Sea of Thieves has been in development (and part of Microsoft's E3) for a few years, but it's no longer the only current-gen pirate game in town. Using the ship battling mechanics established by Assassin's Creed III and Black Flag, Ubisoft announced Skull & Bones at this year's E3 conference.

Outside of the thematic pirate overlap, the games are fairly different, with the former being more of cooperative pirate simulator, and the latter being more of a ship battling simulator. But that doesn't mean they weren't instantly compared once Ubisoft revealed the game. We spoke with Sea of Thieves design director Mike Chapman during E3 and asked him what he thought of the comparison.

From my perspective, as a pirate fan, as you can imagine, it’s kind of cool that pirates are sort of coming back again almost, you know? They’re such a cool concept, living the pirate life. It’s kind of odd really that there haven’t been that many games. Beyond the pirate theme, we’re very different. It’s not just ship combat. We’re about the romance of being in this pirate world. That thing that is in your head when you read a book like Treasure Island, or watch Pirates of the Caribbean. It’s not just adventures on a ship, it’s adventures on an island. That Goonies-esque exploring and adventure. That’s what we capture. It’s the player’s stories and memories and wrapping it in that tone and humor. A lot of people say we feel kind of similar to Monkey Island, because it’s this welcoming world that’s colorful and we’ve got the humor.

For more on Sea of Thieves, you can watch our full play session from E3 here. For more on Skull & Bones, head here.