with a real purpose - new contracts, new activities, or even open world, Faction PvP. Essentially a goal to work towards, and not just adding new content for the sake of adding new content.

For all these reasons (and other related to power progression) we felt it was necessary for us to revisit the way our seasonal formula works. The new Seasonal Mastery Tree, together with the reworked & additional World Tiers, are designed to give players something to work towards: new challenges, more variety (enemies' behaviour will change and evolve depending on the world tier but also with every new season) but also new content (some of the new world tiers will feature new types of enemies and factions), to ensure you have content to engage with throughout the entire season. This is our main focus for Year 3 and Year 3 Season 1 more specifically, and should get us in a more comfortable position to release new and better content in the future (such as The Abyss for example, which is designed to be a completely different type of experience).

Regarding Faction War, we are progressively bringing new Factions to it such as the Hubac Twins or Li Tian Ning. We are also exploring the possibility to add a completely new faction that is not yet in the game - but we're not ready yet to commit to it 100% due to the significant amount of work this will require.

Think of Year 3 and Year 3 Season 1 in particular as a season for us to revisit and strengthen our core gameplay loop, improve the naval combat experience, so that we can then bring new and more engaging content to the game in the future without falling short of your expectations.

Q (u/Individual_Range_270):
After Year 3 will the support continue for Skull and Bones and are we gonna still get new content in Year 4? I love this game so much.

A (Sam Soh, u/Ubi-Tideturner):
As long as we have the support of the community, we will work to deliver what the community wants (and expects) for as many years as possible.

Q (u/ComfySeafarer710):
How will the difficulty change/be scaled between the world tiers? Any new bosses/events/ways to play?

A (Cole, u/McChickies):
With the introduction of skill trees for the player and its potential for any gameplay you desire, difficulties between the World Tiers are tuned to continue being an active challenge for the players. That said, we are actively monitoring, improving and looking into different ways of introducing more gameplay challenges and depth throughout the entirety of the game and especially throughout the different World Tiers. With the coming of Year 3, new bosses, events and definitely new ways to play are all on the way. Keep your spyglass at the ready for more news!

Q (u/Jackss1990):
About Seasonal Mastery-will it reset every season?

A (Sam Soh, u/Ubi-Tideturner):
It will be reset every season as the perks, buffs, and layout will change each season. But as we understand the Helm reset was not too popular in Year 2, we have a few mitigations:

Q (u/philosophize):
What will be the requirements to achieve ship rank 17 in Year 3? The same as currently?

A (Sam Soh, u/Ubi-Tideturner):
Same as before. Additionally, nodes from the Seasonal Mastery grant ship rank points so you can hit higher ship ranks much more easily now. A \

Q (u/HorrorCertain5593):
Due to the introduction of more tiers, won't it split the playerbase more?

A (Sam Soh, u/Ubi-Tideturner):
Given our current player base numbers, introduction of new world tiers will not see a reduction in average server population. Most of the time when players feel that their server is empty, it is most likely the case that the server has been running for some time already. We have a time limit on the server beyond which no new players will be matchmade into these to improve technical reliability, but we should not see a lower amount of players per server.

Q (u/Alternative_Past_265):
Will Seasonal Mastery have anything to push back against the meta? Or are meta builds just going to leave no room for creative buildcrafting?

A (Jeremy, u/Abyssal_McFishie):
With the introduction of Seasonal Mastery, we aim to introduce new and unique perks each season with the intention of promoting a variety of builds and playstyles.
While we have no doubt that a few builds will rise to the top of the meta, we are also designing perks aimed at elevating underutilized ships and unconventional but interesting playstyles. While these may not be the optimal choice to bring to an endgame level activity like the Kraken, they will be viable in most content even in the higher World Tiers.
Coupled with the deeper combat system changes (lovingly called Combat 2.0) we are planning further in the year, this will allow Builds to be even more flexible and diverse.

Q (u/SkyKiller):
Any plans on changing how aggro works so tank ships have a chance to be more relevant in group content?

A (Stanley, u/McDuckie-):
Yes, there are on-going exploration works to make aggro more visible to all players and more tools available for tank so that they are more reliable in group content.

Q (u/ShieldMadien357):
Will the frigate be receiving any more guns in the future?

A (Jeremy, u/Abyssal_McFishie):
As part of our focus on further developing the Naval Combat systems, we will be taking a look at existing ships and updating them where necessary to give them a place in the new meta. We may review the frigate as part of this process.

Q (u/Striking-Rip-4874):
When you mention "focusing on the core gameplay of naval combat" in Y3, what specifically does this refer to?

A (Sam Soh, u/Ubi-Tideturner):
We're reviewing the design of status effects, damage calculation, and ship rank in general and whether these systems are still relevant or accurate. For example, status effects cannot be stacked once applied to enemies, which limits our ability to go deeper into combat design. We've done a deep study of damage calculation and noticed some systems don't interact too well with each other. For ship rank, we want it to be a more accurate representation of your ship's DPS, survivability, and utility rather than just a level system.

Q (u/MalodorousFiend):
What will be the primary mode of acquiring the mats for Mythic Ascensions? (Please, for the love of god don't say grinding the Kraken.)

