News, updates and info from the Sea of Thieves.

Behind the Scenes: The Pirate Emporium

Exchange real coins for Ancient Coins. Behind the Scenes Videos
In this Behind the Scenes video Jon McFarlane is joined by Joe Neate to discuss the upcoming addition of The Pirate Emporium in Sea of Thieves. Watch the video above for the full run down. As always, if you don’t have time to watch the video we’ve included a full summary below. The Pirate Emporium The Pirate Emporium is an additional revenue stream to help the continual development of Sea of Thieves. The core ideas behind the Emporium are to “never sell power”, no separation of players, completely optional, and no loot boxes or random chance items. To make purchases…

Behind the Scenes: Pets

Who’s a good monkey? Behind the Scenes Videos
In this Behind the Scenes video Jon McFarlane is joined by Mike Chapman and Josh Mitchell to discuss the upcoming addition of Pets in Sea of Thieves. Watch the video above for the full run down. As always, if you don’t have time to watch the video we’ve included a full summary below. Mike loved the idea that pets could “become a sidekick” and “feel like another member of the crew”. At launch the available pets will be Monkeys (Capuchins & Barbarys) and Parrots (Macaws & Parakeets). Pets can be named and dressed in outfits, and each breed of pet will have…

Official Adventure Q&A

Mike Chapman, Joe Neate and Ryan Stevenson answer questions from the community. Roundups
On Monday the Sea of Thieves community team hosted a Q&A with Joe (EP), Mike (Design Director) and Ryan (Art Director). I’ve collected all of the answered questions below, lightly edited. You should note that a small handful of questions were answered with jokes, or in a decidedly ambiguous fashion – these have been omitted from this roundup, but you can go looking for them here.     Q: Are there any secrets in the game that seemingly no one has found? Mike: There are definitely dots to connect that no one has realised yet.   Q: Could setting bounties…

Duke’s Black Market

Save your doubloons. News
Drew Stevens, a senior producer on Sea of Thieves, has been encouraging Redditors to save their doubloons for some time now. [The Reaper’s Chest will be] our first repeatable reward that delivers Doubloons! It’s almost like you should be saving up for something… Now we know how that will broadly shake out. On this week’s Dev Update, Joe Neate filled us in on Duke’s Black Market, which will arrive in the game with the September update. Duke will sell new cosmetics, as well as variations on previously time-limited sets, for doubloons. Variations of outpost items (the ones that are permanent…

Fire, exclamation mark

Noted leaker James “BIGsheep” Thomas spills the beans again. Tidbits
Attentive Sea of Thieves watchers will know Rare developer, James “BIGsheep” Thomas, as the man whose belligerence gave us mermaid gems, and who also accidentally confirmed parrots as pets on a live stream that time. Well, pirates, he’s done it again. On this week’s weekly stream, James glanced at the chat, and then spilled the beans: I think the biggest thing we’ve announced that’s coming soon is fire Andy Preston quickly looked at him, saying “Is that announced yet?” James: “Are you kidding me?” The reactions are priceless. Look out it's happened again. 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/uJb3z8XeV6 — Sea of News 🏴‍☠️📜🎣…

This… is… Sparta!

Getting the full Spartan ship set has never been easier. News
In June, Rare revealed the Spartan ship set as part of E3. Obtaining the set was as easy as playing Sea of Thieves at least once over a few days. And now it’s back, this time with cannons, capstan and wheel in tow! Obtaining the set is, once again, a walk in the park: set sail on the seas any time from August 20th-24th, either Adventure or Arena. Play Sea of Thieves at any time during Gamescom next week (August 20th-24th) to earn the complete @Halo Spartan Ship Set! Already have the items from E3? This will add the wheel,…

Dev Update (video)

The August release, Dark Relics, and a little bit more. Dev Update Videos
Hooray, this month’s release is here! Here’s a summary of all of Joe’s utterances: Monthly Updates Moving forward, the game update will happen on the 2nd Wednesday of every month (meaning the next update will be the 11th of September). With this in mind, players will know when to expect new content and voyages, as well as being aware of the end dates of each event. Dark Relics The Dark Relics voyages, commendations and rewards are all time-limited. The Reapers Chest This chest will appear around the world, signalled by glowing, swirling lights. When you bring it aboard, all other…

Release Notes – 2.0.6

Dark Relics! Mercenary Releases
[Link] Dark Relics Duke has been asked for help by the Order of Souls! Despite boosting their arsenal with gunpowder kegs last month, the Order found themselves raided by a nefarious crew of skeletons who stole a set of powerful artefacts known as Dark Relics, spiriting them away to far-flung corners of the sea. The Order didn’t have time to determine the full extent of these Relics’ mystical properties, but they could prove to be incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands… As if that wasn’t enough, shipments of a mysterious new chest emblazoned with the Reaper’s Mark are now turning…

