Land ho, ye salty sea dogs, Skull and Bones is finally here (and so’s a surprising demo)

Ubisoft’s pirate epic Skull and Bones has indeed finally arrived at retail for consoles and PC, and even has a 8 hour free trial.

No, that’s not a misprint

Are you sold on Ubisoft’s piratical, sea-faring adventure, Skull and Bones? Well, other way honestly, we have some good news for you. First, as you already likely know, Skull and Bones has finally arrived in stores and on digital shops for consoles and the PC. But it’s the second half of this release news that’s way more interesting.

Namely, that piece of info comes in the form of a fully playable eight hour long demo for the highly anticipated title. Yeah, you read right, eight hours of play time are included in this playable ‘teaser’, which posted on February 16th. And lest you think it’s ‘probably restricted in some way’, think again. Ubi says that the demo is loaded up with “unrestricted gameplay”.

Prospective fans will be able to “embark on epic voyages, engage in intense naval battles, and explore the vast expanse of the open seas for a total of 8 hours of gameplay”. As if that’s not cool enough, any progress that you make in that free trial will carry over to the main game, if you should buy in.

The trial is available for download via the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and the PC, via either Ubisoft’s own Store and Epic Games Store. Still not sure if you wanna dive into Skull and Bones’ take on pirating in the Indian Ocean? Check out the latest trailer below…

Skull and Bones is inspired by the Indian Ocean during the tumultuous second Golden Age of Piracy. Players enter a chaotic and ruthless era of pirates as warring factions are all vying for power on the lawless seas. Although anyone can head into the treacherous waters on their own, players can easily form groups of up to 3 players out in the open seas as they battle powerful Mega-corporations, pirate hunters, local factions rival pirates and more.

Ubisoft press release