Sea of Thieves, the popular pirate game developed by none other than Rare, is weirdly getting a movie.

Now, I'll be honest, I actually think pirates are pretty cool, and I'm going to go out on a limb and say this could be pretty fun. Imagine if they somehow managed to get Johnny Depp involved, though that's highly unlikely, of course.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Xbox Chief Content Officer Matt Booty discussed a number of things, including the newly revealed Sea of Thieves movie. So, rather than droning on, here's what was said:

"EW can also report that Sea of Thieves will be developed into a live-action movie. Marvel filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton (Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) will produce through his company, Hisako Films. A director is not yet attached.

'The main character of a Sea of Thieves game is actually the player and the community,' Booty explains. 'So if you sit down to think about Sea of Thieves, it's not, Who are the main characters? What's the plot? It's a super social game, but there's a tone to Sea of Thieves. It's built on a very cooperative community, so you can start to sense what that's going to be like.'"

I actually really like Destin Daniel Cretton, who is set to develop it, so this might be pretty interesting at the very least. I've also actually enjoyed the time I've spent playing Sea of Thieves, and as a fan of pirates, I'm interested to see how they pull this off.

It also shows just how serious Xbox, or Microsoft rather, is about breaking into the entertainment industry. In the same interview, Matt Booty teased that there are at least a dozen projects currently in the works.

I'm also glad we got a little bit of Halo news, which I've covered separately, but the full interview is well worth a read if you're interested in where Xbox sees its future beyond gaming. If nothing else, it paints a picture of a company that's being surprisingly ambitious with its franchises outside of video games.

But let me know your thoughts. Does a Sea of Thieves movie excite you, or are you feeling a little seasick at the idea? Let me know in the comments, and don't forget to take part in our poll!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Sea of Thieves is one of Xbox’s popular live service titles, created by Rare and still actively maintained since its release in 2018, with the latest update, Season 19, launching just a few days ago. The game itself is a shared-world multiplayer sandbox pirate game, where players pirate ships, hunt treasure and fight each other.

However, popular streamer TheBurntPeanut has been unable to play the game on stream. After trying it out, Twitch viewership spiked to 42,000 viewers, bringing fresh attention to the game.

That momentum quickly faded, as the game ran into issues and TheBurntPeanut couldn’t continue, resulting in a poor showcase for potential new players.

What went wrong during TheBurntPeanut’s stream

For a bit of added context, TheBurntPeanut is a hugely popular streamer who has seen a meteoric rise alongside ARC Raiders, taking on the persona of a Peanut. Recently, the streamer turned their attention to Sea of Thieves for some swashbuckling adventure, but within just 20 minutes of playing, the servers crashed, likely due to a DDoS attack.

Peanut attempted to continue playing but was ultimately unable to, leaving both him and his 40,000 viewers disappointed. It also sparked frustration among existing Sea of Thieves fans, many of whom pointed fingers at Rare for not being able to handle situations like this effectively.

That said, it’s not entirely clear what can be done to prevent DDoS attacks in cases like this. One user, @Wermux on X suggested creating a streamer safe zone with whitelisted users to play, and that is one solution.

Fortunately, TheBurntPeanut later addressed fans on his official Discord server, stating:

"Hey Bungulators, I am working on a way for us to give Sea of Thieves another try without getting ddossed offline and it's looking pretty good, and may even be able to give it another shot this week.”

If successful, TheBurntPeanut could introduce his audience of around 40,000 viewers to the game. It may also encourage other large streamers to give it a try, which could result in a significant boost in players.

🗨️ Is Sea of Thieves missing a resurgence, or will this exposure not matter?

I’m of two minds on this. More eyes on Sea of Thieves is definitely a good thing, and while I don’t personally watch streamers, I do enjoy the clips I’ve seen of TheBurntPeanut, so maybe there was a chance here for a resurgence in players.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments and make sure you take part in our poll below:

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Xbox Game Studios and Rare's multiplayer pirate adventure Sea of Thieves is set to grow even more, with one of the most widely-requested features from the community finally coming next year.

Sea of Thieves will be getting custom server support in early 2026, with Rare outlining the feature alongside other plans during a Direct presentation on Thursday. Custom servers will be added as part of a new subscription model, with exact details on pricing to come.

With custom servers, players will naturally be able to fine-tune and tweak numerous settings for their own personal group, including disabling enemy AI or spawning foes to fight (and treasure to plunder) at whim.

Custom servers will also support Safer Seas Fleets, which will allow groups of friends to play together, with progression adjusted the usual Safer Seas rate. Finally, custom server owners will also have access to a cinematic camera toolset, letting these players craft unique videos that aren't otherwise possible.

Outside of the custom servers, Rare is also lifting the NDA on the Sea of Thieves Insider program. This change is meant to promote more discussion and feedback, with Insiders allowed to stream and openly discuss anything they're testing.

A wider "reboot" of the Insider program is also planned for 2026, with more rewards and systems focused on making the most heavily-engaged members of the community take part.

Finally, Rare is also looking to improve the cadence of three-month seasons, with a more structured approach that still keeps things fresh. The plan is roughly to have the first month introduce new sandbox elements, with the second month building on the lore and bringing in a new event, before the third month closes things out with a "call to action" moment.

A tough time for Rare, but huge potential for Sea of Thieves

All of this also comes at a strange crossroads for Rare, with the developer recently impacted by Microsoft's layoffs across the Xbox division. These layoffs also saw a number of projects canceled, including Rare's long-in-development Everwild.

Personally, I'm quite interested in custom servers, and it could be a lot of fun for holding community game nights with my friend groups. The tools Rare is describing sound comprehensive, far more so than the simple "let me play with a group privately" request I've hard from many players.

A lot of this will depend on the structure of the pricing model, however, as well as what else is included in a subscription. If it pans out, the potential upside for the game is massive, and I'll be keeping a close eye on things here.

Sea of Thieves is currently available on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (via Battle.net, Steam, and Xbox PC), and PlayStation 5. As an Xbox first-party game, it's also included in Xbox Game Pass.

Another big Xbox first-party game is headed to Battle.net, with Rare's Sea of Thieves the next game confirmed to arrive on Blizzard Entertainment's PC launcher.

There are three different versions of the pirate adventure now available for preorder on Battle.net, with the $60 Premium Edition bundling in some themed cosmetics, letting players deck out their ships with sails representing Blizzard franchises such as Diablo, Overwatch, Warcraft, and more.

Like with other Xbox games that are being added to Battle.net, Sea of Thieves supports Xbox Play Anywhere, meaning players that already own the game on Xbox consoles (or are subscribed to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass) can play the standard edition of Sea of Thieves through Battle.net at no extra cost.

Sea of Thieves is slated to launch on Battle.net on May 22, 2025. The game has seen numerous updates in the last couple of years, with the latest seasons adding new Megalodons, additional weapons, and more.

As of a year ago, Sea of Thieves had reached 40 million players on Xbox and PC just ahead of the arrival of the PlayStation 5 version.

Battle.net is rapidly becoming standard for Xbox games on PC

While Battle.net has historically been used as Windows PC launcher solely for Activision Blizzard games, that's been changing over the last few months, with Microsoft exploring putting first-party games from across Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda Softworks into the launcher.

Things kicked off with Obsidian Entertainment's Avowed, which launched into Battle.net alongside Xbox Series X|S consoles, the Xbox PC app, and Steam.

That experiment seems to have proven successful, as more Xbox titles have been announced for the launcher since, with id Software's DOOM: The Dark Ages and Obsidian's The Outer Worlds 2 both slated for Battle.net at launch.

I'm a big fan of giving players these additional options and expanding Xbox Play Anywhere. I wonder what other older Xbox games we'll see added to Battle.net in the future...

New sales data for Xbox games on PlayStation suggests a very mixed picture, according to a report from video game analysis firm Alinea Analytics.

According to Alinea, the firm's estimates place Rare's Sea of Thieves firmly in the lead, with around 1.8 million copies sold on PlayStation 5 so far. Obsidian Entertainment's Grounded is in second place with roughly 432,200 copies sold so far.

Bringing up the rear, former first-party Tango Gameworks' Hi-Fi Rush is sitting at 137,000 copies sold, while firmly in last place is Obsidian Entertainment's Pentiment, at just 14,000 copies sold.

The firm also reports that Age of Mythology: Retold from World's Edge is at 41,000 copies sold on PlayStation, though this particular figure is a bit more nuanced, as the game was only ported a few weeks ago, as opposed to the other games that have all been available on PlayStation 5 for about a year.

Still, these results are pretty clear, and Sea of Thieves being ported to PlayStation 5 has been a clear success. Grounded's success is also notable, especially considering that game had an extremely small team for much of its development.

On the flip side, shame on you PlayStation fans that haven't bought Pentiment, it's a fantastic experience.

The return on investment for each game will naturally be different, but so far, the limited data indicates it's very good idea for Microsoft to consider bringing multiplayer and co-op focused titles to PlayStation, while smaller single-player games might not be worth the effort if they're coming at a later date.

Looking ahead, Microsoft is bringing more of its existing Xbox lineup to PlayStation hardware, with ports of MachineGames' Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Playground Games' Forza Horizon 5 both slated to launch in April.

I'm expecting both of these games to sell well, especially Forza Horizon 5, and I won't even be surprised if Playground's open-world racing title becomes the best-selling (non-Call of Duty) Xbox-owned game on PlayStation. This approach is providing a mixed revenue stream, with full sales in addition to an existing consumer base using Xbox Game Pass.

Outside of these ports, PlayStation owners can expect other new Xbox games to keep arriving, with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 and The Outer Worlds 2 both slated for multiplatform launches later this year.

We'll have to wait and see what else is announced in the months ahead. Or perhaps just the next few weeks.

Surprise seafarers! Xbox just shadow-dropped a new booty Sea of Thieves goodies with the new Sea of Thieves: X Edition, available only on Xbox platforms

This 2025 Edition bundles all previously released content with a comprehensive collection of Xbox-inspired ship sets, costumes, and cosmetics celebrating beloved Xbox franchises like Ori, Gears, Halo, and more.

The launch video teases some gorgeous designs, including ships and costumes themed after iconic Xbox titles. It's a dream haul for collectors and fans alike, but the price did make me wince. Microsoft have clearly been spending too much time with Blizzard.

Even as an Xbox Game Pass subscriber, the full collection costs a steep $63.99, while non-subscribers will need to shell out $79.99. Ouch!

Thankfully, there's a bit of flexibility: individual packs can be purchased separately through the in-game Pirate Emporium, so we’ll be crunching the numbers to find the best value. For now, here's a breakdown of the 2025 Sea of Thieves editions and what they include:

All Sea of Thieves 2025 editions and what you get

The Sea of Thieves 2025 Edition comes as standard with your Xbox Game Pass subscription, or it can be purchased for $39.99 ($31.99 if you are an Xbox Game Pass subscriber). There's a neat trailer above with a montage of moments from the last 7 years of the game, to celebrate it's anniversary today.

The 2025 Deluxe Edition costs $49.99 or $39.99 with Xbox Game Pass, and includes:

• Parrot Clothing Bundle
• 10,000 Gold
• Dire Dark Warsmith weapon bundle

The 2025 Premium Edition costs $59.99 or $47.99 to Xbox Game Pass subscribers, and includes all of the above, plus:

• Dire Dark Warsmith Ship collection and ship's crest
• Dire Dark Warsmith costume set
• 1000 ancient coins

The 2025 Sea of Thieves X edition, exclusive to Xbox platforms, includes both the Premium and Deluxe items and costs a hefty $79.99 or $63.99 for Xbox Game Pass subscribers, as well as including:

• Parrot clothing bundle and 10,000 gold
• An Xbox-inspired ship collection
• Regal Duke ship collection

Purchasing any edition of Sea of Thieves, including the base edition will give you access to the Athena's Fortune Audiobook, the Sea of Thieves Original Soundtrack and the rough guide to Sea of Thieves .

Whether you’re a seasoned pirate or new to Sea of Thieves, this bounty of content is pretty massive for the game. Now I'm just going to dive deeper into the value of individual packs to see if it's worth that hefty asking price or not.

For example, the below 'Infinite Depths' bundle will set you back 4,999 in-game currency. Packs of 4250 Ancient Coins cost $34.99.

The Omen Gears ship bundle is 2499 coins, so from the looks of it the full X Edition could be the better value buy if you want some Xbox themed cosmetics as well as all of the other items you get.

Sea of Thieves Season 15 is bringing a variety of new threats for players to face. Appropriately titled Wild Things, this season kicks off with new variant Megalodons that provide an even greater danger to any seafaring crews.

One such variant, the Feared Redmaw, can attack with explosive power, setting ships on fire when it bites. Meanwhile, the Barnacled Dread has armor plates that have to be shot off before it can be damaged. It can also summon Ocean Crawlers, meaning players have to stay on their toes and look for anyone on deck that doesn't belong.

You can take a look at the launch trailer for Sea of Thieves Season 15 below:

Xbox developer Rare has more planned for later in the season, with throwable hunting spears planned to be added as a new weapon in the weeks ahead. Other updates this season will see the introduction of ambient wildlife, with new cute critters like lizards and birds to spot.

There'll also be not-so-cute critters, with wild boar coming as a new island-bound threat. Rare notes that players who brave the boar pits may find some treasure to make it worth their while. Below, you can find the bug fixes also coming as part of today's patch and seasonal rollout.

Bug Fixes

• When players dive to a Faction battle, the enemy ship will now consistently appear visible upon surfacing to begin the encounter.
• Players using a Grapple Gun to pull another player while in the water can no longer cause their target to rotate.
• The audio effects for scooping and throwing water when bailing should now play consistently when performed in quick succession.  
• The audio effects for a ship filling and creaking when taking on water are now prioritised over other effects, ensuring that these cues are always clear to players.
• Damage marks shown on the outside of a ship’s hull will now appear correctly based on the damage dealt.
• Throwables such as blunderbombs targeting the rear hull of the Galleon will now consistently impact the hull’s surface and not pass through certain areas to land inside the ship.
• Blowpipe darts embedded in moving ships are now more easily targeted and can be consistently destroyed through player actions.
• The prior fix to the Armoury that addressed players being unable to switch weapons after receiving knockback damage has been reverted to prevent further impact. This issue will be addressed in a future update.
• Any open radial menus now close when crouching, preventing a range of visual issues caused by attempting to wield items while crouched.
• ‘The Journey to Mêlée Island’ – Emissary Grade progression is no longer awarded when collecting items found within the Tall Tale.

Performance improvements

• Players on PS5 using cross-play should no longer experience game instability when communicating with other players using voice chat across platforms.
• Players on PS5 who are members of a Distinction 10 Guild will no longer experience game instability when navigating the front end menu.
• Further improvements have been made to game stability to reduce scenarios where players unexpectedly exit the game or become disconnected from their session.

Traps

• Traps should now consistently rest on the ground when placed in a range of locations.
• Traps will now be destroyed when thrown at the outside of a ship’s hull.
• Traps loaded with a Bone Caller will now trigger consistently when sprung.
• Throwing a trap inside a tavern will no longer prevent players from interacting with it or switching to other equipment.
• Players setting the trap will now correctly receive the Red Alert Raider Commendation when meeting the necessary criteria, while those triggering the trap will no longer increase Commendation progress.

User Interface

• Resolved an issue that caused the Quest Table to display an extended loading spinner when browsing for Voyages.
• When using low graphics settings, browsing the Pirate Emporium from the Quick Menu during gameplay should no longer cause textures to fail to load within the Emporium and across the wider game upon exiting.
• Players earning Distinctions for a Trading Company will now see the correct rank when viewing the Pirate’s Log from the front end menu.

Environment

• Skeletons that emerge at Crow’s Nest Fortress and Barnacle Cay Temple should now appear in the correct locations and not become stuck.
• Rain will no longer appear to fall inside buildings at Lookout Point.
• ‘The Lair of LeChuck’ – Players can no longer become stuck among palm trees during this Tall Tale.

Visuals and Audio

• The Tankard of the Damned now visibly runs out of grog when emptied.
• Shadow Skeletons set on fire while in shadow form no longer display distorted visual effects.
• Firing a ship’s cannon equipped with various Cannon Flares at Ghost Ships will no longer cause visual issues to appear within the sails.
• Dying during the final wave of a Siren Treasury encounter will no longer cause the music to overlap.
• The Cardinal Lodestar Flag is now correctly displayed on the Brigantine.
• The Cardinal Lodestar and Lodestar Spyglass now sit correctly in players’ hands across all body sizes.
• Players wearing the Captaincy of Courage Jacket or Dress now appear correctly when observed by others.
• The Horn of Fair Winds and Trident of Dark Tides now appear correctly when viewed at different distances.
• The Kate Capsize hairstyle now fits neatly around tall jackets across all pirate body sizes.
• Fruit held in a player’s hand now casts the correct shadow.
• The Fates of Fortune Pocket Watch now consistently displays the correct time.
• The Tiny Tree Emote’s visual effect now disappears when the emote is cancelled.
• The light effect of the Ancestral Collector’s Figurehead is no longer visible from inside the ship, and the item now appears correctly when lowering the graphic settings.
• The visual effects of the Radiant Comet Collector’s Figurehead now remain visible when viewed at a short distance.  
• Green smoke from the Checkmate Cannon Flare is no longer visible to players launched from the cannon.
• ‘Lords of the Sea’ – The Black Pearl now consistently appears with a golden glow at the end of the Tall Tale.
• ‘The Quest for Guybrush’ – Stan's voiceover should continue to be heard after being locked inside the wardrobe.
• ‘The Lair of LeChuck’ – Murray’s skeleton now appears correctly once his head is attached.

Text and Localization

• ‘The Lair of LeChuck’ – Improvements made to the Quest Book to address overlapping text in French and Italian languages.
• Improvements made to consistency in terminology across Simplified Chinese, Thai and Brazilian Portuguese languages.

Sea of Thieves continues to expand

Rare has added numerous gameplay mechanics to Sea of Thieves over the last couple of years, adding Metal Gear Solid-esque stealth and a variety of new weapons, including a grappling gun.

As someone who first played Sea of Thieves when it originally launched all the way back in 2018, it's wild to see how far this game has come. So much of what players now use in daily activities was never possible at launch.

Sea of Thieves is currently available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC, and PlayStation 5. As an Xbox first-party game, it's also included in Xbox Game Pass.