Official Tall Tales Q&A

Mike Chapman and Andy Preston answer questions from the community. Roundups
On Wednesday the Sea of Thieves community team hosted a Q&A with the Tall Tales design team. I’ve collected all of the answered questions below, lightly edited. You should note that a small handful of questions were answered only with smiley faces – these have been omitted from this roundup due to their overly ambiguous nature, but you can go looking for them here. I’ve arranged the answers by topic for your convenience: Tease + future content Tall Tales (questions, comments, ideas) Developing Tall Tales Lore     Tease + future content   Q. Has the team considered adding elements…

Dev update (video)

A huge cache of upcoming features! Dev Update Videos
In a huge dev update, Joe Neate takes us through a raft of upcoming features. As always, it’s a great idea to watch the full video above. For reference, heres a full summary: Digital Business strategy – AKA in-game purchases Rare have been upfront about pets being paid additions to the game right from launch. Now, with pets coming to testing soon, Joe has confirmed Sea of Thieves’ broad monetisation strategy. The stated principles for digital purchases are: No power advantage Nothing that will “separate players” Completely optional Know what you’re buying – no loot boxes. Pets will be hitting…

Hit registration is being worked on

Yes, it’s an issue. Yes, it’s being improved. But there’s “no silver bullet”. Roundups
Update – 14 July 2019: Hit reg improvements are now in testing with Insiders. Hey! We have our Hit Reg improvements in Insiders right now, jump in and come hep us test out the latest improvements! Joe describes the improvements as “significant” and “super promising”. Original post: Longtime players of Sea of Thieves know that hit registration in the game has always been a bit patchy. You shoot, get the hitmarker, but no damage is done. This kind of thing happens a lot in online games, but many feel that Sea of Thieves can be worse than most. The arrival…

Sea of Tease Roundup

Reconnect, emotes, pets and more. Tidbits
Sea of Thieves Executive Producer, Drew Stevens, is the most active dev on Reddit – even though many more of the team seem to be heavy lurkers. Drew – aka Sonicbob – usually tends to be most active in the period after game updates. After the release of Black Powder Stashes, he’s dropped in to reply to a few questions and comments. It’s been a while since we’ve had any real “Sea of Tease” from the devs, but there’s a small handful of tidbits here: A reconnect feature is in development A common complaint, especially among solo pirates, is that…

Twitch Rivals: Sea of Thieves

Watch the event across two days to get the Obsidian ship livery! News
Sea of Thieves has partnered with Twitch to present “Rivals“, a two day Arena competition with $100,000 in prizes up for grabs! Taking place from July 23rd-24th 2019, the Twitch Rivals Sea of Thieves Showdown is a series of four distinct contests starring some of the world’s best-known streamers and Sea of Thieves Arena players, each battling for a share of a true pirate fortune: $100,000 in prize money. Cannons will roar, blades will sing and cutting remarks will almost certainly be made during this no-holds-barred Arena encounter, so be sure to tune in and catch the mayhem live on Twitch for a chance…

Black Powder Stashes Content Update (video)

Boom kegs go boom! Trailer and Announcement Videos
We’re kicking off monthly game updates with Black Powder Stashes, an explosive good time for everyone! Visit Duke to pick up new voyages, all paying out gunpowder kegs. Turn them into any Trading Company for reputation. Boom! Job done. As if the smorgasbord of features that landed with the sea of thieves anniversary update weren’t enough to keep even the busiest of pirates occupied, we’re throwing even more into the mix with the introduction of our new monthly content updates – starting with Black Powder Stashes. Duke has word that the various trading companies are looking to stockpile explosive gunpowder…

Release Notes – 2.0.5

Black Powder Stashes Mercenary Releases
[Link] The latest update is here! Read on for the complete breakdown of changes coming in with update 2.0.5 which introduces Black Powder Stashes, the first in a series of planned Monthly Content Updates for Sea of Thieves.  Black Powder Stashes Reaper’s Black Powder Runs – Duke is challenging crews to face off against rivals in an explosive new Reaper’s Run, the ‘Reaper’s Black Powder Run’. These dangerous new voyages task crews with hopping from Fort to Fort finding Gunpowder Kegs, buried Merchant Crates and even guaranteed Stronghold Kegs! With two routes to pick from, crews should keep watch for rival crews…