Ubisoft brings "Skull and Bones" to Steam
The PC version of "Skull and Bones" is moving from Ubisoft Store to Steam, but an Ubisoft account is still required.
(Image: Ubisoft)
"Skull and Bones" is coming to Steam: The MMO pirate game will be released on the Valve platform on August 22, publisher Ubisoft has announced. The Steam release thus follows six months after the original release.
Until now, the PC version of "Skull and Bones" was only available in the Ubisoft Store. The Steam version could now expand the audience. However, Steam users will also need a Ubisoft account to be able to start the pirate game.
Ubisoft and Steam have a difficult relationship: Ubisoft actually prefers to sell its titles in its own store so as not to have to cede any commission to Steam operator Valve. However, the company does not want to do without the Steam audience either.
Temporary exclusivity has established itself in the industry as a sensible compromise solution: the really interested players buy the title on the developer's platform, while the wider audience can be brought on board at a later date.
Ubisoft's return to Steam
In the meantime, Ubisoft had even turned its back on Steam completely. In 2019, the French publisher began removing its games from Steam. This was followed by a U-turn in 2022, when titles such as "Assassin's Creed Valhalla", "Far Cry 6", "Riders Republic", "Rainbow Six: Extraction" and "Monopoly Madness" were subsequently released on Steam.
As the largest PC platform, Steam has the most users, but demands comparatively high commissions of up to 30 percent - a sum that a Ubisoft manager once described as "unrealistic". In the Epic Games Store, on the other hand, Ubisoft only has to cede 12 percent of the revenue generated by its games. If the French publisher sells the content on its own platform, Ubisoft Connect, it keeps the full amount.
(dahe)