What you need to know

• InfernoPlus — the creator of the wacky fan-favorite Cursed Halo mod for Halo: Combat Evolved — has released a new project for Halo 3 that's available to play now.
• The mod is essentially what you'd get if you mashed Halo and Sea of Thieves together, and features a custom-made campaign co-op mission in which you use a pirate ship to fight against the Covenant while searching for treasure.
• The level supports up to four players, and has a custom map, models, cannons to fire, scripted events, and more.
• The mod is exclusively for the Steam version of Halo 3 on Steam, which you can either get standalone or as part of the full Halo: The Master Chief Collection release. You can install it through the Steam Workshop; a link to it is provided in the text below.

Master Chief's adventures in all six of the Halo games he's starred in have taken him — and, consequently, the players filling his shoes — across a wide variety of different environments, including everything from Earth's lush rainforests and human-controlled colony planets to the artificial alien ringworlds that gives the series its name. But while plenty of land and air has been tread on the journey, barely any of it has taken place on or around the sea. Thanks to a hilarious new mod, though, that's no longer the case.

The mod — a project comically titled "Pimps at Sea" — is essentially what I've always imagined the end result would be if you smashed the flagship Xbox shooter and the pirate adventure game Sea of Thieves together. Built by YouTuber InfernoPlus for the PC version of Halo 3 available through Halo: The Master Chief Collection, it features a custom campaign mission in which up to four players defend a pirate ship and a small archipelago from invading Covenant forces. You can install it on the Steam Workshop here, with its source code available on InfernoPlus' Patreon for those that want to mess around with it.

This video (also viewable below) covers the mod in-depth, but the TL;DR of its plot and structure is that players and their UNSC Marine allies commandeer a Man-O-War, sailing it around several islands to search for treasure while fending off Covenant troops with its defenses. Armaments onboard include 20 custom-built cannons, a pair of mounted heavy machine guns, a Missile Pod turret for anti-air defense, two deployable "Boathogs," and four Mongoose ATVs you can drive out of chutes and onto pieces of land nearby. The ship also comes with several ropes you can use to reach its crow's nest or come back aboard if you fall into the water, complete with custom climbing animations.

Originally, the mod was conceptualized as a large-scale Big Team Battle-style PvP experience in which both teams had a vessel and would attempt to destroy their opponent's with clever sailing, broadsides, and boarding action. However, InfernoPlus came to realize that modelling multiple stages of destruction for the ships would be a monumental task, and also discovered a PvP-specific, physics-related desync problem that would have made the mode unplayable.

From there, it was reimagined as a co-op campaign level, with InfernoPlus hoping to make it somewhat open-world with randomly generated elements and enemies that would swing from their own ships to try and board yours. Due to issues with both Covenant AI and the crafts themselves, though — even now, the ship's model and physics are so complex that InfernoPlus had to buy a more powerful PC just to stop the 3ds Max project constantly lagging — the mod had to be simplified by giving the vessel scripted sailing paths.

I was a bit sad to learn players can't control the ship, but whatever disappointment I felt was quickly forgotten when I saw that "Captain" Sergeant Johnson is behind its wheel, brought to life with some humorous top-tier voice acting from the talented TheVocalButcher. Marines "Dave" (Lucksoar) and "David" (voiced by InfernoPlus himself) have some comical custom dialogue, too, cementing the project's silliness.

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Ultimately, this mod looks absolutely hilarious, and I can't wait to play through it with my friends soon. Much like I was with InfernoPlus' Cursed Halo Again mod for Halo: Combat Evolved, I'm amazed by what's possible in Halo 3 — an Xbox 360 game that's now 17 years old. The fact this runs at all is an achievement in and of itself, and the fact it runs well is even more remarkable. Note that InfernoPlus uploaded a developer commentary-style video to his second channel that goes over many of the mod's nightmarish code strings and other types of technical info in extensive detail, so give that a watch if you're curious to learn more about how it was put together.

To set sail, you'll need Halo 3 on Steam, which you can either buy standalone for $9.99 or get as part of the full $39.99 Halo: The Master Chief Collection package. The Master Chief Collection stands tall as one of the best Xbox games and best PC games for fans of shooter games, as it includes Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo: Reach, and Halo 4 (along with the remasters of the first two games) in one awesome bundle. Notably, it's also available on both Xbox and Windows PC via the Microsoft Store through Xbox Game Pass, though the Steam version that the mod requires is not.

What you need to know

• Alan Hartman, head of Xbox Game Studios, is retiring almost a year after taking the role.
• Rare studio head Craig Duncan is the new head of Xbox Game Studios, the brand encompassing the teams that make Halo, Gears of War, and more. 
• Duncan's former role is being replaced by Joe Neate and Jim Horth, both Rare veterans that will co-manage the studio.

There's a passing of the torch happening over at Xbox. 

Alan Hartman, head of Xbox Game Studios, is retiring from Microsoft, as shared via GamesIndustry.biz on Monday. Hartman, formerly the boss of Forza Motorsport developer Turn 10, took the role as head of Xbox Game Studios almost a year ago, when he replaced former Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty, who was promoted to president of Content and Studios at Microsoft Gaming.

Xbox Game Studios is one of the multiple publishing labels making up Xbox under Microsoft Gaming, with the brand encompassing studios like Double Fine, Halo Studios, The Coalition, The Initiative, Ninja Theory, Rare, and others.

Replacing Hartman is Craig Duncan, studio head of Sea of Thieves developer Rare. Duncan is being replaced by Joe Neate and Jim Horth, who will co-manage Rare moving forward. 

"In his new role, Craig will continue to focus on helping our studios deliver high-quality, differentiated game experiences that can grow into successful franchises and reach more players by investing in new IP," Booty wrote in a memo to Xbox staff.

Below, you can see a message Hartman wrote on LinkedIn:

"I was able to take a lifelong love of playing games and make it a career. From Age of Empires to Forza Motorsport I’ve been lucky to put my fingerprints across many games through the decades – leading the Forza franchise through all 13 releases and building two fantastic studios along the way. 

Being a Studio Head in Gaming is one of the most rewarding and challenging roles in entertainment. I believe it is the best job at Microsoft. I always knew we had immense talent across XGS, but I didn’t realize how much I would enjoy spending time with our studio leaders and their teams. It has been an honor to represent XGS, and I truly mean this - a pleasure getting to spend time with all of our studios. I am proud of what we have accomplished together and I am excited by what we have in the pipe! Avowed, Clockwork Revolution, Fable, Gears of War E-Day, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, South of Midnight, and many more announced and still to be announced games. I have so much anticipation and confidence in what all of our studios are creating and I am excited by what these teams will accomplish with Craig Duncan as the new Head of Xbox Game Studios."

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What you need to know

• Developer Rare shared an update on what players can expect in Season 14 of Sea of Thieves.
• Season 14 is bringing previously-revealed features like a grapple gun and blow dart. 
• There's also some newly-announced gameplay mechanics, such as the ability to crouch and place (or disarm) traps, as well as the ability to hide in barrel and treasure chest disguises. 
• Sea of Thieves Season 14 is slated to arrive on Oct. 17, 2024.

If you've ever wanted to live out some Solid Snake fantasies while plundering other pirates, there's great news. 

Xbox Game Studios developer Rare shared a new overview for Sea of Thieves Season 14 on Wednesday, giving players an idea of what to expect from the latest update to the ongoing pirate adventure. 

As previously shared, Season 14 is bringing some new tools for players to try, including a grappling gun that changes up traversal. There's also a blowgun that can be used with a variety of darts. Outside of these aforementioned tools, Season 14 is also introducing crouching to the experience, as well as letting players use disguises that make them appear as hapless barrels or treasure chests. You can watch the full overview video below:

Combined, all of these new tools and gameplay systems create a heavy focus on stealth that wasn't ever present in the game before. Fittingly, the cosmetics for this season are also geared primarily around sneakiness, though there's also some Halloween-themed cosmetics coming as befits the spooky season. 

Sea of Thieves Season 14 is slated to launch on all platforms on Oct. 17, 2024. 

Sea of Thieves first launched back in February 2018, and the game has received consistent updates ever since that have vastly expanded the playable world and filled it with new quests, gameplay mechanics, and more. That growth can also be seen in the player base, with Sea of Thieves reaching over 40 million players across Xbox and PC earlier this year before the launch of the PlayStation 5 version. 

Sea of Thieves is available across Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC, and PlayStation 5. Like all Xbox first-party games, it's also included in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.

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More Prime Day deals and anti-Prime Day deals

We at Windows Central are scouring the internet for the best Prime Day deals and anti-Prime Day deals, but there are plenty more discounts going on now. Here's where to find more savings:

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What you need to know

• Clipchamp now features templates based on Minecraft and Sea of Thieves.
• Microsoft also added images, stickers, and sound effects from the Minecraft franchise to Clipchamp's library.
• The new Minecraft and Sea of Thieves templates are available to anyone using Clipchamp with a personal account.

Microsoft's video editor Clipchamp now features templates from Minecraft and Sea of Thieves. The templates are available for free for anyone using Clipchamp with a personal account. Microsoft also added Minecraft stickers, images, videos, sound effects, and GIFs to the Clipchamp library. Microsoft discussed the additions to Clipchamp in a recent blog post.

Clipchamp is a simple to use video editor that supports templates and other drag-and-drop content. You can customize those templates to swap in different text, shift the color of elements within the templates, and make other changes to fit your videos. I use templates in Clipchamp to make highlight reels for a team I coach. They help create more professional-looking videos without requiring technical knowledge or much time.

The new Minecraft and Sea of Thieves templates are sorted into categories, but you can also find them through Clipchamp's search bar. There seem to be more Sea of Thieves templates at the moment, including some impressive intro screens and stream overlays. The Minecraft templates feature iconic characters from the franchise, and if you use them your videos will have more authentic Minecraft characters than a movie with a budget of $150 million.

The first trailer for the Minecraft Movie premiered earlier this month. Despite the star-studded cast of the film and the movie being based on one of the most popular game franchises of all time, the trailer received a poor reception. Many called the trailer "cursed" and even apologized to Minecraft's story mode.

A reimagined animated version of the Minecraft trailer already has 3.4 million views and 372,000 likes on YouTube. The official trailer from Warner Bros. for the Minecraft Movie has 34 million views and 657,000 likes. Those figures are quite close when you consider one is a fan-made trailer that was created in four days.

YouTube removed dislike counters from videos back in 2021, so we don't have confirmed figures for the reception of the official Minecraft Movie trailer and the animated trailer. But if you run the Return YouTube Dislike extension on your browser, you'll see the official trailer has 1.5 million dislikes compared to just 749 dislikes for the animated trailer. Those dislike counts are based on "extrapolated extension user behavior," so they aren't exact. But by all accounts, it appears the Minecraft Movie trailer has been disliked.

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What you need to know

• Matt Booty, president of game content and studios at Microsoft Gaming, spoke with Variety in a new interview.
• Booty touched on a number of topics, including reactions to the recent Xbox Games Showcase, the closure of Tango Gameworks, and bringing Sea of Thieves to PlayStation 5. 
• Speaking on the latter point, Booty says that "We have been really pleased," while noting games are continuing to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

A new interview is providing a bit more insight into the Xbox business. 

Matt Booty, president of game content and studios at Microsoft Gaming, spoke with Variety for the "Strictly Business" podcast on Thursday. Booty touched on a large number of topics, including reactions to the recent Xbox Games Showcase, bringing some Xbox games to PlayStation 5, and the closure of some studios. 

“We are beginning to hit the rhythm that we’ve always aspired for, and that really is our commitment to our players, of being able to deliver a much more steady cadence of games on a more predictable rhythm,” Booty said, noting that fan and press reaction to the showcase has been extremely positive, with praise of the number and variety of first-party games shown and slated for the next couple of years. 

During the showcase, first-party titles DOOM: The Dark Ages, Fable, and South of Midnight were all slated for 2025, while Gears of War: E-Day, Perfect Dark, and State of Decay 3 were not given release years at all. Per Booty, this is due to wanting to find the exact right time to launch a game, while making sure it doesn't conflict with another first-party or third-party title, namedropping Grand Theft Auto 6 as a game the entire industry wants to avoid.

"We certainly want to make sure every game is given space and has got an opportunity to shine and we don't end up overshadowing a game by launching it too close to another," Booty explains, adding that the portfolio planning revolves around ensuring the teams don't conflict with other companies' titles, but also "so that we're not getting in our own way." 

Booty also notes that there is interest across the teams at different studios in sharing ideas and technology, and there are some early discussions happening as Microsoft figures out what facilitating that looks like.

Will Microsoft chase games and TV or movie synergy, like with Fallout?

When asked about gaming synergy with other mediums like TV and movies, such as with the recent Fallout resurgence happening largely due to the success of the Fallout Prime show, Booty praises the series, but indicates Microsoft isn't explicitly trying to make that kind of success happen by forcing it. 

Booty points to the vastly different production schedules of games, movies, and TV shows, and notes that trying to sync those up years in advance can be extraordinarily difficult and risky, and that it's better to simply produce that kind of "linear media" and have it benefit an existing franchise. 

Why did Microsoft close Bethesda studios like Tango Gameworks?

Earlier in the year, the shocking news broke that Microsoft was closing Bethesda's Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Games, and Tango Gameworks. The latter came as a particular shock, as the now-shuttered first-party Japanese developer had shipped Hi-Fi Rush in 2023 to critical acclaim. 

"Those decisions are never made lightly, they're never made quickly, and there are a lot of people and processes and oversight to make sure we're making a good decision," Booty says when asked about the closures, adding that he didn't want to share "nitty-gritty" details, but mentions that Microsoft looks across leadership at studios and if the teams are set up for success in the future, not just if they were successful in the past.

Booty also points out that Microsoft has been open to allowing teams to go independent in the past if it's clear things weren't a good fit, including recently with former Activision subsidiary Toys for Bob, which is now an independent studio, though the team's first game is a project being published by Xbox.

Sea of Thieves on PlayStation 5 and future Xbox exclusives

2024 saw Microsoft ship four Xbox console exclusive titles across other consoles. Touching on all of the games, Booty notes that Microsoft's main focus and success has been with Sea of Thieves, a shared world pirate adventure developed by Rare.

"We have been really pleased," Booty says, noting that when Sea of Thieves launched across PlayStation 5, the teams saw uptick in Xbox and PC player engagement as well, while also sharing that a large number of PlayStation players were enjoying the game in cross-play. This success grows the franchise overall, per Booty, allowing the teams at Rare and Xbox to continue to invest in the game. 

When asked about what this means for future Xbox exclusives, Booty reiterates that the teams are evaluating games hitting other consoles on a "case-by-case basis," adding that Xbox players can absolutely continue to expect many games to launch as exclusives, and that the "Xbox promise" that all Xbox first-party games come to Xbox Game Pass will continue to be true. 

Analysis: Some interesting insight

This was a very good interview to listen to, and I broadly think Booty's answers make a lot of sense. I'm particularly happy that Microsoft isn't seeing the success of the Fallout TV series (which has been renewed for a second season) and immediately chasing that success elsewhere or trying to force some kind of synergy. 

I'm also glad to hear that teams at Xbox are interested in sharing technology and ideas. While that already happens within the individual publishers, sharing it across divisions could lead to some wild stuff. If an Xbox Game Studios or Activision team wants to use id Tech or Creation Kit, what does that look like? 

While I know hearing "case-by-case" doesn't make hardcore Xbox fans happy, I continue to see the logical behind careful evaluation for each title. The next DOOM is going to be multiplatform at launch, and I certainly think that makes a lot of sense, as did Sea of Thieves. On the flip side, having games like Gears of War: E-Day and Perfect Dark being targeted to Xbox hardware and PC also makes a fair bit of sense.

The continued non-answers regarding the closure of Tango Gameworks continue to leave a sour taste in my mouth however. I'm fully aware that teams change over time, but with a ludicrously successful parent company and profitable business, Microsoft could easily have afforded to take some miniscule hit in allowing those teams to build or rebuild so they'd be positioned for success in the future.

What you need to know

• Sales charts shared by Sony PlayStation have given us a glimpse at Microsoft's success on the platform. 
• Sea of Thieves launched on PlayStation a few weeks ago, and has seen it dominate the charts in both North America and Europe, taking the top spot. 
• Microsoft also had high chart positions for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Grounded, Fallout 4, and Minecraft. 
• On PlayStation 4, Minecraft topped the chart, most likely as past-gen remains the primary platform for many millions of youngsters.

Recently, Sony posted an update on its blog detailing the latest round of charts success for games launching on PlayStation. 

Microsoft courted controversy earlier this year when it announced that it will start bringing some of its Xbox games to PlayStation. Xbox CEO Phil Spencer reiterated the plan in an interview with IGN recently too, saying that Xbox players should expect to see more games go across. This was hot on the heels of a spectacular Xbox Showcase that did feature a lot of Xbox exclusives, but the recent success of Sea of Thieves only increases the likelihood of more games flipping over to the blue side. 

On the charts for May 2024, Sea of Thieves enjoyed a comfortable pole position on PlayStation 5, across both North America and Europe. Rare studio director Craig Duncan thanked the team at Rare as well as the overall community, reacting to the news. 

Sea of Thieves is an oceanic open world sandbox adventure game, focused around multiplayer. The developers have added a "safer seas" mode to accommodate those who don't fancy its chaotic multiplayer systems, in addition to a vast wealth of story-based content over the past few years. 

The latest Sea of Thieves update added throwing knives and double barrel pistols, among other new features. And at the Xbox Games Showcase 2024, Rare revealed Season 13, which allows players to "become a boss fight" and seize control over a powerful ship. 

Microsoft found a variety of success on the PlayStation charts elsewhere, too. Minecraft topped the chart on PlayStation 4, as the console likely remains the primary platform for many millions of youngsters who only fancy playing a few service type games. In addition, Grounded, Fallout 4, and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 also held potent positions too, arguably solidifying Microsoft's place as the biggest game publisher of the month on the platform. Newcomers like Killer Clowns from Outer Space and Another's Crab's Treasure also found some success, while long-time chart staples like NBA 2K and Grand Theft Auto V stayed in the mix.  

A glimpse at Xbox's (and PlayStation's) future

Microsoft's platform agnosticity of late has been tough to swallow for some Xbox fans, myself included. Why buy an Xbox if it has no exclusive games? In reality, it could turn out that most people don't care. The vast majority of play time hours in recent times go towards games like Fortnite, Roblox, and Minecraft, which simply live forever and become the game of choice year in, year out, for millions of people. The idea of "exclusive" one-shots that take 3-4 years to make is becoming increasingly hard to justify for some big platform holders, as playtime hours decrease, and inflation eats into profit margins. Indeed, when adjusted for inflation, the game industry has shrunk by a non-trivial amount over the past few quarters. 

