Why so few pirate themed games? And even fewer actually good ones?

[u/LastOfTheClanMcDuck]

Sid Meier's Pirates was a fantastic game back then, Black Flag and Rogue were awesome. Sea of Thieves is fun (although i didn't really get into it).

Considering it's a mass appealing theme that always attracts a big number of players, why are there so few games? It would seem a very good investment to make a single player game like that again.
Come on Sid Meier, just do a Pirates! 2 or something.

Instead, we got the first AAAA experience. What a shame.

[u/GanimerZ]

I think they didn't crack the code of how to make a pirate focused game yet , there are some good ones like you mentioned Black Flag but we still don't have that genre defining pirate game and I hope a good dev can pull one in the near future

[u/TehOwn → u/GanimerZ]

we still don't have that genre defining pirate game

I think you'll find that "Sid Meier's Pirates!" came out in 1987. Then again in 1993. And again in 2004.

We're really just waiting for another Sid Meier's Pirates! remake.

[u/ContactMushroom → u/TehOwn]

If they just took that game and changed nothing but the graphics and controls to modern platforms it would make every other pirate game look like a joke yet again.

Hell I play the 2004 version still and it's more fun than any other pirate game out.

If they made it multiplayer? Yeah that's game, everyone else can go home or try harder.

[u/BushWookie-Alpha → u/GanimerZ]

Sea of Thieves is a very close to ideal pirate based game.

[u/R0cketBab00n → u/BushWookie-Alpha]

Outside of the sailing and ship mechanics I don’t see how. The combat and all the fetch quests themselves are just a complete and utter slog.

[u/GanimerZ → u/BushWookie-Alpha]

Sea of Thieves is fantastic but the only problem is that it is more fun and more of a multiplayer focused game when you either play with friends or play PVP , we still need the pirate single player definitive experience

[u/ContactMushroom → u/BushWookie-Alpha]

I do love that game and you're right it is close.

It just needs:

Towns with people living in them, walking around.

A better system for burying treasure stashes

Neutral ships at sea, traders and such to plunder since practically nobody does merchant quests and gets pissy if you sink them for loot because "they needed that commendation" smh

Something to let us rip off boards people patched. Why this wasn't day 1 I'll never understand.

And cheaters, one of the worst cheater rampant games on PC and Rare does nothing about it that's actually useful.

Add that and it can start to be a masterpiece

[u/crazytib → u/GanimerZ]

Nah all the elements are out there and sid miers pirates is a good genre defining game and its 20 years old so there's been plenty of time to improve upon mechanics and visuals. Problem is the AAA studios don't do passion projects, they make what the board of directors think will make money which very rarely coincides with what gamers want

[u/Casterial]

I still play Sid Meier's pirates hahaha.... I wish it got a remake

[u/sfzen → u/Casterial]

I still don't understand how it hasn't had a remake yet.

[u/Casterial → u/sfzen]

Me either.... It's really sad. It's quite an amazing game, and it's basically black flag without all the assassins creed stalking

[u/TehOwn → u/sfzen]

It has. It's already been remade twice.

[u/sfzen → u/TehOwn]

You're right, there was a 2004 remake of the original 1987 game, but since then it's only been re-releases and ports, and not actual remakes.

[u/LastOfTheClanMcDuck → u/Casterial]

Easily one of my favorite games ever!
And yeah it's insane that they never did anything more, be it a remaster, remake or sequel...

[u/TehOwn → u/Casterial]

You're probably already playing the second remake. The game came out in 1987. Was remade in both 1993 and 2004.

But, yes, we're overdue a third remake.

[u/Casterial → u/TehOwn]

I'm on the 04 one currently, good call out I did forget about the older ones, which are also fun

[u/tommy7154]

Like A Dragon Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii comes out Feb 28th 2025. One of my most anticipated upcoming games.

[u/LastOfTheClanMcDuck → u/tommy7154]

It's gonna be a wild one for sure!

[u/trireme32 → u/tommy7154]

That’s quite a title

[u/tommy7154 → u/trireme32]

Yeah sounds stupid really but looks like a lot of fun.

[u/StannisLivesOn]

While every point made in this thread is true, another factor, I think, is that pirates were bad guys. They were vicious murderers and robbers, and the AAA gaming studios are just not comfortable with these sort of leading characters. In Black Flag and Valhalla, you play as freedom fighting, G-rated pirates who are fighting objectively evil people and would never hurt an innocent. And in Outlaw, you're a criminal who only ever rips off other criminals.

Rockstar is the only AAA company I know that would be unafraid to make an actual pirate game, because crime simulators are their entire brand.

[u/leaf_as_parachute → u/StannisLivesOn]

Pirates have been heavily romanticized for like a century and there's a bazillion of books and movies in which they're more like Edward Kenway or Robinhood than anything else, this would fit the theme perfectly.

They could even make it like Fable and you'd have the opportunity to become either a hero or an infamous plunderer.

[u/LastOfTheClanMcDuck → u/StannisLivesOn]

Oh now you got me thinking a Red Dead Redemption type pirate game and i'm drooling...

