Regardless of being a live-service multiplayer recreation, Cranium & Bones can be priced at $70 when it’s launched subsequent week and won’t be a free-to-play recreation. In its newest monetary earnings name, Ubisoft has defined why the sport has adopted a premium relatively than a free-to-play mannequin.
Cranium & Bones is a “quadruple-A recreation”
In the course of the monetary earnings name, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot was requested why Cranium & Bones could be a $70 recreation, probably limiting the dimensions of its participant base versus if the sport had adopted a free-to-play mannequin. Guillemot replied that Cranium & Bones is a “quadruple-A recreation” whose scale is sufficiently big to justify the value tag:
You will notice that Cranium and Bones is a fully-fledged recreation. It’s a really large recreation, and we really feel that individuals will actually see how huge and full that recreation is. It’s a extremely full, triple… quadruple-A recreation, that can ship in the long term.
Ubisoft’s post-launch plans for the primary yr of launch embrace 4 seasons of content material that pit gamers towards Legendary Pirate Lords like Philippe La Peste and the Hubac Twins. Different challenges embrace Service provider Convoys, Elite Warships, and different predators, with the larger challenges resulting in larger rewards. There may also be free time-limited occasions with extra loot on provide.
The writer expects Cranium & Bones to be one of many causes for file annual web bookings through the subsequent monetary quarter. Ubisoft additionally stays assured within the efficiency of Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown whereas upcoming free-to-play multiplayer shooter XDefiant is anticipated to make a restricted contribution after its launch this yr.
The Cranium & Bones open beta begins right this moment, February 8, and it’s the one time gamers are going to get to strive the sport totally free earlier than its launch. Till February 11, gamers on PS5, Xbox Collection X|S, and PC can earn 5 unique rewards like distinctive ship cosmetics, an emote, a weapon, and a Pandal Lemur pet. Development is capped at Infamy Tier 6, however this may be carried over to the total recreation when it’s launched on February 16.