So, how to grow if the game industry is squeezed? The obvious answer is putting your games where people are. Exclusive games are an arbitrary restriction, in essence, since there's no real reason games like Sea of Thieves can't run on PlayStation once the relatively trivial amount of porting work has been done. Sony would make an enormous amount of money if it put Helldivers 2 on Xbox, the only thing really stopping them is corporate ego. People would hardly choose Xbox over PlayStation for a single game. The rewards would speak for itself. 

Still, it would only be a single game — a question of balance is hard to ignore. On the Xbox side, the fear is always that if more and more games go to PlayStation, that people will want Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S consoles less and less. With decreased audience, this could eventually include developers, leading to decreased support. There's no evidence that is happening today, but Microsoft isn't always the best at leaning into trends and navigating the future carefully. Just look at the Windows Recall debacle for evidence of that. 

It'll be interesting to see where it all goes. 

What you need to know

• Analytics firm Circana has published details on the best-selling games and hardware of April 2024 in the U.S.
• PlayStation 5 exclusive Stellar Blade was the best-selling game of the month, while six Xbox games were in the top 20 best-sellers, including Fallout 4 and Sea of Thieves.
• Hardware spending is down 43% overall, with PlayStation 5 being the best-selling console for the month. 

Six of the 20 best-selling games of April 2024 in the U.S. were Xbox titles.

That's according to Circana executive director and advisor Mat Piscatella, who shared the latest sales data for the U.S. gaming industry on Wednedsay. For the month of April, Shift Up's PlayStation 5 exclusive Stellar Blade topped the charts, followed quickly by February's top-seller Helldivers 2 and last year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. 

Other games helping to round out the top 20 include Grounded, Fallout 4, Fallout 76, Minecraft, and Sea of Thieves, all titles that (like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3) fall under the Xbox first-party portfolio. Outside of the surge of Xbox games, Dragon's Dogma 2, which was the best-seller for March 2024, also stayed in the top 20.

Overall, the gaming industry saw a 3% drop year-over-year, with increases in mobile spending unable to offset a colossal 43% drop in gaming hardware. The PlayStation 5 was the best-selling console of the month, with Xbox Series consoles and Nintendo Switch second place in dollar sales and units sold, respectively. All three were down a minimum of 26% year-over-year, per Piscatella, with Nintendo Switch hardware down 69%.

You can see the best-selling games of the month (and the year so far) below. Bear in mind that like always, some companies don't share digital data, including Nintendo, while others like Larian Studios don't share any data at all. 

April 2024 Circana: Here are the top 20 best-selling games in the U.S.

1. Stellar Blade

2. Helldivers 2

3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023)

4. Sea of Thieves 

5. Fallout 4

6. MLB The Show 24**

7. Dragon's Dogma 2

8. Fallout 76

9. Hogwarts Legacy

10. EA Sports FC 24

11. Rise of the Ronin

12. Grounded

13. Minecraft

14. Madden NFL 24

15. Princess Peach Showtime!*

16. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege

17. Tekken 8

18. Mario Kart 8*

19. Elden Ring

20. Marvel's Spider-Man 2

*Denotes no digital sales data
**Denotes no digital sales data on Xbox or Nintendo Switch

April 2024 Circana: Here are the best-selling games of the year so far

1. Helldivers 2

2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023)

3. Dragon's Dogma 2

4. MLB The Show 24**

5. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

6. Tekken 8

7. Madden NFL 24

8. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

9. Hogwarts Legacy

10. Persona 3 Reload

11. EA Sports FC 24

12. NBA 2K24*

13. Marvel's Spider-Man 2

14. Rise of the Ronin

15. Skull and Bones

16. Stellar Blade

17. Minecraft

18. Sea of Thieves

19. Elden Ring

20. Super Mario Bros. Wonder*

Analysis: Microsoft's multiplatform approach pays off for live service games

It's clear here that Microsoft's approach to porting some Xbox games to PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch hardware is paying off. Specifically, choosing to move over co-op focused or live-service games like Grounded and Sea of Thieves is paying off extremely well, with both games charting nicely in April. 

Single-player games (especially smaller ones) might not really make sense to port moving forward after Pentiment and Hi-Fi Rush didn't really make an impact, but I absolutely see Microsoft bringing over more multiplayer games in the future. 

It's also excellent to see the Fallout resurgence continuing, which is in no small part thanks to the absolutely excellent Fallout TV series that launched on Prime Video back in April. This strong performance raises serious questions about the need for studio closures under the Bethesda Softworks wing of Xbox, but at the very least, Bethesda Game Studios is on fire in the best possible way right now. 

What you need to know

• April saw previously exclusive Xbox titles Sea of Thieves and Grounded launch on PlayStation 5.
• Download charts published by Playstation Blog today show that Sea of Thieves was the top downloaded game in Europe for April, despite only launching in the final week.
• Sea of Thieves made it to third most downloaded game in the US and Canada.
• Grounded also succeeded in breaking the top 10, hitting 8th in Europe and 9th in the US and Canada.

The expansion of Xbox-exclusive titles Sea of Thieves and Grounded to PlayStation 5 was certainly a controversial move by Xbox, but could it have turned out to be a successful one? Only time will tell of course, but early figures indicate that these games were at least received well by the PlayStation audience, as charts published by the PlayStation blog show Sea of Thieves at number 1 for most downloaded in Europe, and number 3 in the US, with Grounded also gathering some... erm, ground. 

Top 10 downloaded games in April 2024 on PlayStation 5

The success of Sea of Thieves isn't a surprise, considering that back in March it was the number 1 most pre-ordered game on PlayStation. What is surprising is that it only launched in late April (30th for the Standard edition) and still managed to top the chart. With cross-play between all platforms, it's sure to significantly boost the player base.

Grounded which debuted on PlayStation on April 16 has entered the chart at number 8 in the EU and 9 in the US and Canada. A positive result for both multiplayer games.

Could the Xbox exclusive gamble be worth it?

In February, when Xbox  confirmed during an "Xbox Business Update" podcast that it would be bringing some of its Xbox console exclusive games to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, the news was incredibly polarizing. With some Xbox players believing it could result in a collapse in Xbox console hardware sales, and others welcoming the open gate approach to Xbox Game Studio games.

Pentiment and Hi-Fi Rush were the first titles to hit the PlayStation platform and both were warmly received, with Hi-Fi Rush controversly receiving a higher metacritic rating on PlayStation than on Xbox. Xbox Tax? Better performance? That's up for debate, either way, so far it looks like the four titles that have crossed the border into blue territory have done quite well for Xbox.

Whether this gamble works out in the long-term remains to be seen. It's certainly a volatile time for Xbox at the moment, as despite Hi-Fi Rush being a critical success, they've just closed Tango Gameworks and a number of other beloved studios and are reportedly considering more cuts and debating Call of Duty on Game Pass. With so many moving parts, it's difficult to know what direction Xbox is sailing, despite any short term gains like the Sea of Thieves popularity, we could, as fans, still be going down with the ship.

What you need to know

• Sea of Thieves first launched for Xbox and Windows PC (via the Microsoft Store) on March 20, 2018. 
• The game was later brought to Steam in June 2020, by which point it had reached 20 million players. 
• As of April 2024, Sea of Thieves has reached 40 million players across Xbox consoles and PC. 
• Sea of Thieves is set to launch on PlayStation 5 on April 30, 2024.

Rare and Xbox Game Studios' pirate adventure is continuing to grow.

Ahead of its upcoming launch on PlayStation 5, Sea of Thieves has reached 40 million  players across Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Windows PC, as shared by development studio Rare on Wednesday.

"40 million players across Xbox, Windows 10 and Steam is an amazing milestone to be able to talk about, and of course it wouldn’t have happened without you – our brilliant, positive and welcoming community, who continue to surprise and impress us with your creativity and antics out on the waves," says executive producer Joe Neate. 

How has Sea of Thieves grown over the years?

Sea of Thieves first launched back on March 20, 2018 for Xbox One consoles and Windows PC via the Microsoft Store. Despite being included day one with Xbox Game Pass — Sea of Thieves was the first first-party game from Microsoft to be included in the service day one — it was the second best-selling game of March 2018 in the U.S. 

The game has grown tremendously since then, with Rare providing frequent updates that have added new regions and effects, new threats, Tall Tales story content, crossovers with Pirates of the Caribbean and Monkey Island, and more. Sea of Thieves then came to Steam in June 2020, and has sold over five million copies on that platform alone, reaching 25 million players total in 2021 and getting a dedicated Xbox Series X|S upgrade. 

Even more ambitious updates are coming in Sea of Thieves' future, with Rare outlining additions for 2024 that include Owl pets, new weapons, a new roaming ship threat, and much, much more.

As one of the four games Microsoft is bringing to other platforms — alongside Obsidian Entertainment's Grounded and Pentiment as well as Tango Gameworks' Hi-Fi Rush — Sea of Thieves is slated to launch on PlayStation 5 on April 30, 2024. For a time, it was the #1 most preordered game on PlayStation. 

Analysis: From one of the biggest Xbox games to one of the biggest games, period

Sea of Thieves has faced challenges, especially early on, but the team at Rare conquered those challenges with aplomb. Indeed, Sea of Thieves is one of the most ideal live-service games out there, and the fact it's reached 40 million players across Xbox and PC is testament to that fact. 

When it expands to PlayStation 5, I'm expecting it to explode even further. This might be bullish, but I predict we'll get the announcement it's crossed 50 million players before the end of 2024.

What you need to know

• Xbox studio Rare held a Sea of Thieves preview event for 2024, outlining things coming to the game across Seasons 12, 13, and 14.
• Sea of Thieves is getting new weapons for the first time, including throwing knives, a double-barreled pistol, and a grapple gun. 
• New items are on the way, including the Bone Caller, an item that can be used to summon friendly skeletons in a fight. 
• Owls are also appear to be coming to the roster of available pets.

Rare's pirate adventure is continuing to grow. 

The Xbox studio shared an outline of what players can expect in Sea of Thieves throughout 2024, with a number of new weapons and items coming that are meant to shake up the existing gameplay balance across Seasons 12, 13, and 14.

Throwing knives and a double-barreled pistol are two of the new weapons being added, giving players additional melee and ranged options. A grapple gun is also on the way, giving pirates the option of quickly getting to a location or snagging treasure and other items from a distance. 

New items are also on the way, including the Bone Caller, a throwable flask that summons friendly skeletons to the aid of whoever threw it. These can be used in a pinch to swamp an enemy crew or to take on skeletons while searching for treasure.

The team is also introducing scattershot cannon ammo, which can be used to make several smaller holes in enemy ship, eschewing direct firepower in exchange for a greater hit radius.

Season 13 will see the return of the legendary Captain Flameheart, with his terrifying fire-spewing ship taking to the seas in a dangerous world event. Players can take over his ship and use it, but this will naturally make them a target for others players. You can check out the full outline of what to expect below:

While there's no specific date or details on when to expect it, the preview event closes out by showing owls, indicating that owls will be available this year as a new pet type for players to acquire.

Sea of Thieves is currently available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Windows PC, and is scheduled to launch on PlayStation 5 on April 30, 2024.

Analysis: One of the biggest Xbox games gets bigger

It's been amazing to watch Sea of Thieves growing over the years, from additions like the Meg all the way back in 2018 to the introduction of Tall Tales and more. I'll definitely be hopping in to check out these additions with my crew this year, and I can't wait to have an owl on my ship. 

Sea of Thieves already crossed 30 million players, and with the addition of PlayStation 5 players this year alongside a bevy of awesome new gear and content, I'm expecting that number to grow significantly before 2025 is here.

What a wild week it's been for Microsoft and Windows news. Seemingly by coincidence, the biggest news stories of the week have a theme, crossing platforms. Sea of Thieves became was the most pre-ordered game on PlayStation, developers managed to get the Surface Duo to run Windows 11, and new EU law forced Microsoft to let people use non-Microsoft services on Windows. Toss in Windows 11 shoving an ad for Bing into Chrome, and you have a packed week of news. Oh, and did I mention the free version of Copilot got an upgrade as well?

EU helps fix Windows 11

Windows 11 just got a bit better, and you have the European Union (EU) to thank for it. The EU's new DMA regulations are designed to foster competition among companies, and Windows is one of the big players affected by the legislation. While some Microsoft products are exempt from the DMA regulation, the tech giant had to make several changes to Windows 11 to comply with the law.

Most notably, users in the European Economic Area can uninstall Microsoft Edge, disable Bing in Windows Search, and turn off the Microsoft News feed and ads in the Widgets Board on Windows 11. Why won't Microsoft just allow anyone to have the option to do so? I'll leave the to you to guess.

The changes made their way to PCs through the latest Windows 11 feature drop. That update also has some new features for Copilot and some other changes.

Sea of Thieves PS5 preorders

Some were unhappy when Microsoft announced that a handful of its Xbox console exclusives would ship to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. It appears PlayStation owners aren't among those complaining. Sea of Thieves, which is among the first four Xbox console exclusives to make their way to other consoles, reached the top spot on the PlayStation preorder chart in the United States.

Microsoft already has several popular titles on PlayStation, including Minecraft, Minecraft Dungeons, and many Bethesda titles and Activision Blizzard games. But Sea of Thieves is a different beast, considering it was once Xbox console exclusive and is now on PlayStation.

Surface Duo lives on

Microsoft has essentially abandoned the Surface Duo lineup. Technically the Surface Duo 2 is still supported until later this year (the first one reached end of support last year), but Microsoft hasn't shipped a meaningful update to a Surface Duo in a while. That hasn't stopped third-party developers from having fun with the device, however. Gustave Monce led the charge to get Windows 11 to run on Surface Duo, and our Senior Editor Zac Bowden showed the technical marvel in a recent video.

Windows 11 looks surprisingly good on Surface Duo. Given that Surface Duo runs Android out of the box, there are some odd behaviors here and there. There are also some noteworthy limits, such as not being able to send text messages. This is more of a passion project than a way to get a device you can use daily.

The Surface Duo was originally supposed to run Windows, but Microsoft's leadership shifted plans late in the development of the device.

While Windows 11 on Surface Duo is a technical marvel, owners of a Surface Duo may be more interested in the work of Thai Nguyen, who made a custom Android 14 ROM for Surface Duo.

Bowden spoke with Monce and Nguyen, both of whom shared insight into the unique challenges of their respective projects.

Copilot gets an upgrade

The free version of Microsoft Copilot is now more accurate and powerful, thanks to an upgrade to GPT-4 Turbo. The tool previously used GPT-4, which has a much earlier cutoff date than GPT-4 Turbo. The older GPT-4 also has a smaller context window (8k vs. 128k). In layman's terms, GPT-4 Turbo is better in many cases and should result in an improve Copilot experience.

OpenAI explained the four main benefits of GPT-4 Turbo over other models:

• Context window (some models have as low as an 8k context window while some have an 128k context window)
• Knowledge cutoff (some models have been training on more up to date information which makes them better at certain tasks)
• Cost (the cost for models vary, our latest GPT-4 Turbo model is less expensive than previous GPT-4 model variants, you can learn more on our pricing page)
• Feature set (some models offer new features like JSON mode, reproducible outputs, parallel function calling, etc)
• Rate limits (different models have different rate limits, check out the limits page for more details on each models limits)

While newer is often better, sometimes old tech is best. If you prefer the GPT-4 model, it is still available, but using it requires a Copilot Pro license.

Reviews

Our team takes a close look at the latest games, gadgets, PCs, and accessories each week. Recently, our experts went hands-on with the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro, sat down and watched episode 6 of the Halo TV series' second season, and used a surprisingly good flight stick from Turtle Beach. Here are all of our recent reviews.

• SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro review — The king of all Xbox and PC gaming headsets
• Huion Kamvas Pro 19 review: You don't need to spend crazy money to get the perfect high-end professional Windows drawing display
• Halo TV series Season 2, Episode 6 review: Tensions boil over into disaster
• I never expected Turtle Beach to build my new favorite flight stick but the VelocityOne Flightdeck is perfect
• ASUS upgrades to the latest Intel Core Ultra CPUs with its new ROG Zephyrus OLED gaming laptop and it's gorgeous
• Logitech's best wireless keyboard proves the MX Master mouse wasn't an anomaly, and even makes it better

Tech deals of the week

Some excellent laptops and convertibles are on sale at the moment, including the Surface Pro 9, Dell XPS 17, and Lenovo Yoga 9i. We also saw a discount on the Xbox Series X|S Seagate Storage Card (2TB) that's still going strong.

In addition to the deals below, make sure to check out our collection of the 7 best Xbox games under $10.

What you need to know

• Last month, Microsoft confirmed widespread rumors that it would start bringing more of its "exclusive" Xbox games to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, in a quest for bigger profit margin growth. 
• The first batch includes Grounded, Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush, and Sea of Thieves. 
• Sea of Thieves is by far the biggest of the bunch, and the service game arguably has the most potential. 
• It seems that that potential is already being realized, since the game has hit the top spot on the preorder chart on PlayStation consoles. 

Last month, Microsoft confirmed during an "Xbox Business Update" podcast that it would be bringing some of its Xbox console exclusive games to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. The first four games include Grounded, Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush, and Sea of Thieves. Sea of Thieves is by far the biggest game of the bunch, given that the multiplayer sandbox pirate adventure has reached tens of millions of players across both Xbox consoles and PC. 

Microsoft's decision to "dilute" the meaning of "Xbox exclusive" has been met with some fierce resistance in some quarters and quiet scepticism in others, lamenting the possibility of a collapse in Xbox console hardware sales. Microsoft and others have argued that the console industry is largely a static install base of around 200-250 million overlapping users, and the future of gaming is going to be more about targeting users where they are, rather than trying to absorb them into a closed ecosystem. At the same time, Microsoft said "not to expect" more than this initial pool of four ports for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation, but if the experiment is successful, it stands to reason to expect more to jump across. 

To that end, Sea of Thieves will be among the first games to explore this new direction, and so far, it seems like it's paying off. Confirmed by industry analyst Benji-Sales and others, Sea of Thieves has hit the top spot on the preorder chart for PlayStation in the United States, as well as various other territories. 

