Ubisoft said when it announced the high-seas swashbuckling sim Skull and Bones that the game will support both solo and co-op play—"Raid the Hunting Grounds alone or group with other players to hunt larger prey," to be precise—but the focus was clearly on the multiplayer side of things. For those of you who don't like to share the booty, or get ganked by tricked-out frigates, there will be a proper single-player campaign included as well.
"[Skull and Bones] will offer a narrative campaign which will be integrated into the game and will not be something aside of the multiplayer experience. In this campaign, players will encounter iconic characters and memorable rival pirates. More details will be shared at a later date," a rep said.
As for the E3 demo, "We only showed Loot Hunt, one of our PvP modes in Disputed Waters," the rep continued. "We like to say that this is just the tip of the iceberg of what we have to show for Skull & Bones."
Skull and Bones sounds like it could be a lot of fun: Tim described that demo as "charging around the sea, swinging your ship about to deliver spectacular volleys of cannon fire, and using your ram like an enraged narwhal" in his E3 preview, and that absolutely sounds like my kind of nautical videogame. But gamers cannot live on multiplayer alone, and since Sid Meier doesn't seem likely to return to this particular sub-genre anytime soon, I'm glad that Ubisoft is picking up the slack. Skull and Bones is due to set sail in the fall of 2018.