Does Skull and Bones have microtransactions?

The pirate’s life is expensive if you’re intending to keep your ship afloat with new designs, colors, and even companions, so let’s see if Ubisoft will use microtransactions to further this idea in Skull and Bones.

It feels like you can’t escape microtransactions anymore. Whereas they used to be an optional entity you could seek out, they now appear front and center of many games. I get it; it makes a developer so much more money, meaning it makes sense for Ubisoft to include microtransactions for Skull and Bones.

There are many different ways you can go about adding more content to your swashbuckling adventure. Pre-order bonuses reward those who committed to the title early, and Twitch drops are goodies if you want to go to extra lengths to absorb Skull and Bones media. But we’re here to answer if microtransactions are yet another way to increase the size of your cosmetic inventory.

Are there microtransactions in Skull and Bones?

It’s been confirmed that Skull and Bones will indeed have microtransactions as part of its ecosystem, with the practice kicking in once season one goes live.

Unlike many other free-to-play live-service titles, such as Overwatch 2 and Fortnite, Skull and Bones will utilize both the ongoing content approach associated with a live-service game while demanding a premium $70 fee for the base title on top of this.

This has caused a ruckus for those considering picking Skull and Bones up, like the controversy over Suicide Squad embracing the live-service formula. But Ubisoft has given justification as to why this is.

During a Q&A session as part of a conference call in February 2024 (as reported by VGC), Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot defended the use of microtransactions alongside Skull and Bones‘ base cost, saying: “It’s a very big game, and we feel that people will really see how vast and complete that game is. It’s a really full, triple… quadruple-A game, that will deliver in the long run.”

The quadruple-A tagline is a strong one from Ubisoft as it declares that Skull and Bones is an ultra-premium, must-own title set for a ton of content down the line to expand its world. The recent open beta has attracted a lot of interest to Skull and Bones, and while some eyebrow-raising features are missing, such as melee combat, there’s promise it can succeed.