Microsoft is already a prolific publisher on PlayStation, owing to games like Minecraft, Minecraft Dungeons, and some of the acquired titles from studios like Bethesda. Microsoft can now also count Activision-Blizzard games like Call of Duty as part of that envious revenue stream, too.

Analyzing the plan

What Microsoft will be monitoring closely is whether or not this experiment will lead to a decrease in monthly active users. Microsoft confirmed in its most recent investor call that Xbox console monthly active users are higher than ever, counting both Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S players in that stat. Xbox Series X|S sales might fall far behind PlayStation 5, but the implication here is that both "sides" are selling hardware to an existing user base, rather than an expanding one. Popular service games like EA Football (FIFA), Minecraft, and Fortnite remain actively updated on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, contributing to the long-tail of the previous console generation.

Microsoft might have given Xbox One users fewer reasons to upgrade to the new-gen consoles than Sony's PlayStation 5 has, but that doesn't seem to have contributed to a drop off in active, paying users. However, Microsoft will likely be interested to see if Sea of Thieves on PlayStation moves active Sea of Thieves users from Xbox to PlayStation, for those with both consoles. Ideally, Microsoft would want to see Sea of Thieves acquire new users here, rather than simply move existing players from other ecosystems. In the short term, the extra sales will undoubtedly be a boon, but this strategy is entirely about finding growth. If Microsoft finds that putting games like Sea of Thieves and so on leads to a decrease in monthly active Xbox users, or seeing Xbox One users opt for PlayStation 5 as their upgrade path, it's likely that they'd be a little more restrictive about how they proceed. 

In any case, it'll be interesting to see how this strategy evolves over time. Microsoft has confirmed that new Xbox hardware is in the works for the next-generation, accompanied by widespread rumors that the firm is exploring its own Xbox handheld device, with native gameplay support akin to the Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch. 

Sea of Thieves launches on April 30, 2024 for PlayStation 5, and is available right now on Xbox Series X|S and PC, also with Xbox Game Pass. 

What you need to know

• At the weekend, rumors began to swirl that Hi-Fi Rush, one of Microsoft's biggest Xbox hits from last year, is coming to other console platforms. 
• It would mark a departure from Xbox's previous comments, wherein they suggested they wouldn't explore these avenues again after creating confusion with Ori and the Blind Forest on Nintendo Switch. 
• More recently, Xbox CFO Tim Stuart said that, indeed, Xbox will begin bringing more of its games to other platforms, which potentially shows a change in thinking. Previously, Microsoft said its games would be where Game Pass exists. Markedly, Game Pass is very much not on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation, and likely won't be until Xbox stops competing in the hardware space. 
• Now, prominent journalists Jeff Grubb and Stephen Totilo have claimed that Sea of Thieves may also be exploring a PlayStation version.  

The rumor mill won't stop for this latest round of reports that Microsoft is gearing up to abandon Xbox exclusivity for its premium titles. Over the weekend, rumors began to percolate suggesting Hi-Fi Rush, last year's break out action hit, will move from being an Xbox exclusive to a multi-platform console title, potentially hitting Nintendo Switch or PS5. It follows earlier comments from Xbox CFO Tim Stuart who publicly said Xbox will be bringing more of its games to competing platforms in the coming years, marking a departure from previous strategies. 

Microsoft is a prolific "third-party" publisher already technically, with Call of Duty and Minecraft being notable properties the firm owns. Games like Fallout 76 and Elder Scrolls Online continue to be updated in a third-party capacity too, across competing platforms like PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. Microsoft also is contractually obligated to keep Call of Duty multi-platform, per regulatory deals following its acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. Xbox fans had hoped, however, that games like Starfield, Hellblade 2, Avowed, and other upcoming Xbox games might help the platform grow, faced with stiff competition from Sony's PS5 and Nintendo's Switch. It seems that Microsoft may be gearing up to throw in the towel before giving their acquisitions a real chance to turn the tide. 

In reports from both Giantbomb's Jeff Grubb and Game Files' Stephen Totilo (which you should defo subscribe to), it has been claimed that Microsoft's pirate adventure service title Sea of Thieves could be exploring new waters.

While it's unconfirmed if the plans went ahead, I also received tips in mid December that Sea of Thieves was slated for multiplatform treatment. My attempts to verify the rumors with multiple people didn't pan out, which is usually my benchmark for making these kinds of reports. "Exploring" a port doesn't necessarily mean they will, or are doing it, though, and the can of worms it might potentially open could dissuade Microsoft from seeing it through. 

Why Sea of Thieves, but not Halo Infinite? etc. ad nauseum.

The business rationale for moving Sea of Thieves to PlayStation most likely makes total and complete sense from a numbers perspective. The game might've served everyone it can possibly serve on Xbox and PC, and moving it to another platform might be a good way to help it find new users and generate new revenue. It does open a can of worms, though, much like the Hi-Fi Rush rumors. 

People might say Sea of Thieves being ported makes sense, since it's towards the end of its life cycle potentially — but then why not Halo Infinite? The iconic Xbox franchise moving to PlayStation would be a huge coup and become emblematic of Xbox's thorough defeat. But only with core Xbox fans, whom Microsoft doesn't seem to think are enough to carry the future of the platform. If you're porting Sea of Thieves, what is the excuse Microsoft will give for Halo, Forza, or Gears of War, and any other Xbox game not being ported? Are they timed exclusive? For how long? 

Microsoft has always said that exclusivity for its games will be on a case-by-case basis. CFO Tim Stuart said that Xbox will be bringing more of its games to other platforms too. CEO Satya Nadella said that the only reason they do exclusives at all is because PlayStation does. Microsoft still hasn't announced platforms for Marvel's Blade, leading many to think it isn't Xbox exclusive too.

It's not as if they've been shy about the plans to be less restrictive over competing console platforms. But the confusion over "which games?" and "when are the ports?" will be a constant source of contention for Xbox in this strange new world, where the Xbox and Windows just aren't enough.  

Sea of Thieves Season 10 officially set sail on October 19, bringing a new Guilds feature to allow friends and like-minded players to earn and share progression. On November 16, the second update of the season will bring a new competitive voyage type called Skull of Siren Song, which will have multiple players on a server competing to find and turn in a single high-value treasure.

Season 10's final update, including the oft-requested PvE (player vs. environment) servers, will be released in December. This new mode will be called 'Safer Seas' and allow players to sail on the Sea of Thieves without the threat of encountering other players. Each new feature targets a different play style and complements existing features and events in the game.

New season, new ways to play

The Guilds feature focuses on and expands upon the cooperative social foundation of Sea of Thieves. Any player can create a Guild and be a member of up to three Guilds at a time. The creator of the Guild will select a crest, colors, motto, and name. Guild members can pledge ships, allowing members to help earn milestones even when the ship's owner is offline. Ultimately, members of each Guild will contribute to the progression of the Guild, whether they're sailing together or apart, with the goal of earning Distinctions, the game's take on a prestige mechanic (like Call of Duty). At each Distinction level, new Commendations become available for members to strive for.

I joined a Guild made up of several friends of mine shortly after the feature was released and have been having a great time with it. The sense of working toward a shared goal, even when not sailing together, has been a real highlight for me. It's fun to do my own thing and still contribute to the Guild and then talk about what we've all been up to when we do sail together. It builds a sense of community larger than the previous four-player maximum the game offered in its largest vessel crew size. 

Guilds also allow for Emissary play, a risk/reward gold and reputation multiplier system previously available through the game’s Trading Companies. The risk aspect of sailing as a Guild Emissary (or any Trading Company Emissary) means you become a target for players sailing under the Reapers Bones Emissary flag. The reward is increased payouts for selling loot, as well as earning Guild reputation at a faster rate.

It’s a great optional aspect to sailing in a Guild, allowing you to choose whether you want to increase your rewards at the expense of a higher likelihood of a PvP (player vs. player) encounter. The ability to raise an Emissary flag is locked until your Guild reaches level 15, giving Guild members an incentive to rank up and unlock the ability.

Overall, I would say that Guilds act as a successful new social mechanic, elevating the fun of playing with friends. The asynchronous progression helps alleviate prior issues of coordinating time to play with others, for example, folks in different time zones. The ability to customize and sail under a shared banner also expands upon elements introduced with the Season 7 Captaincy update, further enhancing the sense of personalization of the game.

More on the Horizon

While Guilds alone may be a great reason to return to the Sea of Thieves for players who had dropped off, the two remaining updates for Season 10 will appeal to two player types who may have found the game to have lost its appeal.

The November update’s Skull of Siren Song voyage brings a new competitive aspect to the game, reminiscent of the former PvP-specific mode, The Arena. This new voyage should appeal to players who enjoy battling others on land and sea and hopefully bring back players who left after The Arena shut its doors in early 2022. The voyage works more like a world event than other voyages in the game, starting when a mysterious ghostly note appears on a ship’s mast.

Crews must opt-in to participate, and once enough crews have opted in, the ghost of Captain Briggsy will appear and present each crew with two maps — one map points to a chest, the other to its key. Players must compete to acquire each or wait for other crews to do so and swoop in. Once the key is reunited with the chest, the ship in possession will be slowed significantly by the siren’s skull, and all crews will then find out what island Captain Briggsy is waiting on for the skull to be returned.

Additionally, no other crews can join in on the voyage once the chest is opened. They could still encounter the active crews by chance, but they wouldn’t know where Captain Briggsy is located.

This new voyage type promises to add yet another way for PvP enthusiasts to battle it out on the seas. The similarities to the former Arena’s formula serve as a great homage to the retired mode, sending all participating crews toward a single objective and encouraging strategy and combat skills. With any luck, players who have been missing The Arena will find similar enjoyment with the Skull of Siren Song voyage.

On the other side of the playstyle doubloon, players who avoid PvP encounters or those who have avoided playing the game for that reason will find the new Safer Seas an enticing way to enjoy the game at their own pace. Set to be released in December, this mode will allow a single crew to play on servers without rival crews. There are a few caveats as well, such as reducing the gold and reputation earn rate to 30%, removing certain world event types (such as the Fort of the Damned and Fort of Fortune), and limiting voyage types to the core Trading Companies – no Legendary Voyages on these seas!

There will also be a level cap implemented, meaning players can not progress past level 40 with any trading company while playing on Safer Seas. This mode will serve as a great way for new players to learn the ropes and offer a more chill experience to existing players wanting to take on voyages, Tall Tales, or other PvE world events without being griefed by other players.

With so many new ways to play, now is the perfect time for lapsed players to return to Sea of Thieves and for new players to give it one of the best Xbox games chance, especially if they subscribe to Game Pass. From new tools for social collaboration to a competitive voyage to a way to play at your own pace, there’s surely something for everyone in Season 10.

What you need to know

• The second major update patch for Season 10 of Sea of Thieves has just gone live.
• The update will introduce a PvP-focused World Event where players must compete in a race to capture the legendary Skull of Siren Song before anyone else does.
• This content update will also add cosmetic outfits, weapons, ships, and more items from previous seasons for players to obtain.
• Rare also provided some additional information on the upcoming "Safer Seas" update that will let players create private servers.

Rare just rolled out a massive update for its massively popular, open-world pirate adventure game, Sea of Thieves. This content patch is the second major update for Sea of Thieves' ongoing 10th Season and is titled "Skull of Siren Song".

It is titled as such because this update is focused on the introduction of a new PvP-focused World Event that will pit player crews against one another in a race to claim the titular Skull of Siren Song.

To begin the quest, players will need to find a ghostly note pinned to their ship's mast once a Voyage begins. If players accept the note's quest to find the Skull of Siren's Call, they will receive two maps that will lead them to a chest containing the skull and the key to open it. The drawback here is that every player crew joining this quest will receive the same maps.

Players will need to sail as fast as they can while fending off their rivals to grab the key to the chest hiding the skull. To make matters worse, if a player manages to grab the key and chest, their location will be broadcast to all players on the server via map markers and beacons. So, if a player crew gets to their objective first, they better be prepared to defend themselves while opening the chest as all their rivals will be rushing toward them.

Once a player team manages to obtain the Skull of Siren Song, they will need to take it to Captain Briggsy to collect their rewards. However, that is easier said than done, as the cursed Skull of Siren Song will be inflicting all kinds of random curses to make the journey home chaotic. 

Some of these detrimental curses include summoning an army of Coral Skeletons to slaughter your team or slowing your ship to a crawl, allowing rival players to catch up and steal the Skull of Siren Song from you. There are, however, some beneficial curses that can aid you like conjuring devastating soundwaves that will send enemies flying.

Rewards for claiming the Skull of Siren Song

Beyond receiving a huge pot of gold for your efforts, the rewards for completing the World Event are numerous:

• Commendations that track how many times you dig up treasure or keys, how many treasure chests you unlock, and more
• New Flags, Figureheads, Sails and Trinkets for your ship
• Captain Briggsy's Jacket and Mask
• The Composer of Siren Song Title for completing all Siren Song Commendations.

Miscellaneous updates

In addition to the new PvP World Event, this content patch includes other goodies. For starters, the Pirate Emporium has received new stock. The new items are as follows:

• The Ravenwood Ship set, Ravenwood Spyglass, and Ravenwood Weapons which were previously only available during Season Eight's Plunder Pass update
• The Festival of Plenty musical instruments and pet outfits are also back in stock for a limited time
• A free Angry Scribe Emote

Meanwhile, over at the Outpost shops, the Gold Leaf set has been expanded to include matching clothing. In addition, this update has introduced some new cosmetic rewards for completing the three Tall Tales of The Legend of Monkey Island.

For further information regarding balance changes and quality-of-life changes, you can refer to the full patch notes at the official Sea of Thieves website.

The third major update of Season 10 is coming soon

Rare isn't done yet; it has announced a new game mode for Sea of Thieves that will be implemented in the third major update of Season Ten — Safer Seas. To put it simply, Safer Seas disables all forms of PvP by letting players host a private server where they can travel the seas alone or with a group of friends they've personally invited.

Safer Seas is designed to provide a more peaceful gameplay experience that will help new players learn how to play and enjoy the game's PvE features like Tall Tales and fishing without getting attacked by rival players. The catch of Safer Seas is that progression will be slower and you will receive reduced rewards compared to normal mode as you will have fewer dangers to deal with.

The release date for this game mode along with the third update hasn't been announced as of yet. We will be sure to keep an eye out for this upcoming update as Safer Sea sounds like it could be one of the best new game modes it may ever receive. Not only will it help draw in new players to one of the best Xbox games on Xbox Game Pass, but it will also allow players who personally don't like the game's PvP aspects to finally relax and play Sea of Thieves with their friends without fear of getting robbed by other players.

If you’re one of the few people who haven’t had the pleasure to set sail in Sea of Thieves yet, or you tried the game out before but haven’t been back to it in a while now is the time to embrace the pirate life, and explore the vast world of Sea of Thieves. 

Sea of Thieves was one of the first games that showed the importance of a gaming publisher sticking behind a game they believe in, even if it launches to mixed or bad reception from critics and fans. When Fallout 76 launched in a poor state, Todd Howard said in the Bethesda round-table that he called Phil Spencer, who put him in touch with people at Xbox who showed him what was important in their games that made it for the long haul. 

Likely games like Halo: Master Chief Collection and at that time they were hard at work turning Sea of Thieves into a success as it had launched months before Fallout 76. Eventually, Xbox helped Bethesda make Fallout 76 into a thriving game today. These live-service wins continue with Xbox as Halo Infinite has just turned the corner as well, now showing a resurgence in player numbers as Season 5 recently launched. 

Sea of Thieves is one of Xbox’s most successful games ever, with the last reported number of players being over 30 million, announced at the Xbox 2022 Showcase. Since 2021, Rare has become the king of the live-service ocean and has one of the best content release schedules of any ongoing game. They just released Season 10 and the new features and gameplay changes make it the perfect time to climb aboard your own pirate ship.  

Why Sea of Thieves Season 10 is the best time to start

Season 10 of Sea of Thieves brings some long-requested features to Rare’s epic and enormous world. Sea of Thieves now has guilds and in the coming months, the Skull of Siren Song Voyages and Safer Seas will be coming to give players new play options and adventures to experience. And of course, the Sea of Thieves Tutorial is still available for new players.

The best overview of Season 10 comes from the Sea of Thieves YouTube video and is their preview coverage going over the features coming throughout Season 10. 

The all-new Guild system is now live with the launch of Season 10, letting players join together with up to 24 players in a guild and join 3 different guilds at once so no matter when you want to have your pirate adventures one of your guilds will be ready to sail the high seas with you. 

Being part of a guild helps you earn rewards as well. It can help you gain more personal Reputation as a Guild Emissary or get special clothing and even level up the Guild Reputation as well as earning rewards for the overall guild.

Guilds can share ships with their guildmates allowing for your guild ships to progress along its ship milestones as the guild members take it out to sea. 

Rare has focused on a big suite of changes to make some combat improvements. While some players are worried about this messing with their muscle memory, especially in regard to the quick switching mechanic being removed, Rare is certain it will make PVP more fair for all players. Here is a list of the combat changes.

• Hit Detection Improvements
• Sword Combat Flow
• Sword Block
• Sword Hit Detection and Feedback
• Quick Switching Removal
• Controller Aim Assist

It is impressive to see that after 5 years and 10 seasons, Rare is still dedicated to improving the feel and playability of Sea of Thieves. The game feels better than ever and there are so many ways to play and earn rewards, it really is the best the game has ever been.

New players have no fear, Rare has a guide for you

Rare really loves their PDF guides. They have a new player guide that has 24 amazingly detailed pages for some light reading. The guide contains information on consumable items, equipment, weapons, and how to work on your ship and manage voyages in your quest tab.

If you want to really get prepared to start your journey into Sea of Thieves, Rare now offers a Rough Guide PDF with 47 pages full to the brim of everything you could possibly need to know about the game. It really is beautifully created. 

It explains the game's goals and objectives. Furthermore, it explains the importance of outposts and voyages and is worth taking a quick look at. From working with The Bilge Rats to tackling world events or partaking in some Tall Tales, the game is full of excellent content that rewards the player no matter how you play it. 

I do recommend looking at the image in the gallery above about finding a crew to play with. The game will auto-match you with some players if you don't have your own friends to invite, but in my experience, you're just as likely to get paired with players who don't have a microphone or are new to the game as not. I recommend using Rare's guide to find some players who are skilled pirates who can show you the ropes.

Like most MMOs, Sea of Thieves has a substantial learning curve, but it is one of the most streamed games on Twitch and other game streaming platforms, so if you want to learn more about the game, you can always tune into a stream to see what kind of adventures players go on in the game.