A (Jeremy, u/Abyssal_McFishie):
Mythic Ascension will require the new material Nightshade Pearl, which can be obtained from a variety of sources. They will begin dropping in WT3 and can be found in Time-Limited Events, Domains, Mythic Bosses, and the Kraken in order of drop amounts. On a related note, Deep Iron drops have also been added and will now be available in smaller amounts starting from WT2 from the same sources.

Q (u/helen4952):
Currently there are 3 levels I believe of increased ascended drops. How will transfer work with these? Will we be able to transfer increased drops across weapons to one which originally did not have an increased slot?

A (Sam Quek, u/Abyssal_Kwaken):
Mod Transfer will transfer the mod exactly as is onto a recipient weapon. The recipient weapon will just needs to be compatible (Same weapon with the receiving slot unlocked). The transfer also does not need reforge counts so have no worries transferring in mods to your favorite weapon which has been depleted.

We are looking into more ways to improve the Mods situation, including but not limited to Mod extraction or even targeted mod forging so you will not have to keep as many weapons in the warehouse. At the very least we hope that with mod transfers, the number of additional weapons kept just for restarting the entire process of getting the ideal weapon can be improved, give player agency and improve the warehouse.

Q (u/CaptainCerebus):
Are the transfer of mods unlimited?

A (Stanley, u/McDuckie-):
The weapon that has its mod transferred out will be destroyed. Otherwise, yes, the service is unlimited as long as you have the materials.

Q (u/Fit_Appointment991):
Will we receive more ships like the galleon (size and art style) in the next years?

A (Sam Soh, u/Ubi-Tideturner):
(not in order) Galleon, Flyut, War Junk, Dungiyah, Granado. Many new large ships in the next few seasons to round up the variety of ship sizes, but we want to release Small and Medium ships once in a while where it makes sense.

Q (u/DrewHammer):
Are we getting more QoL like removing the cranes from some ships? Pennants and studding sails coming still?

A (Alexis, u/Cpt_Aodh):
An option to remove cranes is indeed coming with Y3S2. For pennants, I know it's still being discussed/looked into!

Q (u/MrLayIngLou08):
We have the option to name our ship, but the name cannot be placed on the backside/plate of the ship-is it possible to change it to our custom ship names?

A (Sam Quek, u/Abyssal_Kwaken):
The designs of the titles on the Ship Plates are usually themed and custom to the frame, which makes dynamic nameplates more challenging. However, I'm interested to know if we can make plates with customizable names but they will need to have a generic font-is that okay? No promises but we have been agonizing over ship plates as well.

Q (u/Puzzleheaded-Rise8):
What is to be the future of PvP with regards to the existing Death Tides and PvP events in the Indian Ocean, and the tease of a PvP World Tier?

A (Sam Soh, u/Ubi-Tideturner):
For now we're prioritizing the PvE experience, but given the feedback we have received regarding the wish for open-world PvP in new world tiers, we're seeing how we can incorporate some PvP into our upcoming plans.

Q (u/Fluffy_Himself):
Give DT some love and bring back 6v6 and some balance. Maybe some decent open Pvp in faction wars. Why is pvp abandoned? Players stopped because of queue being broke. And despite damage going from bad to worse as fights lasted less and less time (one shot mechanics).

A (Sam Soh, u/Ubi-Tideturner): We've made a change to make Death Tides 3v3 some time back, and this was part of an effort to reduce queue times amidst a declining PVP population. Today, we have a very small subset of players that are still engaging in PVP. While we want to improve PVP in the future, our focus now is on improving the PVE experience. Instead of diverting dev resources to PVP, we want to fully concentrate on ensuring that the PVE experience is more polished.

A (Sam Quek, u/Abyssal_Kwaken): We are not giving up on both DT and PVP in the game. As pointed out, there are various factors that are not ideal including the mentioned one shot mechanics. Thus Combat 2.0 is a high priority for us as it impacts all content in the game, provide greater variety and more meaningful toys for everyone and puts combat (including PVP) into a better spot so we can improve DT and also prepare for new content (PVEVP Abyss Expedition) to be made possible.

Q (u/App1e8l6):
What happened to officers and the hunting mechanics?

A (Sam Soh, u/Ubi-Tideturner):
Officers - still being planned and being worked on at an early stage; we've had to reprioritize our resources on some features, but it is not cut.
Hunting mechanics - not a priority at the moment.

At its core, our Year 3 roadmap is built around the reason many players fell in love with Skull and Bones in the first place: sailing the seas and naval combat.

That’s why so much of Year 3 is focused on strengthening that experience: improving the core gameplay loop, making combat deeper and more rewarding, creating a more streamlined power progression, and bringing greater variety in both content and challenges.

From Seasonal Mastery and World Tiers to Combat 2.0, stronger build diversity, and the new enemies and activities coming later in the year, Year 3 Season 1 is designed as the foundation for everything that comes next.

We’re also evolving how we communicate about the future of the game. Transparency remains important to us, but we also want to be careful not to overpromise. Our goal is to focus on delivering the features and improvements players care about most, while giving ourselves the flexibility to adapt based on your feedback and the immediate needs of the game.

Big thanks to everyone who joined the AMA, asked questions, and continues helping shape the future of the Indian Ocean.

Keep your spyglass ready, there’s more on the horizon!

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