The game is inspired by the success of the naval combat system in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.
The Premium Edition of the game released on February 13th, 2024, with the Standard Edition releasing three days later.
Dark Horse published a three issue series set in the world called Skull And Bones Savage Storm in 2023.
The game contains examples of:
- Nothing but Skulls: The gameplay videos show that pirate ships can be decorated by placing whole piles of skulls near the bow of the ship.
- Player Death Is Dramatic: The gameplay video shows that defeat shows up a message "Piracy is Dead" in blood-red across the screen.
- Subsystem Damage: Tooltips in the gameplay videos explain that damaging the sails slows down the enemy ship, while damaging the hull either exposes it for boarding, or eventually sends it to the bottom of the sea.
- Villain Protagonist: The trailers emphasize that the player is a merciless pirate captain leading a cutthroat crew as they loot and destroy trading ships and enemy vessels.