Upcoming in the newest season, there are 2 new game modes that will be released over the next few weeks. The first is the Skull of Siren Songs, and then Safer Seas.

The Skull of Siren Songs: Battle Royal meets Oddball

The Skull of Siren Song is the first competitive voyage that pits crews against each other in a race for a legendary artifact. It gives fans of PVP a more exciting game mode to pit their pirating skills against others, and could be somewhat similar to Diablo IV’s fields of hatred. Like other world events, it will appear randomly on your map and a note will appear on the player's mast. Each group that opts into the event will receive two maps. One leads to a chest and one to a key. They have to be combined to open the final chest to receive the Skull of Siren Song. 

The PVP aspect comes into play because two different crews out of the several crews playing will have the key or the chest, and they will show on the map to all of the other crews playing, so they will be hunted. Even once you get the Skull, it is cursed and slows down your ship, so the other ships will catch you, and you will need to defend the Skull. It’s almost similar to a battle royale meets Halo’s Oddball and sounds like a lot of fun. 

Worried about losing your loot? Safer Seas is the perfect game mode for you

A long-time feature request for Sea of Thieves has been to play alone or just in co-op and not need to worry about losing all of their loot to other players. This has led Rare to develop a new way to play Sea of Thieves. Safer Seas is a new game mode enabling players to explore the Sea of Thieves without disruption from other crews. 

You can play with 3 of your chosen friends in a private world, and you can still experience the entire game of Sea of Thieves, though earning gold at a 30% lower rate than the regular High Seas mode that includes PVP. Rare is excited for new players to start in Safer Seas and learn the mechanics before jumping into High Seas. For those looking for more information, check out the FAQ about Safer Seas. 

This feature has been met with some skepticism from some long-time fans of Sea of Thieves worried that it will water down the experience for players, but since it's completely optional, it seems like a great decision by Rare to offer a less stressful gameplay experience.

Sea of Thieves keeps prioritizing accessibility

The Sea of Thieves X (Twitter) account posted an accessibility highlight back in August which uses Aim Assist Audio. This feature assists with aiming down sights via a clicking sound that changes as the player's aim moves towards or away from a visible enemy threat. You can see a video of this feature in action in their post. 

"Most gameplay cues are delivered through multiple sensory modalities, such as on-screen VFX, audio, and haptic feedback. Player communication is central to Sea of Thieves. Players can make use of both voice and text chat (with text-to-speech and speech-to-text support)"

Sea of Thieves works hard to innovate accessibility and accommodate those who need unique play styles to enjoy the game. Xbox is combating exclusion with its accessibility drive and Rare is in full support of that mission with Sea of Thieves. For more of their updates on accessibility take a look at their release notes for each update.  

The Sea of Thieves journey so far

 Sea of Thieves is on Season 10, it might be a surprise to some readers who aren’t keeping up to date, but the “Sea of Thieves: A Pirates Life” expansion was all the way back in Season 3 in June 2021. Since then Rare and the Sea of Thieves team has been pushing out constant content and new seasons nearly every quarter, making it one of the most updated and adapting live-service games on the market. 

The last major cross-over expansion, The Legend of Monkey Island, took place mid-way through Season 9, releasing in July 2023. Before its release, we shared our thoughts on how excited we were for the Monkey Island update, and it hasn’t disappointed. 

Rare has focused on a big suite of changes to make some combat improvements. While some players are worried about this messing with their muscle memory, especially in regard to the quick switching mechanic being removed, Rare is certain it will make PVP more fair for all players. Here is a list of the combat changes.  

Tall Tales give players a great story-driven experience

If you're like me and roaming the open seas endlessly looking for more loot can become a bit too much of a good thing, then jump into the Tall Tales of Sea of Thieves. The most recent is the Legend of Monkey Island crossover which starts with the Journey of Mêlée Island Tall Tale. You will need to work with pirates from Monkey Island to rescue the hero of Monkey Island, Guybrush Threepwood. It continues with The Quest for Guybrush Tall Tale, and the third is The Lair of LeChuck Tall Tale. These stories give a great introduction to the game mechanics all while telling an engaging story from a beloved classic IP.

Is Monkey Island not your thing? Well, there are other Tall Tales for your enjoyment. I never finished the Sea of Thieves: A Pirates Life quest line before, so I'm going back to play through that now, and it has been a great time. 

Sea of Thieves is an Xbox live-service success story

With so many companies chasing the games as a service dream, Xbox is quietly sitting on a 30 million + MMO live-service monster in Sea of Thieves. Where other studios fail to meet content delivery schedules, Rare is showing the industry how it's done (Even though Season 10 was a bit delayed.) If you're looking forward to the future of Xbox as they work to integrate Activision Blizzard, and King into their plans going forward, it's worth taking a few hours to realize what it is about Sea of Thieves that has captivated so many players. 

Sea of Thieves is becoming the shining example of how to successfully manage a live-service game within the ability of the studio, all while listening to fan feedback, offering players new experiences, and maintaining their insistence on accessibility for all of their players. As Xbox looks to bring in other live-service games, such as the struggling Overwatch 2, and maybe even something like Heroes of the Storm, they can use what Sea of Thieves has created as a guidepost to help these other games provide better, and more consumer-friendly content to their user bases. 

With all of that said, from the perspective of the game itself, now is the best time to return to Sea of Thieves, or get your feet wet in the game's amazing water physics for the first time. Of course, we all know that 2023 is the year in gaming that doesn't stop giving. But between Alan Wake 2 which is an amazing game, Xbox's upcoming first-party release in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, and the rest of the big games to close out the year, don't be afraid to load up Sea of Thieves and sink some time into the greatest MMO live-service game Xbox has ever made. 

What you need to know

• Sea of Thieves Season 10 is introducing some new features for the game, including Guilds and Safer Seas.
• Guilds allow up to 24 players to rally together, making it a great option for larger friend groups.
• Safer Seas introduces the long-requested player vs. environment (PvE) servers for the game, allowing a player and up to three friends the option of limited, reduced progression with no player vs. player (PvP) combat. 
• Sea of Thieves Season 10 is slated to launch on Oct. 19, 2023. 

The next season of Rare's pirate adventure game may be the biggest yet for some players. 

The previously-delayed Season 10 of Sea of Thieves adds some major features that have been requested for years, including PvE servers. Dubbed "Safer Seas," this new game mode allows one player to explore by themselves or with up to three friends in a private world. Players are able to fish or complete Tall Tales without the fear of being interrupted by those looking for a fight. 

Safer Seas has some caps however, as players will only earn 30% of the gold and trader progression they would in the normal game. Progression is also capped to level 40 per trader, and you can't ascend and become a Pirate Lord while in the Safer Seas. You can watch the full video regarding what's coming in Season 10 below:

Rare is clear that the "High Seas" option is still meant to be the primary way to play the game, but that the studio understands newer players (or veterans who just want a breather) will want a more calm environment from time to time.

The other big feature on the way is Guilds, which allow up to 24 players to band together as one force, earning shared progression for unique rewards through Guild Reputation. Sea of Thieves Season 10 is currently slated to arrive on Oct. 19, 2023. 

Analysis: A place for everyone on the vast ocean

I know there will be a handful of people who live and breathe PvP that may be upset by this, but seriously, this is a good move. There are players who engage with Sea of Thieves very casually and want to go through the excellent story content through the Tall Tales without worrying about being ambushed on a whim. It's not my preferred way of playing, but it being here should improve the game's already-impressive longevity even further.

What you need to know

• Season Nine of Sea of Thieves launched on March 16, 2023.  
• Seasons in the online pirate sandbox typically run for roughly three months.  
• Rare has delayed Season 10 of Sea of Thieves until October 19, 2023.  

In some unfortunate news for fans of Rare’s ongoing pirate adventure Sea of Thieves, Rare announced earlier today that the launch of Season 10 will be delayed until October 19, 2023. Considering Season Nine kicked off back in March and Seasons in Sea of Thieves typically run for three months, engaged players are understandably disappointed by the considerably lengthened run for Season Nine.   

Rare released a candid developer update video to assuage frustrated pirates, breaking down the specific reasons for this difficult delay. According to Mike Chapman of Rare, Season 10 will introduce an “ambitious feature set” that “speaks to the foundational systems [of the game] and expands the ways you can play Sea of Thieves.” Chapman also mentions the scoping for previous seasons was easier to predict because the evolutions weren’t as transformative.

The team hopes the difficult decision to delay Season 10 will empower the team to pursue loftier ambitions and “set Sea of Thieves up for an incredibly exciting future.” Additionally, Rare aims to include what would have been the key headlining feature for Season 11 as part of Season 10. This stacked suite should guarantee a tremendous amount of content and new features as compensation for the extended Season Nine.  

Players hungry for more excuses to play Sea of Thieves until October 19 can also dive into the three-part Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey saga that introduces one Tall Tale per month over the next three months. Delays are never fun for the developers or the players, but it’s the tough reality with ongoing games. Thankfully, there are always other outstanding games in Xbox Game Pass. 

When Sea of Thieves launched in 2018, critics faulted the open-world pirate sandbox for its distinct lack of content. While passionate players like me championed Rare’s refreshing social experiment, casual audiences struggled to find long-term nautical motivation. Thankfully, the team has confidently stayed the course over the past five years. Sea of Thieves is now teeming with meaningful adventures and pirate progression, including the recently released ‘The Legend of Monkey Island’ Tall Tale.  

Much like A Pirate’s Life, The Legend of Monkey Island cleverly introduces iconic characters from a beloved franchise to Sea of Thieves. The fantastical narrative journey recreates familiar memories from the legendary pirate hero, Guybrush Threepwood, and in traditional point-and-click fashion, you’re tasked with gathering the appropriate items and uncovering the mysteries of Mêlée Island.   

I enjoyed my expedition to these infamous locales but ultimately found myself fixated on the possibilities presented during one sequence in the first of three new Tall Tales. In previous updates, I’ve frequently commended Sea of Thieves for implementing fishing, hunting, and cooking. However, as someone with a culinary soft spot, I’ve always felt these mechanics haven’t utilized their full potential. The Legend of Monkey Island teases a bright future for aspiring pirate chefs and gave me my first taste of proper cooking in Sea of Thieves.  

Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island has genuine cooking

The Hunter’s Call is my favorite trading company in Sea of Thieves. I’m even one of the few sickos who’s been mad dedicated enough to catch every fish in the game. Unfortunately, the current state of hunting, fishing, and cooking seriously lacks versatility. Slapping a whole fish or pork chop on the skillet and watching it slowly turn brown doesn’t quite fulfill my personalized pirate fantasy. While some gaming community members have no taste and enjoy unseasoned meat (they may or may not co-host The Xbox Two), most of us prefer a little spice in our cooking.   

When The Hunter’s Call update was dropped in 2019, I distinctly remember speculating on the grand potential of this fledgling trading company. It seemed probable that preparing meals would be expanded with spices and recipes, and the breadth of animal ingredients would be increased to encourage players to engage with The Hunter’s Call. Wildly, not much has changed in nearly four years for hunting, fishing, or cooking. 

Considering the confusing absence of worthwhile additions to The Hunter’s Call, I had begun to lose hope in the idea of becoming a fabled pirate chef. In a surprising turn of events, Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island has completely restored my faith in The Hunter’s Call and sent me spiraling down another rabbit hole of culinary possibilities.   

To avoid spoilers for players who wish to crack the codes on their own, I won’t be divulging a considerable amount of story specifics for the first The Legend of Monkey Island Tall Tale, but there is one puzzle that involves preparing a complete meal. After donning your best chef attire, you’ll head to a kitchen to cut onions and leaks, gather herbs and spices, collect the appropriate meats, and whip up a hearty stew. Believe me when I say I have never been more stoked to chop onions in a video game.

Will cooking be improved in Sea of Thieves?

As it stands, these enhanced cooking mechanics are only available during The Legend of Monkey Island story mission, and there’s no official indication that herbs, spices, and recipes will make their way to the sandbox. On the other hand, Sea of Thieves has been notorious for teasing significant features within its updates, and this could be a glimpse of what’s to come for pirates hungry to refocus on The Hunter’s Call. The timing is also interesting, as we haven’t seen the content announcements for Season 10 of Sea of Thieves.  

Regardless of whether cooking will be improved in Sea of Thieves, the team at Rare continues to deliver headline-worthy moments for the ongoing adventure. The Legend of Monkey Island and its distinctive charm showcase precisely why Sea of Thieves is one of the best games in Xbox Game Pass. If you’ve tried the latest Tall Tale for yourself, dive in and let me know if I’m entirely out of line with my ambitious hypothesis. 

We are just days away from Microsoft’s Xbox Games Showcase 2023 and Starfield Direct. This annual gaming ritual rallies the community around the wild prospects of stunning game reveals and internet-breaking announcements. While passionate Xbox fans are eager to see what the teams at Xbox Game Studios have been diligently crafting behind the scenes, 2023 has been a distracting and occasionally disappointing year for the brand, with the circus of the Activision/Blizzard acquisition and Redfall’s rocky release dominating conversations.  

Thankfully, energy and momentum have positively shifted for Xbox in recent weeks. Following a polarizing PlayStation Showcase, Microsoft appears reinvigorated and notably confident in its upcoming event. The VP of Xbox Games Marketing, Aaron Greenberg, has even skipped the infamous “temper expectations” tweets this year. This messaging, combined with teases from Sarah Bond, Phil Spencer, and the official Xbox social accounts, suggests fans are in store for an excellent Xbox Games Showcase.  

The current excitement, curiosity, and critical skepticism surrounding Xbox’s impending show is amplified by the platform’s light first-party output in 2022 and last year’s marketing decision to focus the entire showcase on games coming in “the next 12 months.” So, what should we anticipate from Xbox, given the current outlook from the community and a freshly established sense of self-confidence? That’s precisely what we’ll discuss with our official predictions for the Xbox Games Showcase 2023. 

What will probably be at the Xbox Games Showcase 2023

Before we dive into the list of games we're expecting Microsoft to feature at the Xbox Games Showcase, it's important to note that these are merely predictions based on the state of development timelines, recent activity from key personnel, industry insights, and a sprinkle of good old-fashioned conjecture. Like many fans, we don't know entirely what's in store for this year's showcase. That being said, these are our best forecasts for the games most likely to make an appearance.   

Let's start with the fantastical elephant in the room, Playground Games' massively-anticipated reboot of Fable. First revealed at the Xbox Games Showcase in 2020, the debut trailer playfully teased the project's existence and not much more. Since its announcement, the gameplay demonstration has been speculated and predicted for every subsequent Xbox Games Showcase. Considering professional updates that indicate flighting for Fable and Xbox's recent social media glitter bomb, it seems incredibly likely that we'll see Fable on Sunday.  

It's hard to determine whether this will be a full-fledged gameplay trailer or merely in-engine footage with cinematic elements and narration to help further set the tone of the reimagined world of Albion. Still, it's even harder to imagine Fable not showing at all during the Xbox Games Showcase 2023. If Fable's development still has a considerable way to go, there's also a strong chance Microsoft will lean into a remastered Fable collection to tide fans over for the next year and change.  

Another two extremely-awaited Xbox Game Studios titles that have a genuine chance of turning up at the Xbox Games Showcase are Obsidian Entertainment's dark fantasy RPG Avowed and Ninja Theory's dramatic spectacle Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2. During last month's interview on the Kinda Funny Xcast, Phil Spencer specifically mentioned these two games when highlighting potential Xbox Game Studios releases that could launch in the quarters following Starfield.   

Factoring in these statements from Phil Spencer, we are poised to hear about the release timing for Avowed and Hellblade 2 potentially. With Starfield scheduled to launch in September, there's an open Holiday 2023 release gap for something like Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2. However, considering the dynamic nature of game development, Microsoft may be hesitant to commit to that slot. Either way, gameplay for Avowed and a release window for Hellblade 2 are announcements we'd confidently put on our Bingo cards.

While not what many consider a notably adventurous prediction, Forza Motorsport is almost guaranteed for the Xbox Game Showcase 2023. The gorgeous racer has delighted fans at previous Xbox Games Showcases and the Developer_Direct in January. Curiously, Forza Motorsport didn't receive an official release date when shown earlier this year, so chances are we'll get confirmation of a late Summer/early Fall 2023 release. Additionally, Playground Games has an opportunity to announce an exciting expansion for Forza Horizon 5. 

Regarding other fan-favorite ongoing Xbox games, Microsoft has set the precedent of announcing thrilling updates at major Xbox events. Heading into the Xbox Games Showcase 2023, we are conveniently on the cusp of two significant seasonal rollouts for Sea of Thieves and Halo Infinite. In 2021, Sea of Thieves arguably stole the show with its outstanding Pirates of the Caribbean mini-campaign. Since then, fans have been clamoring for more crossovers. During the show, we expect flashy feature-forward trailers for Sea of Thieves and Halo Infinite.

One particularly well-received moment during the 2022 Xbox Games Showcase involved Phil Spencer commenting on the company's commitments to Japanese video game creators. In addition to the announcement of Personal 5 Royal coming to Xbox Game Pass, the team unveiled the long-rumored collaboration between Xbox and famed developer Hideo Kojima. The possibility of Xbox reaffirming those commitments during the Xbox Games Showcase 2023 feels probable, especially because of the unfortunate oopsie from the Atlus Instagram that announced Persona 3 Reload and Persona 5 Tactica are coming to Xbox Game Pass.   

Speaking of Xbox Game Pass, the first batch of titles confirmed for June 2023 was suspiciously lighter than average. Because of the continued positive reaction to substantial Xbox Game Pass announcements, we imagine Xbox has a few compelling shadow-drops up its sleeves. One of which possibly being a current-gen remaster of Fallout 4. While certainly not assured, Xbox could also set the internet ablaze by shadow-dropping Hollow Knight: Silksong in Xbox Game Pass.   

Xbox fans should also expect a handful of brand-new reveals from Xbox Game Studios. It isn't easy to pinpoint which teams will assertedly be in attendance. Still, Compulsion Games, InXile, and The Coalition seem most likely. Compulsion Games has been heads down on a new IP since the release of We Happy Few, currently codenamed Project Midnight. InXile is reportedly crafting a first-person RPG named Cobalt. And The Coalition is probably cooking up Gears 6 in Unreal Engine 5. Any of these announcements could be featured at the Xbox Games Showcase 2023.