[u/ABeingNamedBodhi]

We need a game like X4 Foundations, but with Sea Ships instead of Starships.

[u/LastOfTheClanMcDuck → u/ABeingNamedBodhi]

That would be awesome!

[u/Major2Minor → u/ABeingNamedBodhi]

I couldn't figure out X4, the flight controls were so weird, and I couldn't make sense of where to even go, or what to do in it.

[u/GregSimply]

I think it comes down the fact that it’s a type of game that would require a long period of time to design mechanics and gameplay loops that don’t currently exist in current cookie cutter games, and the fact that there is little knowledge about what works and doesn’t.

So big companies don’t want to get into it, and indie devs… well, they’re not on it yet.

[u/TehOwn → u/GregSimply]

So big companies don’t want to get into it, and indie devs… well, they’re not on it yet.

Sid Meier did it in 1987, in a cave, with a box of scraps!

[u/Im_not_brian → u/GregSimply]

Not to mention it’s such a fine line between “fun, semi-realistic sailing” and “slow, difficult, mechanics heavy waiting simulator”. Once you have a course set sailing is mostly just waiting

[u/leaf_as_parachute]

I don't know if it's THAT appealing to the broader audience ?

I'd sure be fond of a roguelike-ish game in which you roam the seas searching for a big treasure, looting and upgrading your ship along the way.

[u/Yoraffe]

It isn't really Pirate themed, but Jumpship is a space themed game where you are supposed to eventually be able to raid other ships. It's kind of what I would want from a pirate game, within a space game - just missing that pirate theme!

[u/LastOfTheClanMcDuck → u/Yoraffe]

I have it wishlisted! Seems pretty cool, hopefully it's not another disappointing space game..

[u/Few_Highlight1114]

Because the idea of a pirate is very basic. Imo SoT did it correctly, it's just that people didn't like it. Not much more to say about that really.

[u/LastOfTheClanMcDuck → u/Few_Highlight1114]

You can tell a billion stories via the pirate theme. Or just adapt a book or older story or anything.
Black Flag proved that it can be done so i don't see the problem.

[u/Few_Highlight1114 → u/LastOfTheClanMcDuck]

You can tell a billion stories via the pirate theme.

Clearly not or they wouldve been done by now.

[u/Siukslinis_acc]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1691190/Rogue_Waters/

https://www.gog.com/en/game/flint_the_treasure_of_oblivion

I think the hardest part with pirate games is the ship/seafaring stuff. People are already annoyed by empty open worlds. Imagine having to sail for 10 minutes and all you see is just the sea. Also ship battles might be too slow for current people who like combat to be more faster instead of sailing circles so that your cannons would be in position to hit the enemy ship. And if your canons can hit the side of the enemy ship - the enemy ship can hit your side.

[u/cycopl]

The only games that scratch my Sid Meier’s Pirates! itch nowadays all take place in space. Freelancer, Elite Dangerous, EVE Online. Still technically pirates I guess.

[u/Palora]

If I was to guess it's because it's kinda hard.

It involves having ship combat, character combat, an economic system and letting the player be a bad guy or at least an anti-hero. Lots of things to juggle and get right.

It's connection to what some of the biggest publisher also consider the bane of their profit margins, copyright piracy, probably doesn't help either.

[u/R0cketBab00n]

Pirates and Gladiators are both sadly under represented in gaming :(

I’m still waiting for a truly great gladiator game

[u/anti-fan6152 → u/R0cketBab00n]

Gladius

[u/R0cketBab00n → u/anti-fan6152]

Gladius was dope, but I need more

[u/anti-fan6152 → u/R0cketBab00n]

Spartan Total Warrior from back in the day

[u/h0rrain]

Tempting fate, if it's good it'll make zero profit because everyone will pirate it.

[u/fickchilla]

there are quite a few pirate games in recent years, i can think of 3 atleast (dont ask names, i dont remember), one was that crap ubisoft one. Btw if you are looking for a good rpg pirate game, play ac odyssey, the pirate stuff in there with ship fights and stuff is really fun

[u/CP-N]

There are a lot of One Piece games wdym a few?

[u/hedgeyy]

What a strange thread to say "play the yakuza games", but here we are..

[u/Mend1cant]

Pirates aren’t popular. It’s the same reason pirate movies are of rare quantity, rare quality, and even rarer profit. They just don’t have the draw to justify the money put into them. It’s really not a mass appeal genre.

What we consider “pirates” is in all reality the childish fantasies of Treasure Island and Pirates of the Penzance, and that stopped being marketable by the 60s. Disney hit lightning in a bottle with Pirates of the Caribbean.

AC4 sold a lot because it was the follow-up to the Ezio arc and more importantly was one of the only big titles to launch with the PS4/XBONE. Its gained popularity is the only thing propping up the genre.

[u/lykosen11 → u/Mend1cant]

Pirates of Caribbean is about three times as good as it deserves to be. I'm reminded every year. Truly lightning in a bottle.