Thery're not really comparable, apart from being about pirates in the Age of Sails.

That said, and as someone who really likes games from that period (most of the good ones are quite old and on PC), I find Skull and Bones to be arcadey garbage with ridicilous sailing and damage models - I felt this about Black Flag as well, so I admit I'm biased against it from the very start.

Sea of Thieves look interesting, but I guess it depends a lot on people with whom you play it with....maybe even too much.

Sea of theives looks like its a sandbox world where theres not "winners" you all just make up your own goals and chase that.

Skull & bones, looks like a moba stype team vs team pvp match system, probably with esports & ranking lists ect.

They are very differnt games, even if they both have pirates.

If I can't loot, pillage and steal then how the fuck am I playing a pirate game

Niether are out yet so we don't know for sure. I will say Ubisoft showed "gameplay" on stage. Well prepare for a downgrade. Ubisoft game is also online right? So 90% of the user base will not be playing it in a couple months. So probab;y not.

Well, yeah. That hadn't even crossed my mind. It's basically world of ships, old school!

Well Skull & Bones has VOC ships so that's already more interesting to me.

It can be played singleplayer, they only showed a 5v5 pvp mode for some reason. But apparently it's an open-world game that can be played single player, other players may drop in to your instance, don't know if this can be turned off or not, I assume it's not always-online so probably.

Q: Does SKULL & BONES include a single player campaign?

"We are building a narrative system which is completely integrated in the game and will not be something aside of the multiplayer experience. You will encounter iconic characters and memorable rival pirates. More details about the single player campaign will be shared at a later date."

"in Skull & Bones, you are an insatiable, upstart pirate captain who has refused the king’s pardon. Having nothing to lose, you sailed from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, an exotic and untamed frontier full of lavish riches. However, these rich and idyllic waters are also a battleground where far-reaching colonial empires, powerful trading corporations, and ruthless pirate gangs are fiercely competing for their share of these valuable treasures. During your journey to become the ultimate pirate kingpin, you will build a fleet of ships you can customize, prey upon lucrative trade routes, and take down rival pirate captains, memorable characters, or other players. In order to survive in this ruthless ocean, you will have to ally with other pirate captains to form the most influential pirate gang, becoming too big to fail and joining the endless struggle for supremacy of the Indian Ocean.”

So it sounds like in the openworld main game it's just instancing with other players, why they decided to show the 5v5 multiplayer mode is beyond me.

Of course it has. Skull and bones looks like a proper AAA pirate game and it actually looks really fun. Sea of thieves looks like an indie title that would get boring pretty quickly.

I get black flag vibes off skull and bones. Super hyped for a first proper pirate game on consoles since black flag.

What this one said, most unbiased approach to this I seen of just showcasing the two very different games. 

Yeah, Skull and Bones lacks personality and charm,, let alone allowing you to do all that Sea of Thieves allows you to do.

S&B Looks pretty good graphically and MP should be fun at first, but it could get pretty boring quickly. Could be like For Honor it its as sterile and clinical, where its forgotten the week post release.