What might be at the Xbox Games Showcase 2023

The most fascinating components of Xbox predictions right now are the remarkable possibilities for the future. Microsoft has made tremendous investments in Xbox Game Studios and Xbox Game Studios Publishing, and for players, that will unquestionably lead to an enhanced slate of engaging video games. Highlighting a smaller selection of likely candidates for the Xbox Games, Showcase 2023 is infinitely easier than swimming through the speculative pool of potential announcements. So, let's cover some games that may or may not star in the show.  

Xbox Game Studios Publishing has positioned itself as a core pillar of Xbox's business strategy. While acquisitions can guarantee consistent exclusive content, strategic partnerships with high-profile developers are equally excellent methods of bringing worthwhile games to your platform. When discussing the second-party output of Xbox in the near-term future, a handful of titles seem more likely than the others. 

The action-oriented heist game Contraband from Avalanche Studios, the mythical Kojima Xbox collaboration (rumored to be called Overdose?), and the side-scrolling fantasy title Wandering Tower (Project Belfry) from Stoic Studio all have a chance for fresh trailers at the Xbox Games Showcase 2023. Obviously, the likelihood of all of these Xbox Game Studios Publishing titles appearing at a singular event is low, but definitely not out of the question. We could also see Xbox unveil a brand-new surprise global partnership.   

Readily one of the most prominent desires from fans are updates regarding previously announced Xbox Game Studios releases. Everwild was first shown at XO19, State of Decay 3 was unveiled at the Xbox Games Showcase 2020, Project Mara was teased in early 2020, and Perfect Dark shockingly arrived at The Game Awards 2020. Several of these tentpole titles haven't received official updates of any kind in years. Fable, Avowed, and Hellblade 2 feel like superior contenders. However, given the total runtime, there's space for one of these highly anticipated Xbox Game Studios titles. 

Overall expectations for the Xbox Games Showcase 2023

On paper, Xbox is emplaced to deliver a stellar show for fans. The hopeful one-two punch of the Xbox Games Showcase 2023 and Starfield Direct, coupled with the Extended Games Showcase, presents ample opportunities for Xbox to demonstrate why players worldwide should be excited about the platform's future. Historically, skeptics have criticized Xbox's inability to supply the same level of hype as its competitors, but the undeniable swagger displayed by the team ahead of this year's show implies we're in for a fantastic time.   

For breaking coverage of the Xbox Games Showcase 2023, tune into our live blog this Sunday at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET /6 PM UK. And to keep yourself entertained until then, check out our list of the best games on Xbox Game Pass. 

What you need to know

• The new Sea of Thieves Mystery Event, The Hoarder’s Hunt, is now live.  
• This interactive treasure hunt involves solving puzzles in Sea of Thieves and outside the game through other online mediums.  
• The first player to solve this puzzle gauntlet will be awarded a real-life golden skull.   

As part of its promise to deliver more consistent content to players, Sea of Thieves embarked on an ambitious voyage of providing ongoing updates called Mysteries and Adventures. These key pillars of the pirate sandbox bring new narrative beats and fascinating ways to further engage with the experience.   

Mysteries have been an especially captivating experiment because of the ways they encourage fans to chase activities outside of the game itself. The latest Sea of Thieves mystery event, The Hoarder’s Hunt, is inspired by the legendary tales of famed pirate Olivier Levasseur and the perplexing 17-line cryptogram — rumored to contain the location of his vast horde of treasure — he left adventurers after facing the gallows.

In classic Sea of Thieves fashion, the team at Rare is celebrating that sense of wonder and discovery by bringing a real-life treasure hunt to players with The Hoarder’s Hunt. A series of in-game puzzles and online riddles will play out over the next four weeks, with significant physical rewards up for grabs. The first clever pirate to successfully decode the myriad of challenges during the Mystery event will receive a genuine golden skull. And the following 110 players to reach the end will also receive physical treasure.  

Whether you’re among the first pirates to crack the codes or not, you can still participate in the festivities and earn in-game rewards. The Hoarder’s Hunt and the waves of continued support for this outstanding social playground are just a few reasons why Sea of Thieves is confidently one of the best games on Xbox and Xbox Game Pass.

What you need to know

• A game has appeared as coming in 2023 on Steam, and it looks pretty familiar.
• The casual rogue-lite game has you control a ship that never stops moving and has to dodge and destroy enemies.
• Sea of Survivors looks just like Vampire Survivors with a pirate theme akin to Sea of Thieves.

Vampire Survivors was a surprise hit of 2022 with its addictive gameplay and pixelated charm, and Sea of Thieves is still appealing to our pirate fantasies of sailing the high seas looking for booty — but what if you could combine these two games?

Well someone had that exact thought, enter Sea of Survivors, a rogue-lite adventure on the High Seas.  

Published by Nah Yeah Games, Sea of Survivors is categorized on Steam as rogue-lite, bullet hell, pixel graphics, pirate and retro. Sounds great so far!

In the game, you play as the captain of a ship that never stops moving and must dodge and destroy waves of enemies and sea monsters. You can collect weapons, upgrades, curses and treasures to create a unique build every run. You also unlock new abilities, stages and crew members as you progress through the game, as this upgrade screen shows. 

The game clips show that the ship moves forward constantly and you can only steer left or right, avoiding obstacles and projectiles while shooting back with your own weapons. You can also use special abilities such as bombs, shields and dashes to survive the onslaught.

The game features procedurally generated stages with different themes, enemies and bosses and each stage has a different objective, such as reaching a certain distance, destroying a certain number of enemies or surviving for a certain amount of time - similar to Vampire Survivors' achievements list but with its own unique pirate twist.  

From the official gameplay trailer, it appears you can use experience points to level up and choose from three random upgrades that enhance your stats or abilities. You can use gold to buy more weapons and upgrades from shops that appear randomly in the stages. You can also find loot such as curses, treasures and relics that have positive or negative effects on your run.

The color palette is more limited than Vampire Survivors, and there's more rum than blood, but it's great to see more games with this style of gameplay loop being released, and this should be a fun title on the Steam Deck. We can't wait to set sail and try it out.

What you need to know

• The soundscapes of Halo Infinite and Sea of Thieves are now available for Calm Premium subscribers.
• Calm is a popular app that helps with meditation, sleep, and relaxation.
• Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can get three months of Calm Premium for free and half off their first year.

If you long for the shores of Sea of Thieves or the sounds of Halo Infinite, Calm and Microsoft have a new partnership that should be music to your ears. The soundscapes of the two popular gaming franchises are now available within the Calm app.

To play the audio based on the games, you'll need to have a Calm Premium subscription, which normally costs $70 per year. But if you're an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriber, you can get the first three months of Calm Premium for free. If you like it, you can also take advantage of a deal that gets Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers 50% off their first year of Calm Premium.

The "meditative sounds of whirling waves and chattering birds from the ocean expanse of Sea of Thieves" that Calm describes certainly seem like they'd be relaxing. Some may not feel the same way about the "ambient alien sounds of Zeta Halo from Halo Infinite."

Microsoft's partnership with Calm aims to help the mental health of gamers. A study commissioned by Microsoft showed that more than half of those that play video games (54%) do so to relieve stress. Now, that experience can extend beyond the time spent actively playing games, thanks to the collaboration with Calm.

Xbox Game Studios will also donate 1% of net revenue from all Gears of War games and merchandise to organizations that work to prevent suicide and combat loneliness. Microsoft Rewards members can also donate points to organizations that support mental wellness.

A collection of games that “provide an escape from the trials of life" was highlighted by Microsoft in its press release about the Calm collaboration. Perplexingly, the list included Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice and Persona 5 Royal. Both of those titles have mature ratings and traumatic themes.

Microsoft explains why it chose certain games in a blog post. The list also includes Disney Dreamlight Valley, Unpacking, and Stardew Valley.

Sea of Thieves has triumphantly established itself as a wildly successful Xbox first-party title with a booming player base on console and Windows PC. Following a polarizing launch that was universally criticized for its lack of meaningful content, Rare hoisted its sails and tirelessly battled oceans of overwhelming obstacles to ship massive updates to the ongoing pirate sandbox. This determination from the team ultimately lent itself to tremendous growth and a dedicated community of over 30 million players.  

This nautical high-seas adventure uniquely combines PvE and PvP into one online experience. Despite its passionate collective of avid supporters, a vocal contingent of critics has strong feelings about Sea of Thieves’ approach to unpredictable social experimentation. Participants are empowered to engage with this multiplayer centric-offering in whatever ways they wish. This means when voyaging through the stunning locations in Sea of Thieves, other players are free to enrich or disrupt your ultimate objectives.  

While proponents of Rare’s fascinating twist on conventional gameplay principles adore the compelling dynamics of interacting with strangers online, some would-be sailors simply want Sea of Thieves to introduce PvE-only servers. This controversial debate has raged on within the community for years. Regardless of outspoken detractors, Rare seems steadfast in their mission of co-mingling PvP and PvE. However, recent additions included with Season 8 appear to demonstrate the team’s willingness to appease PvE-oriented players. But can Sea of Thieves truly satisfy the audience that wishes to see PvP stripped from the title?   

The current state of PvP in Sea of Thieves

For players unfamiliar with the swashbuckling antics of Microsoft's premiere pirate fantasy title, there are definitely eccentricities that profoundly set it apart from other online multiplayer experiences. Features like Tall Tales and Adventures introduce somewhat traditional narrative beats that help flesh out the gripping lore of Sea of Thieves, but what primarily solidifies the hook of this special offering lies in its gameplay philosophy that promotes "tools, not rules." Amateur buccaneers can freely and immediately charter courses based on their own ambitions and desires.  

While this emphasis on autonomy and player choice propels Sea of Thieves to an unmatched caliber of social gaming, it also incorporates the erratic human element. Catching a glimpse of opposing player sails on the horizon commences, a feverish internal dialogue on how to manage the impending encounter. Will this crew be friendly and offer a beneficial alliance? Or do they prefer to decimate your ship and pillage its remains? The beauty of Sea of Thieves is that both of these options are equally likely.   

On the other side of the situation, you can be the catalyst that initiates player interactions through various methods. Text communications and in-game proximity chat establish adequate means of conveying your intentions. If you're looking to partner up with like-minded adventurers to tackle challenges, throw up your Alliance flag and shout a declaration of peace from your Speaking Trumpet. And if scorched earth is more your speed, raise your Reaper's flag and unleash a barrage of cannonballs.

No two interactions in Sea of Thieves will be the same, and that dichotomy is simultaneously polarizing and intoxicating. There are inherent conflicts between the intentions and goals of different player types. Occasionally, you aren't in the mood for sweaty PvP encounters and just want to kick back, cast out your line, and catch ruby splashtails. While you are given the instruments necessary to fulfill your fishing fantasies, nothing stops a rival crew from fulfilling its dream of sinking any ships they find engaging in water sports.

Frequently frustrated pirates will take to social media to air their grievances surrounding miserable PvP encounters. From losing hauls of treasure that took hours to amass to getting bullied by bored veteran players looking for cheap thrills, anyone who's played Sea of Thieves has likely endured some form of griefing or unsavory confrontation. These aggravating struggles have completely soured the appeal of Rare's otherwise enchanting online pirate expedition for a dispirited group of players.   

Previously, Sea of Thieves attempted to quell aggressive pirates' relentless bloodthirst by delivering The Arena. This side mode enabled players to matchmake directly into PvP-only environments. With unique rewards and a focus on fast-paced pick-up-and-play action, initially, this was an overwhelmingly welcomed addition to Sea of Thieves. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the player base preferred engaging with the core open-world sandbox, and eventually, The Arena PvP spinoff was shut down.   

The recently released Season 8 of Sea of Thieves ushered in further transformative alterations to PvP. Players can now opt-in to on-demand PvP matchmaking from the standard game mode. After pledging allegiance to one of two factions, battle-hungry pirates submerge into the depths of the sea, searching for opponents. Once an adversary has been secured, your ship emerges from the waves and braces for ship-to-ship combat. Yet another obvious gameplay decision designed to encourage focused PvP encounters to potentially quell the complaints of PvE enthusiasts. 

An impossible balancing act

Despite the efforts from Rare to incentivize and reward all player types and maintain its commitment to the "tools, not rules" mantra, opinions surrounding Sea of Thieves continually clash. This online-only pirate adventure was fundamentally built upon the variable dynamics of player interactions, and sea of Thieves supports and sanctions the aspirations of millions of sailors. Because we all want something different from the experience, achieving a satisfactory balance for all parties feels almost impossible.  

The most devout denigrators of PvP in Sea of Thieves want the option for PvE servers. For this embassy of easy-going pirates, eliminating the unpredictable aggression of random crews is the only acceptable path forward. With an ever-growing array of narrative-driven quests, boss-like enemy encounters, and voyage types, this collective believes there are plenty of reasons to engage with Sea of Thieves outside of blasting and sinking player ships. 

Purists like myself can't imagine what Sea of Thieves would be like without the thrilling possibilities of sporadic human decision-making. The delicate dance of trust, betrayal, and redemption when interacting with other crews is unlike anything available in modern gaming. It doesn't always play out in your favor, and there are occasionally instances where people are downright awful. Still, those extreme highs and lows amplify the moment-to-moment gameplay in Sea of Thieves.  

I will never forget countless moments from my endeavors on the seas because of how Rare celebrates humanity in its social offering. From rallying to assist a fellow sloop actively being overrun by a hostile galleon to cautiously assembling four different crews on one ship to summon a megalodon for the first time, the magical memories in Sea of Thieves are marvelously earned through overcoming uncertainty. While I completely understand the vexations levied against this online multiplayer project, I find myself deeply conflicted about the necessity for PvE-only servers.  

On the other hand, Rare potentially tips the scales too heavily towards PvP by introducing factions like the Reaper's Bones. Before the rollout of Sovereigns for ship captains, Reaper's Hideout served as an outrageously convenient one-stop shop for unsympathetic pirates. Positioned in a hyper-centralized location, players flying the Reaper's Emissary could camp in the central area of the world map and wait for hard-working crews to gather treasure for them. Outside of the permanent marker displayed on everyone's map, there were a few downsides to being a PvP edge lord. In fact, it was more financially beneficial to just sink other ships.   

Rare continues to finetune the PvP vs. PvE equilibrium in Sea of Thieves. The recent incorporation of PvP on-demand showcases the team's willingness to cater to its audience and their preferred methods of enjoying the game. However, passionate figures like Mike Chapman and Joe Neate have repeatedly emphasized the importance of co-mingling PvP and PvE in Sea of Thieves. With a lengthy roadmap of content planned for the future, we'll undoubtedly see further overall gameplay balance, but whether or not the perfect blend will be discovered remains to be determined.

Is there a satisfactory compromise for PvE players?  

As I dissect the community's stance on PvP in Sea of Thieves, my biggest question is, can there ever be a compromise that satisfies PvE players? It seems clear that Rare is adamant about upholding its vision of delivering a shared online pirate world, and completely separating PvP from PvE doesn't align with those principles. Continuing to further enhance the benefits of jolly cooperation and alliances can alleviate some of the pains associated with suffering a PvP loss.   

I won't pretend to have all the answers here, and I certainly can't speak for everyone who loves Sea of Thieves. The community of players who've connected with Rare's open-world multiplayer title often sing its praises from the rooftops, but what's particularly fascinating is the magnitude of reasons fans cite for their admiration. Sea of Thieves continues to be one of the best games on Xbox Game Pass and stands as a shining beacon of the importance of investing in worthwhile new IP in the AAA space, regardless of how you feel about PvP.  

What you need to know

• The ongoing pirate sandbox is preparing to ship fresh content.
• Season 8 of Sea of Thieves launches on November 22, 2022.
• The upcoming season brings PVP on demand and much more.

Rare's groundbreaking open-world multiplayer experience Sea of Thieves is primed to drop its latest batch of seasonal content. Coming to Sea of Thieves across Xbox consoles and Windows PCs everywhere, Season 8 is scheduled to release on November 22, 2022, and it's introducing an entirely new way to engage in player-versus-player combat. While ravenous pirates will certainly embrace the incorporation of PVP on-demand, even critics of the unpredictable nature of Sea of Thieves should appreciate the changes. 

Season 8 of Sea of Thieves empowers players to participate in PVP encounters via the Hourglass of Fate in the ship's Captain Quarters. Pledge your allegiance to one of two factions and opt into PVP matchmaking that literally plunges your crew's ship into the depths of the ocean in search of worthy contenders. Once a suitable match has been found, you'll emerge from the waves and charge headfirst toward a rival ship. The latest overview video beautifully showcases how dramatic and seamless the system appears to be.

It's worth noting that these PVP encounters still play out in the shared open world, meaning anyone can come to join in on the chaotic festivities. The Hourglass of Fate also encourages competition by accruing gold value based on your allegiance. Whether you're representing the Guardians of Fortune or the Servants of the Flame, your deeds add value to your hourglass. Eventually, that growth will manifest in the form of a giant target on your back that all ships can see from their maps. 

The implementation of PVP on-demand will likely bolster the overall health of Sea of Thieves. Certain players strive to battle and sink fellow adventurers, while others merely wish to embark on treasure-hunting voyages. A system that rewards PVP combat in confined zones with matchmaking should undoubtedly satiate the bloodthirst of battle-hungry pirates. 

What else is new in Season 8?

In addition to PVP matchmaking, Season 8 of Sea of Thieves brings supplemental progression and fresh cosmetic items. Players can earn 100 levels of notoriety with the Guardians of Fortune or Servants of the Flame. Pirate Legends or individuals who've climbed to rank 75 in the Reaper's Bones faction will also unlock impressive customization options, including changing their appearance to that of a ghostly phantom or intimidating skeleton.

As is tradition, Season 8 also ushers in 100 new levels of Renown with cosmetic items and in-game currency, which can be used to purchase outfits, ship parts, weapons, and more. Additionally, players who complete all 100 levels of Renown will earn back 1000 Ancient Coins, roughly the cost of the premium Plunder Pass. 

All in all, this is shaping up to be another excellent season for one of the best games in Xbox Game Pass. 

When Xbox revealed Sea of Thieves at E3 2015, I was immediately captivated by the possibilities of this pirate sandbox. The stunning art direction and construed scope of the project promised an online sandbox unlike anything players had experienced before. As someone fond of social-driven multiplayer games, I couldn’t wait to dip my toes in the virtual sand and embark on my own grand buccaneering adventure.  

