Developer Update: Steam Next Fest, New Story Details and More!

Fellow Swashbucklers,

We have some important news to share as well as new details about the game's story, so let's get right to it...

Steam Next Fest and Release Plans

We're pleased to announce the Buccaneers! prologue will be playable in the upcoming Steam Next Fest in February!

The festival runs from 21st - 28th Feb and will feature the final version of the prologue, building upon all your feedback from previous demos.

To avoid clashing with this event, we've pushed back the full game's release by 11 days (previously 24th Feb).

The new release dates are

- Buccaneers!

The New Age of Piracy (Prologue)

2nd March - Buccaneers! (Full game): 7th March

Development is still on schedule, and we're working hard to add the final touches to the game before release.

Story Details

We've kept the key details of the game's story under wraps for a long time, and while we're not going to dive into all the specifics now, we wanted to explain how things will work when you first load up the full game. Starting a new campaign will present you with this menu with a few options to customise your experience:

First, we've added some options to change your name and skin colour, letting you personalise your character. You can choose different names and colours for each playthrough if you wish.

Next, you can choose whether to play the prologue quest before jumping into the main story. The prologue teaches you how to play and sets the stage for the main story, so you should only skip this if you play the standalone prologue before the full game launches!

Finally, you can turn tutorials on or off to make subsequent playthroughs more streamlined. Again, you should only turn them off once you have played the story at least once!

The prologue now leads straight into the start of the main story, and once you get past the intro sequence (we won't spoil it here!), you will be able to join whichever faction you want:

Selecting each faction reveals more details about their unique ship upgrades as well as some context for why you might want to join them. You cannot change your mind once you join one, but you can choose differently each time you start a new campaign, so feel free to experiment to find the one that best fits your playstyle!

We won't give too much more away now, but throughout the story, you will acquire bigger ships, build up your fleet, capture towns and battle powerful enemies. You will also meet some notable NPCs along the way - some helpful, some less so - as you make a name for yourself in a Caribbean consumed by war.

More to Come

We'll have more news and announcements in the coming weeks as we get closer to release, so watch this space. Be sure to join our Discord and add the game to your wishlist if you haven't done so already!

Happy pirating! 🏴‍☠️