Skull and Bones kicked off Waves of Change today, an in-game charity event raising money for ocean preservation. Running through March 31, the event is a chance for any player, including those participating in Skull and Bones' free trial, to contribute simply by sinking enemy ships. For every Skirmisher and Headhunter that is defeated, and every time Philippe La Peste is sunk, Ubisoft will add to the donation pool - and the more difficult the enemy, the greater the contribution will be.
"Waves of Change was mainly born of the team's desire to get involved in environment preservation," says Jonathan Bendel, Ubisoft senior creator campaigns manager. "We considered Skull and Bones a playground to illustrate this purpose and make our vision match with our objective to keep players engaged in the game."
A dedicated website will track daily progress towards the €300,000 goal, allowing players to track their combined contributions. Additionally, participants can earn the in-game Pioneer cosmetic set as a reward. All proceeds will go towards Oceana, an international organization dedicated to ocean conservation that has worked with Ubisoft on past events.
"Oceana is an amazing partner, and their mission is directly linked to the main feature of Skull and Bones: our playground, oceans," says Bendel. "It's a perfect match."
"The oceans are in trouble because of human-caused threats like climate change, plastic pollution, overfishing, and habitat destruction," says Jon Frank, Oceana's director of global corporate and celebrity partnerships. "Thankfully, they are resilient too. We hope Waves of Change inspires people to join Oceana and help us rebuild abundant and biodiverse oceans."
Ubisoft is a founding member of the Playing for the Planet Alliance, an organization of gaming studios dedicated to reducing the environmental impact of the videogame industry. According to Bendel, the hope for Waves of Change and similar in-game events is not only to raise money, but also to highlight Oceana's mission, educate players about the impact humans have on Earth, and help more people realize it's time to act.
"By playing a videogame that features in-game oceans, you have a concrete impact on real-life seas," says Bendel. "And that's pretty exciting!"
Skull and Bones is out now for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC through Ubisoft Connect. Purchase the game today at the Ubisoft Store, or get access to the Premium Edition with a Ubisoft+ Premium subscription.