While my anticipation and expectations for Rare’s nautical outing were quite lofty, nothing could have prepared me for how much time I would sink into Sea of Thieves. Following its release in March 2018, I poured hundreds of hours into this open-world action game. The core progression loop and gameplay systems were refreshingly unique, and in many respects, Rare managed to deliver the ultimate pirate fantasy. My dedicated crew of scoundrels and I plundered, looted, and battled our way to "Year-One" Pirate Legend status.  

Sea of Thieves remains one of my favorite games of all time, and I’ve publicly declared its position as Xbox’s most important IP of the last decade. Still, my hourly investments in recent years are shallow compared to the game’s first 18 months. However, Season Seven has brought a host of meaningful additions that have awakened initial addictions. From ship captaincy to pirate milestones, the latest update to Sea of Thieves fundamentally reinvigorates the progression loop for longtime players. In other words, I’m back on my blunderbuss bullship. 

Captaincy is finally here

From day one, Sea of Thieves has featured decorative naming placards above the captain's quarters aboard all ship types. Early speculation suggested the incorporation of these nameplates implied captaincy was coming relatively close to launch. As we now know, a little over four years later, that wasn't the case. Thankfully, captaincy has finally made its way to Sea of Thieves, allowing players to purchase and name their very own vessels.   

After an extended period of expectancy, Sea of Thieves has provided dedicated pirates a greater sense of ownership. Instead of simply spawning into a server with a blank keel of your choosing, captaincy delivers a means of permanently applying ship customizations. Captains who've shelled out the 175,000–500,000 gold to secure their first sloop, brigantine, or galleon can then spend additional chunks of hard-earned coin to affix their favorite vanity items to the ship. This means every time you set out to sail on a captained vessel, your signature loadout will be locked in and ready to go. 

Establishing your notoriety as a famed captain on the Sea of Thieves entails settling on proper names for your ships. You'll be tasked with titling the buoyant beauty upon purchasing a choice craft. As any other players on the seas can see your ship's name on the horizon, selecting a moniker that captures the essence of your pirate escapades is crucial. There are definitely filters that prevent most offensive terms, but generally speaking, you are free to get plenty weird with it. I named my first sloop "Scoop There It Is" in honor of the banger from '90s hip-hop group Tag Team.  

Another monumental perk introduced with captaincy is the elegantly dressed Sovereign. This Bougie collective of middlemen offers extremely streamlined cargo transactions. Traditionally, players had to manually bring designated pieces of loot to the respective trading companies at the various outposts scattered across the Sea of Thieves. The Sovereign are your one-stop shop for trading in loot. Any captain can take advantage of their convenient tents. For longtime players with hundreds of hours of shlepping bounty skulls, it's a godsend in the quality-of-life department. 

Milestones give me purpose again 

Since launch, the Sea of Thieves team has worked diligently to produce seasonal progression, limited-time events, story-driven adventures like A Pirate's Life, and numerous other incentives designed to keep players engaged with the pirate sandbox. I've actively participated and thoroughly enjoyed a vast majority of these supplemental pieces of game content. Unfortunately, after achieving Pirate Legend status and amassing several million gold, I've struggled to find motivations to grind Sea of Thieves like I once did. However, the newly adopted Milestone system yields a consequential array of rewards and challenges.  

When Sea of Thieves transitioned to its seasonal content model, it acquainted players with the game's Renown mechanic. This transformative limited-timed progression rewarded every deed a pirate achieved during the season. In the vein of conventional Battle Passes, players earned gold, doubloons, and cosmetics for ascending the 100 levels of Renown in roughly three months. Two recently presented distinctions of Milestones amplify this fundamental concept by delivering permanent progression for your pirate and your owned ships. 

From gorging on provisions to crushing tankards of grog, Milestones perpetually track all your pirate stats. The novelty of knowing how many minutes your ship has been engulfed in flames is undoubtedly entertaining. Still, the most exciting aspect of Milestones are how they honor your accomplishments. Many players have desperately demanded RPG-like progression in Sea of Thieves. While not directly tied to stats or power level, Season Seven gets us closer to satiating that everlasting sense of player advancement.   

Trinkets are confidently my favorite compliment to Milestones. These decorative knick-knacks are procured by dedicating oneself to a bevy of hyper-specific feats. If you want your prized olive plentifin adorned on the interior of your captained vessel, be prepared to spend some serious time casting your line. Admittedly, many of these challenges appear unnecessarily daunting, but your resolution will be immortalized for any pirate to see. I'm already eyeing the assortment of trinkets I aim to unlock for my ships, and reestablishing long-term goals within Sea of Thieves feels incredible. 

Why lapsed pirates should try Season 7

Gold in Sea of Thieves didn't provide exceptional worth for some time. I cherished the thrill of fending off rival crews to climb the ranks in the motley trading companies, but the coins associated with my efforts weren't nearly as gratifying. That's not to say I didn't have anything to purchase, far from it. I simply locked into my pirate aesthetic early on and found myself unmotivated to strive toward the multi-million gold cosmetic items available to Pirate Legends.  

Season 7 of Sea Thieves has wholly renewed my enthusiasm for high seas hijinks and ushered in revelatory adjustments to player progression. When I first jumped into the latest update, I was sitting on nearly 2 million gold; in the blink of an eye, I was down to 100,000. For the first time in a very long time, there are items I'm avid to spend my gold on. Milestones, trinkets, and ship captaincy are monumental additions for longtime players, and Season 7 manages to recapture some of that day-one magic. If you haven't, there's never been a better time to try this swashbuckling adventure on Xbox Game Pass. 

What you need to know

• The seventh season of Sea of Thieves is out today on PC and Xbox consoles.
• The update allows players to buy, customize, and captain their own ships with new milestones and achievements related to it.
• Season 7 brings a new Plunder Pass with more cosmetic rewards alongside gameplay improvements and fixes.

Season 7 of Rare's online multiplayer pirate game Sea of Thieves is now available on PC and Xbox consoles, finally bringing the ability to be the captain of your ship, new rewards in the season and its battle pass, and some gameplay improvements.

The most notable change in the introduction of Season 7, or update 2.6.0, is that players can now be the captain of their own ship and to be able to customize it how they like. Ships are available in multiple sizes and are bought with in-game gold, though a ship must reach "Legendary status" before another ship of the same size can be purchased.

Captains can name their ships and customize the outside appearance along with the captain's room with various trinkets. Decorations can be unlocked by completing Ship Milestones. The game received 13 new achievements related to being a captain.

Season 7 also brings a refreshed progression path with the new Captain's Voyages that can earn Renown, and a new Plunder Pass that rewards with the Courage of Captaincy clothing set for completing. Pass holders can get the Baleful Bloom Costume, which can be upgraded three times throughout the season.

The 2.6.0 update adds a few gameplay improvements and changes from the patch notes, such as being able to zoom in on any note or map held, disabling mast friendly fire, and more respawn locations around the sloop. Players can also find stools washed up on beaches to sit on, seemingly to take a break from digging up treasure. 

Sea of Thieves is available on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC through the Windows Store and Steam, and is included with Xbox Game Pass.

Sea of Thieves is a unique game for a whole host of reasons. The Rare-made pirate adventure ditched industry trends by building something that removed player power-progression from the equation entirely and instead focused on tools-first gameplay. The emphasis was on giving players the kit to make their own stories in a vibrant and magical pirate world. 

While some reviewers found it didn't hit the mark at launch, Sea of Thieves proved an immediate hit with streamers who found the game's canvas an ideal platform for building engaging shows and communities. Since then, Sea of Thieves has only gone from strength to strength, serving millions of budding pirates with mountains of free content updates that have added shiploads of additional features, stories, and mechanics into the mix — all part of Xbox Game Pass.

As you might expect, the game's player-driven nature has led to a similarly unique community of Rare fans, who recently traveled from all over the world to the game's first "official unofficial" fan convention: SoTFest.

SoTFest took place this past Saturday at Hinckley in the UK. The crew put on a variety of panels, games, and other events showcasing the best the Sea of Thieves community has to offer. There was even an appearance from the shanty band The Longest Johns. Developers from the Sea of Thieves team attended as well, and all the money raised at the show went to U.K. gaming accessibility charity SpecialEffect. As of writing, the JustGiving page hit £6,357 pounds, and you can still donate here. 

Speaking about the show earlier to Sea of Thieves executive producer, Joe Neate, he was gushing with praise for the professionalism of the event, with optimism for the convention's future potential. 

"For the folks that were there they will never forget [the first SoTFest], and I know the team are already working on the next one. They put so much effort into it, but it was such a pure, wholesome day full of the best energy. Just magic," he said.

Indeed, browsing the SoTFest hashtag on Twitter or the team's Facebook Group showed only positive vibes from attendees about the show itself, with next year's event already confirmed. It reminds me of the early days of Blizzcon or Quakecon, which eventually grew into massive events in their own right. Perhaps what we're seeing here with SoTFest is the start of another major community event for the growing Xbox calendar. 

What you need to know

• Sea of Thieves Season 7 was originally slated to launch on July 21, 2022.
• Season 7 brings the Captaincy update, allowing players to be Captains and own ships, adding the ability to rename a ship. 
• Now, the season has been delayed a couple of weeks, with developer Rare citing extra timed needed to update various elements across the game. 
• Seas of Thieves Season 7 is now scheduled to arrive on Aug. 4, 2022. 

While Season 7 of Sea of Thieves is on the way, it' for 2022, the next Adventure is also coming to the game on August 18, 2022. 

Development studio Rare shared on Friday that Sea of Thieves' Season 7 is now scheduled to launch on Aug. 4, a couple of weeks after the originally-planned July 21 release date. This Season adds, among other things, the ability for players to become Captains with the appropriately named Captaincy update, allowing any interested players to name their ships. 

Rare explained that this small delay came about due to the nature of different game elements that had to be tweaked with the new season and as such, more time was needed in order to make sure the new features were polished and the team's health wasn't being compromised. 

Looking ahead as part of the Sea of Thieves roadmap for 2022, the next Adventure is also coming to the game on August 18, 2022. Adventures were introduced in 2022 as a new way to have story events in the game, while Mysteries are broader, more long-running games that require the entire community to come together in order to figure things out.

Prime Day is offering an extraordinary treasure in the form of a digital code for Sea of Thieves at a discounted price of $19.99 at Amazon. That means you can start your pirate career and experience all the magical and dangerous wonders this game offers for half its retail price of $39.99.

• See all the Prime Day deals: USA | UK | Canada | India

Sea of Thieves is a multiplayer-focused, open-world adventure game where you get to become a pirate and journey the vast ocean for thrills, treasure, and glory. This game features a wide range of activities to partake in, such as exploring uncharted islands for long-lost artifacts, battling undead skeletons to collect their bounties, and fending off rival pirates in epic ship battles to protect your loot, and so much more.

There are also story-driven campaigns where you go on adventures that reveal intriguing lore about the world and even team up with infamous pirates like Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirate of the Caribbean movies.

So, if you ever wanted to live out the ultimate pirate fantasy, then look no further than Prime Day's stellar half-price deal on one of the best games on Xbox, Sea of Thieves.

What you need to know

• The first Sea of Thieves Mystery is set to begin later this week.
• Mysteries are a new kind of storytelling in Sea of Thieves, with an evolving narrative that changes based on what the community finds.
• Some of the clues for a Mystery will not be found in-game, making it an effort that forces players to work together in figuring things out.

Rare's pirate adventure game continues to evolve in new ways, with the studio kicking off Mysteries in Sea of Thieves soon. These adventures are unlike anything that's been in-game before, partially because it's not all in-game.

As previously shared in the Sea of Thieves 2022 roadmap, Mysteries are a special kind of puzzle. While not completely an ARG, the Mystery will require players to work together and look outside of the game. Clues can be hidden in official Sea of Thieves video updates, streams, and more. The first Mystery is slated to begin "later this week."

Sharing a bit more about what players could expect, Christopher Davies, senior designer at Rare, shared that the first Mystery is a classic murder mystery. Head of Community Christina McGrath added that some of the clues will be "quite obscure," though some will be fairly obvious.

Creative director Mike Chapman also wrote that the community feedback will help the teams learn what to improve. Alongside Adventures and Seasons, Chapman refers to Mysteries as one of the "cornerstones" of Sea of Thieves. Back in October 2021, Rare revealed that Sea of Thieves had crossed 25 million players across Xbox and PC, having grown steadily since the game originally launched in 2018.

In a recent livestream event, the team at Rare has detailed its ambitious plans for Sea of Thieves in 2022. Fans were treated to an enormous number of teases for what's being touted as the "biggest year yet" for this pirate sandbox title. From new adventures to imposing Sea Forts, and even the introduction of continued evolving stories, here's a look at Sea of Thieves' roadmap and a breakdown of everything players can expect from Sea of Thieves this year.

Adventures & Mysteries

In addition to keeping its seasonal approach to content drops, Sea of Thieves will aim to further enrich the game's lore through two new avenues: Adventures and Mysteries. Adventures will serve as story-driven live events designed to introduce more emotional ways for players to connect the world. Kicking off with a cinematic lore trailer, these story events will occur once per month and last roughly two weeks. Each season will also culminate in a grand finale that the community's actions will determine.

Another avenue for engaging storytelling in Sea of Thieves will be delivered through Mysteries, which are collaborative and will exist within and outside of the game. These community-centric puzzles take inspiration from murder mysteries and ghost stories from other mediums. Rare has also revealed that the first mystery in Sea of Thieves will involve players working to solve the murder of a well-known character.

Shrouded Islands

The first story Adventure shipping for Sea of Thieves in 2022 is called Shrouded Islands and will run from Feb. 17-March 3. Following the events of A Pirate's Life, Flameheart is now committed to regaining his power by tapping into The Sea of the Damned. In a desperate attempt to thwart his plans, Belle emerges from The Sea of the Damned to assist our pirate heroes after Golden Sands was swallowed and destroyed by a mysterious ghastly shroud.

Players will answer Larinna's pleas for help and investigate the now shrouded remains of the Golden Sands Outpost. To uncover the truth of this mystery and the source of this destructive mist, players must embark on a series of story missions at various locations throughout the game. Unfortunately, an intimidating new enemy called the Soulflame Captain Phantom won't make it easy. You'll have to use Belle's extensive knowledge of the Sea of the Damned to tackle this daunting threat.

Sea Forts

When Season Six of Sea of Thieves launches in March, it will introduce entirely new ways for players to engage with the world. Sea Forts will present a mini-raid style experience where crews face off against terrifying phantoms and phantom captains. Unlike the Skeleton Forts that currently exist, Sea Forts are a more personal experience catered to your crew, regardless of size. The development team stressed in the stream that even solo players could easily participate in Sea Forts.

To start, there will be three distinct types of Sea Forts. They'll all be prison-themed in The Wilds, with cells and gloomy décor sprinkled throughout. Players will encounter Overgrown Sea Forts covered in fauna in the other locations. Finally, there will be traditional Spanish Forts found in the Sea of the Damned. It sounds like why these forts have found their way in the Sea of Thieves will be explained throughout the year via the new story events.

New Pirate Legend Voyages

Long-time players of Sea of Thieves have been desperately requesting a rework to Athena's Voyages, which currently serve as primarily exclusive quests for Pirate Legends. Alongside Sea Forts in Season Six, we'll also see the introduction of brand new, replayable Pirate Legend Voyages.

These randomized adventures exclusively for Pirate Legends will offer a unique experience every time, with a curated list of tasks like investigating phantom shipwrecks or exploring haunted islands. This will likely go a long way in satiating hardcore players hungry for more content. It also sounds like Pirate Legends will have their own role in moving the overarching story of Sea of Thieves forward.

Other changes

This extensive preview also gave fans insights into how the team plans to address feedback, and announced the cancelation of a core game mode. The official Sea of Thieves podcast will serve as the primary outlet for addressing concerns and criticisms in Sea of Thieves. In an upcoming episode on Feb. 11, the team will outline what this looks like moving forward.

Mike Chapman and Joe Neate also announced that starting in Season Six, the PVP mode Arena will be shutting down. They expressed difficulty regarding this decision, but felt it was ultimately the best choice for the game's future. With only 2% of players engaging with Arena, the team couldn't justify the resources to maintain the mode. However, the team did drop the above graphic as a clearer roadmap for Sea of Thieves in 2022.

This might be Sea of Thieves' biggest year yet

It remains to be seen whether or not 2022 will truly be the biggest year ever for Sea of Thieves. However, Rare has made it clear that it plans to continue supporting the game in incredible ways. As one of the best games on Xbox Game Pass, it's no surprise that Sea of Thieves surpassed 25 million players in 2021. Here's to a fresh year of Adventures, Mysteries, and more on the seas!

What you need to know

• Sea of Thieves is an ongoing open-world pirate sandbox adventure title.
• In 2021, Sea of Thieves surpassed 25 million players on Xbox and PC.
• Rare announced a preview livestream for Thursday, Jan. 27, which will detail what the team is calling its "biggest year yet" for the game.

In a quick teaser video posted on social media Monday, the team at Rare has announced its plans to host a preview livestream for Sea of Thieves on Thursday, Jan. 27, at 6 pm GMT. The team plans to give players a look at what to expect from the game in the coming year.

Coming off a tremendous 2021 filled with massive updates and even a Pirates of the Caribbean crossover, this video claims that 2022 will be this swashbuckling sandbox title's "biggest year yet." This certainly isn't the first time we've heard this sentiment shared by the folks from Sea of Thieves, but considering what they've managed to deliver since these declarations, many players are excited to see what the future holds.

With this video clocking in at a whopping 44 seconds, the contents of the upcoming preview livestream remain unknown. However, it simply wouldn't be a Sea of Thieves promotional video without some strategically placed teases sprinkled throughout. For keen-eyed pirates searching for clues, you might notice what appears to be a quick shot of the Golden Sands outpost seemingly destroyed, as well as a large stone fortress and possibly even the reveal of a mysterious new figure on the seas. While passionate Sea of Thieves fans are left with plenty of questions and theories, hopefully, many of these will be detailed this Thursday.

In addition to this preview livestream, Sea of Thieves will also be hosting its first-ever Community Day on Jan. 30. which will be packed with limited-time in-game rewards and unique Twitch Drops. If you haven't tried Sea of Thieves for yourself, there's really never been a better time. As one of the best games on Xbox Game Pass, there's a good reason more than 25 million people have played Sea of Thieves on Xbox and PC.

For Xbox Chaturday's big 50th episode, I had the pleasure of being joined by Joe Neate, the executive producer on Sea of Thieves. I was honored and excited to have the opportunity to chat with a key figure from Rare in such a comfortable, relaxed format.

