The MMORPG will launch in summer 2006 alongside the next film in the series, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. The game will be developed internally by the "Walt Disney Internet Group’s acclaimed VR Studio," the same shop responsible for Disney Online's other MMORPG, Toontown Online. No specific platforms for the game were announced, nor was a pricing structure laid out.

Disney Online describes Pirates of the Caribbean Online as "a world of high seas action and adventure where players will personalize their own pirate character and organize with other players to form a pirate crew." Unlike most other pirate games, Disney's MMORPG will incorporate the supernatural elements of the films, allowing players to "embark on swashbuckling missions to battle both each other and the evil, undead pirates of the high seas."