Skull and Bones Reveals Year 3 “Sails of Power” Roadmap for 2026

Skull and Bones is setting course for another year of content as Ubisoft officially unveiled the game’s Year 3 roadmap, titled Sails of Power. The new roadmap outlines the major updates, gameplay systems, and seasonal content planned throughout 2026 as the pirate-themed naval combat title continues evolving after launch.

Year 3 places a stronger emphasis on progression, ship customization, and high-level naval combat, with Ubisoft promising deeper systems designed to give captains more control over how they build and specialize their fleets. Across four new seasons, players can expect additional ships, new weapons, expanded gear options, and fresh challenges spread throughout the Indian Ocean.

Year 3 Season 1 begins on May 12, and it is called Shattered Seas. This season brings new content and challenges to the game, including:

The Galleon – the first large DPS ship with 40 gunports (the most in the game so far).
Two new World Tiers, World Tier 3: Rogue Storms and World Tier 3: Brutal Tempest, where enemies spawn with Seasonal Affixes that force players to adapt their builds and strategy.
A New Seasonal Mastery Tree & Seasonal Perks – allowing players to choose from over 500 nodes to deepen build craft, and loadout specialization.
New Mythic Ascension and Mythic Reforge features – unlocking a new ceiling of progression and allowing players to push their gear beyond current limits.
New Faction War Event: Safeguard – where players will have to defend their manufactories against escalating waves of enemy ships.
New Weapons, Armors, and Furniture, including the Hullcarver Culverin, Needle Shield Armor, and Royal Ramming Works Major Furniture
Time-Limited Events – The Honorless and Moonshine Larceny time-limited events return with a revamped reward lineup.

Additional optimizations include Steam Deck verification and full handheld support for Skull and Bones. It also includes additional optimization for the game to run optimally on lower-end hardware. Following Season 1, additional Year 3 content includes:

New ships, including the Junk and Fluyt, are bringing new playstyles to the fleet.
New feature: Trials, introducing high-pressure and dynamic encounters built around mastery, adaptation, and competition through leaderboards.
New challenges, including Abyssal Depths and new elite bosses, raise the stakes for captains looking for tougher endgame encounters.
Faction War expands further, with some familiar factions joining the fight as the conflict across the Indian Ocean continues to grow.
New Power Progression features, including Mod Transfer and Equipment Sets, give captains more ways to refine and carry forward their builds.

There are also some ongoing quality-of-life improvements for the game, including:

More ships per fleet
Larger party sizes
Improved Smuggler Pass progression
Ship management improvements
UI/UX improvements

Originally developed as a naval spin-off inspired by the ship combat from Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Skull and Bones eventually evolved into a standalone multiplayer pirate experience centered around cooperative and competitive naval warfare. Players command customizable ships while gathering resources, crafting equipment, trading cargo, and battling rival fleets across a dangerous open-world ocean inspired by the Indian Ocean during the Age of Piracy.

According to Ubisoft, Year 3 will continue building on the game’s progression systems by giving players more opportunities to refine combat builds and tailor ships toward different playstyles. The studio is also focusing on expanding combat depth, encouraging captains to experiment with specialized loadouts and advanced tactics during large-scale encounters.

While Ubisoft has not yet detailed every feature in the four upcoming seasons, the roadmap confirms that each seasonal update will introduce new gameplay systems and fresh content to evolve the overall experience throughout the year. New ships and weapons are expected to play a major role in that expansion, potentially adding more strategic variety to both PvE and PvP combat.

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Skull and Bones is now available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via the Ubisoft Store, Steam, and the Epic Games Store. You can also play with Ubisoft+, PlayStation+, Ubisoft Classics, and Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions.

What are you looking forward to playing in Skull and Bones during its Year 3 Season 1, as revealed in its new roadmap? Let us know in the comments section below.