In addition to discussing the game reveals that excited us at The Game Awards and our impressions of Halo Infinite's campaign, we also touched on the team's desire to push ethical monetization practices, the culture of Xbox Game Studios, and how a fan-favorite crab almost met its untimely demise.

Ethical monetization in ongoing games

During our two-hour session, one of my favorite conversations involved an evaluation of the monetization practices required to sustain an ongoing game. Many players have pre-conceived notions or theories as to why companies implement certain monetization practices, and it was incredible to hear thoughtful explanations into how these decisions are made.

After touching upon Sea of Thieves' transition to a seasonal update model, Neate began detailing how the team at Rare aims to deliver a fairly priced selection of optional cosmetics that respect the buyer's time and financial investments. He described the studio's careful approach to microtransactions by stating, "if people spend money in Sea of Thieves, they should never regret it."

Neate then spoke about how Rare and the team at Sea of Thieves will continue to hold themselves accountable when it comes to delivering what's best for all players as well as the business. It was refreshing to have a candid discussion on how, in some cases, it can be easier for a company to chase financial success by exploiting their most dedicated fans while also explaining how this isn't the most ethical approach and one the Sea of Thieves team fights hard to avoid.

To make the team's strategy clear, Neate stated, "we'd rather have more people spending less than a smaller amount of people spending loads." As someone who's often questioned the monetization practices of ongoing games, I found his insights fascinating and refreshing.

The culture of Xbox and the fate of a crab

In addition to detailing Rare's strategy for providing a fair and rewarding monetization system for its players, Neate and I also touched upon Xbox Game Studios and its culture of empowerment. Neate passionately described Xbox's approach to management.

"When I look at the leadership of Xbox, Phil Spencer, and Matt Booty, their method is very much empower your teams to make decisions and manage their games in the ways they feel are best to do," he said.

He then described how you can see this represented in the quality of games released by Xbox Game Studios in 2021. Neate further iterated on Xbox's mission of game development, stating, "speaking as a games developer, all you're ever doing is asking how do I make the best decisions for my game and the community?"

In another nearly tragic conversation, Neate talked about how a beloved crab mascot affectionately nicknamed "Shelly" by the community was almost killed off in A Pirate's Life. As someone who's championed this cherished crustacean since its debut in one of the first update trailers for Sea of Thieves, I was taken aback by this development.

After asking if this crab's inclusion in most of the game's official trailers foreshadowed any features or story beats, Neate detailed the dark timeline where Shelly was murdered. "Mike Chapman did have a plan to kill off that crab, and we actually did some work to do it, but there was a bit of revolt amongst the team." Thankfully, some vocal members of Rare have spared this crab for now, but it seems like its fate is still uncertain in the world of Sea of Thieves.

All topics covered in this episode

• Joe Neate's game development journey - 00:05:10
  • Joe described how he got into game development and what led to his current role as Executive Producer on Sea of Thieves.
• Hellblade II gameplay reveals - 00:26:10
  • We discussed the stunning gameplay reveal for Senua's Saga: Hellblade II and what it's like seeing Ninja Theory truly deliver.
• Has Rare Been Using Unreal Engine 5? - 00:31:40
  • I asked whether or not Rare has been experiment with Unreal Engine 5 in Sea of Thieves or their other titles.
• Halo Infinite campaign impressions - 00:50:43
  • Joe and I shared our excitement regarding 343 Industries delivering an incredible Halo package.
• The culture of Xbox Game Studios - 00:58:50
  • We discussed how the leadership of Xbox aims to empower its teams to make the decisions necessary to deliver the best games possible.
• Ethical monetization in ongoing games - 01:09:45
  • Joe explained Rare's approach to implementing microtransactions that respect players time and money.
• How long will the team support Sea of Thieves? - 01:37:40
  • We dove into the future of Sea of Thieves and whether or not we'd ever see a Sea of Thieves 2.
• The fate of the crab - 01:42:45
  • Joe shockingly details the team's original plans to kill a beloved crab.
• Community Q & A - 02:00:00
  • Joe answers a host of community questions regarding crossovers, upcoming features, and requests for Sea of Thieves.

Sea of Thieves is bigger and better than ever before and there's genuinely never been a better time to dive in and start your pirate voyage. Season 5 is out now, so see for yourself why this is one of the best games on Xbox Game Pass.

What you need to know

• Sea of Thieves lets you live your wildest pirate fantasies in a vibrant open multiplayer world, and it's continually growing in scale.
• A new overview trailer from Rare and Xbox Game Studios details what players can expect from Sea of Thieves' next content update.
• Sea of Thieves: Season 5 will introduce a ton of quality-of-life improvements, new features, and a new Plunder Pass for players to discover and enjoy.
• Sea of Thieves: Season 5 officially arrives on Dec. 2, 2021.

Sea of Thieves has continued to evolve at an impressive rate since its initial debut, with Rare and Xbox Game Studios refusing to take their foot off the pedals. On Monday, Rare dropped a brand-new trailer for Sea Thieves, which provides a comprehensive overview of what's to come in this chaotic pirate simulator in its Season 5 update. As it turns out, players have a lot to look forward to with Season 5, as Sea of Thieves is getting graced with a plethora of new features, quality-of-life improvements, and much more.

Sea of Thieves: Season 5 looks to be a sizeable update, with lots of smaller tweaks and updates that make it much easier to roleplay as the ultimate pirate in-game, as well as sizeable new features to make your inevitable pirate adventures even more exciting. Those who love to earn rewards and customize your pirate and ship can take advantage of a brand-new Plunder Pass, as well.

Some of the highlights of Sea of Thieves: Season 5 include:

• Cannon Rowboats. The new Cannon Rowboat is exactly as the name suggests: a standard rowboat with a cannon strapped to the front. When stashed on your ship the Cannon Rowboat can provide additional firepower, but it can also fare pretty well on its own as a lightweight attack vessel.
• Burying your loot. You can now take treasure chests and bury them in the sand anywhere you want, stashing it away and keeping it safe.
  • This creates a custom treasure map to help lead you back to your buried treasure
  • If you want, you can share your custom treasure maps with over Sea of Thieves players through the new Quest Boards. If another crew uncovers your buried treasure, you'll also get rewarded (including lots of Renown)!
• Fireworks and flares. You can now employ the cannons on your ship for a new purpose: fireworks displays. These fireworks look amazing, and come in lots of varieties. However, you can also fire a variety of flares from your ships, either to provide additional light on a dark night, warn nearby players and crew of impending danger, and more.
• Sitting and sleeping. A lovely quality-of-life update, players can now sit in Sea of Thieves wherever a chair is available (including the Captain's Chair!). You can also sleep in beds to regain health over time.
• 100 tiers of fresh rewards. The Plunder Pass is getting refreshed with 100 tiers of brand-new rewards, which are still free for all players. There are also new premium awards available.
• Other improvements. Some of the other new features and changes include:
  • Using the Speaking Tool backward to whisper to nearby players instead of yelling
  • Festive items and ship decorations
  • Plenty of new emotes and ways to express yourself in-game
  • A huge number of quality-of-life updates and tweaks to make the game easier to play
  • And much more!

Sea of Thieves now has over 25 million players, and is still worth playing in 2021 if you haven't experienced it yet. Thanks to the constant support and attention from Rare, Sea of Thieves has quickly become one of the best Xbox games for multiplayer fans.

What you need to know

• Rare confirms that Sea of Thieves crossed over 25 million players so far.
• The last milestone for the game was at 20 million players back in March 2021.
• As a thank you to the growing community, anyone who logs in by Oct. 26 will receive an in-game currency reward.

Rare's pirate adventure Sea of Thieves is continuing to grow, with more and more players flocking to explore the ocean, pillage and plunder. Rare announced on Tuesday via Xbox Wire that Sea of Thieves reached 25 million players, five million more than the prior milestone in March when the game reached 20 million players.

This news also comes after Rare confirmed June was the best month for Sea of Thieves yet, with 4.8 million active players in the month thanks to the launch of the A Pirate's Life expansion, a crossover with Pirates of the Caribbean.

In celebration of this news, Rare is giving away 25,000 Gold and 25 Doubloons to any players that log into Sea of Thieves by Oct. 26. One random player who turns in treasure by Oct. 26 is going to be selected to receive 25 million gold, so if you've been away from the game for a bit, this is a good time to hop back in.

It's always interesting to see custom console designs that players come up with and this custom Xbox Series S created by @Wandering_Dutch on Twitter is no exception. A striking console with a controller to match, the aqua green and deep purple art direction calls to mind the official Sea of Thieves Xbox controller that was available some years back, a controller that is unfortunately no longer being produced.

The Xbox Series S isn't a big console, so this design is packing quite a lot of art into a small space. Perhaps the coolest thing about this custom console though? The Sea of Thieves skull logo covering the vent glows in the dark! You can take a look at several more shots of the console below:

Being a custom community design, this of course isn't available for purchase but if you are interested in an Xbox Series S, it's by far the easiest current-generation console to grab.

The Xbox Series S is the little kid brother to the Xbox Series X and while it certainly packs less graphical processing power and less storage space, it's an inexpensive way to play current-generation games. Games specifically designed for the console are seeing more and more impressive results, though of course the Xbox Series X remains the choice for the best performance and visuals possible.

Starting in 2022, more first-party Xbox games such as Arkane Austin's Redfall and Bethesda Game Studios' Starfield are being designed exclusively for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PC. Xbox One owners will still be able to play these games through Xbox Cloud Gaming however, which is now available to select testers.

Rare's pirate adventure sandbox Sea of Thieves is getting a new content update very soon. Season 4 for Sea of Thieves brings new undersea Shrines for players to explore. These continued updates are ensuring that for many players, Sea of Thieves stays one of the best Xbox games available, with new rewards and challenges available with every new Season.

Season 4 of Sea of Thieves also features a wide variety of new cosmetics for players to unlock through commendations. Players won't be waiting long, as Season 4 is set to begin on Sep. 23, 2021. You can check out the trailer for Sea of Thieves Season 4 below:

Shrines will be marked on player maps with this update, with a distinct "shimmer" on the ocean giving away the location for anyone peering at the waves. Shrines also provide a particular puzzle for pirates to solve, as the treasure has to be taken back to your ship, though use of Merpeople statues to store it all can aid in solving this problem.

Sea of Thieves is continuing to grow, with its biggest month ever in June 2021, with over 4.8 million active players thanks to the launch of a crossover story with Pirates of the Carribean, fittingly named A Pirate's Life.

What you need to know

• Sea of Thieves added a Borderlands inspired ship set to the game today.
• Players can unlock these limited rewards by completing in-game challenges.
• The "Making Mayhem" event runs from Aug. 24 - Sept. 7.

Sea of Thieves is known for excellent crossovers with other beloved gaming franchises and iconic films like Pirates of the Caribbean. During the Xbox Gamescom 2021 stream, executive producer Joe Neate revealed that players could start unlocking a bold new ship set inspired by the mad world of Borderlands. Call your crew because starting today, you can begin completing in-game challenges to earn these rewards.

Not much is currently known about what the specifics of the "Making Mayhem" challenges entail. However, based on teases from the reveal trailer and additional details from Joe Neate, players can absolutely expect them to revolve around mayhem and destruction. Expect plenty of powder kegs, explosions, and skeletal carnage. Admittedly, this is very fitting for something ripped straight from Borderlands.

Completing these chaotic challenges rewards players with an entire ship set so gorgeous that it would make even Handsome Jack blush. Borderlands' iconic red and yellow color scheme is dominantly displayed on the sails, hull, cannons, masts, and more. As an added treat, everyone's favorite obnoxious robot Claptrap stars as the distinct figurehead for this stunning cosmetic collection.

For players interested in unlocking the Mayhem Ship Set in Sea of Thieves, make sure to jump into the game between Aug. 24 - Sept. 7. If you haven't given this pirate-sandbox title a try but want to get your hands on this sweet Borderlands swag, you can experience one of the best games on Xbox Game Pass right now.

What you need to know

• Pirate simulator Sea of Thieves had its best month ever in June 2021, reaching over 4.8 million active players.
• The free A Pirate's Life crossover content with Pirates of the Caribbean also launched in June 2021.
• Sea of Thieves crossed 20 million lifetime players earlier this year.

Rare's pirate adventure Sea of Thieves is continuing to grow as one of the best Xbox games available. In fact, Rare confirmed on Tuesday Sea of Thieves just had its best month ever with over 4.8 million active players in June 2021. This comes alongside the announcement of the free A Pirate's Life update, which added crossover content including new Tall Tales, with characters from Pirates of the Caribbean like Jack Sparrow and Davy Jones.

Sea of Thieves first launched back in March 2018, with numerous content updates since, including the extremely important addition of dogs. Earlier in 2021, Rare announced that Sea of Thieves crossed 20 million lifetime players.

The Pirates of the Caribbean content isn't stopping here either, with numerous new crustacean-inspired cosmetics in the Pirate Emporium. So if you want, you can dress your pirate up like the captain of the Flying Dutchman, no problem.

When Rare first unveiled Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life, its recently released collaboration with Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean, I almost couldn't believe how grand and majestic the trailer felt. While on paper, this marriage of two iconic pirate franchises seemed like the most appropriate pairing, it was still incredibly surreal to see characters like Davy Jones and Jack Sparrow brought to life in this swashbuckling sandbox game.

As an enormous fan of both Pirates of the Caribbean and Sea of Thieves, it was easy to let my mind run wild with extravagant possibilities of what this expansion might entail. However, even as a long-time player, I wasn't prepared to have my expectations for A Pirate's Life completely blown away in such a spectacular fashion. Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life is not only the most impressive update the title has seen so far but easily the greatest video game crossover of all time.

Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life — What I liked

Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life, the headlining content for the game's third season, is remarkable in so many ways, but the highlights are the utterly jaw-dropping set pieces on display in all five of the newly added Tall Tale adventures. The team at Rare truly outdid itself with the new locations crafted exclusively for this Pirates of the Caribbean adventure. Stunning backdrops like the Sunken Kingdom are brimming with neon coral, luscious aquatic plants, and eye-catching landmarks. This vibrant, sprawling, underwater landscape serves as a compelling contrast to the haunting architecture and ghoulish color palettes featured in the Sea of the Damned, another critical area in A Pirate's Life. In a game where even benign activities like sailing between islands offer loads of picturesque scenery, I was constantly in awe of just how much detail and care was crammed into these gorgeous locales.

These locations essentially serve as your very own virtual pirate amusement park, complete with scenes and dialogue taken straight from the classic Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Imagine being a bright-eyed child with endless imagination experiencing the Pirates of the Caribbean ride for the first time. Now, imagine you have the freedom to get out of the boat and wander this fantastical attraction molded by childhood fantasies at your own leisure. That is in essence what Rare has successfully achieved with Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life. If you have fond memories of Disneyland's famous attraction, this will be a nostalgic treat, and if you've never been, you get an opportunity to experience something arguably better than the real thing.

The sheer number of screenshots I've collected while playing Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's life is staggering. As it stands, I've taken a ridiculous 134 pictures while playing and replaying these new Tall Tales. It was next to impossible for me and my crew to make our way through these phenomenal stages without stopping to take seemingly endless pictures alongside the amazing assortment of virtual props. I couldn't help but be taken aback by how visually remarkable moments like the reveal of the Black Pearl were. For me, this obsession with video game photography doesn't carry over to any other title, which is a testament to just how incredible Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life truly looks.

A truly epic original story

While I could comfortably go on about the art direction for several more hours, another aspect of this free DLC I found absolutely captivating was the original story created here. The team at Rare delivered compelling reasons for every single one of these Pirates of the Caribbean characters to exist in Sea of Thieves in meaningful ways. These Tall Tales — the story-driven quests in the game — never once felt forced or out of place in this universe. In fact, without diving into spoiler territory, the writers have implied that Pirates of the Caribbean and the interactions between iconic characters from both franchises have permanently impacted the world and fundamental lore of Sea of Thieves.

The motivations for established characters like Davy Jones as well as newly introduced ones like the Siren Queen are clearly demonstrated in these Tall Tales, even for players who've never seen the films or played the game previously. Obviously, there are some major easter eggs and nods for fans, and if you're up to speed on both Sea of Thieves and Pirates of the Caribbean, it's a pretty special thing to behold. For Sea of Thieves veterans, it's tough not to have a massive smile on your face when seeing Jack Sparrow tease and taunt characters like The Ferryman aboard the Ship of the Damned.

Variety is the spice of the seas

As someone who's played Sea of Thieves for hundreds of hours since launch and persevered through the year-one grind to Pirate Legend status, I have to give an extra special shoutout to the six new enemy types and additional epic boss encounters brought alongside A Pirate's Life and Season Three. After killing thousands upon thousands of skeletons, it was so refreshing to see enemies like the Sirens and Ocean Crawlers emerge from the depths in Sea of Thieves.

Witnessing dynamic instances where giant crab-beasts are fighting Skeleton Captains on random islands enriches the sandbox experience in such a big way for me. Sea of Thieves has made noticeable strides when it comes to offering more engaging voyages and the introduction of these new enemy types is easily one of the most successful steps yet.

Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life - What I didn't like

There's no downplaying how much I enjoyed my time with Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life, but from a technical standpoint, it wasn't always smooth sailing. On several occasions, my enjoyment was severely hampered by frustrating, and sometimes progress-blocking, bugs and glitches. The second Tall Tale, The Sunken Pearl, took my crew five tries to complete because certain puzzles were incompletable if any other crew had finished them within a certain period of time. In several instances, the room that contained the grand finale for this Tall Tale was totally inaccessible as well. Needless to say, this put a bit of a damper on my initial experience with The Sunken Pearl.

A recently released hotfix is said to address many of the issues players were suffering through with The Sunken Pearl, but unfortunately for me, that's not where the issues stop. During three of the five new Tall Tales, I found myself stuck on objects or trapped inside of areas I couldn't escape from, which forced me to close the game. Normally this wouldn't be a big issue because of the checkpoints sprinkled throughout, but on multiple occasions, I found myself spawning back at my ship, unable to re-enter the instance for that particular Tall Tale. Because it can take upwards of 15 or more minutes to sail to these new locations, these continued setbacks were hard to brush off.

Outside of these technical problems, which will likely be ironed out in the coming weeks, the only legit criticism I have regarding the flow and design of the A Pirate's life campaign involves some slight puzzle repetition. While there are some unique and interesting puzzle mechanics introduced, certain stages relied far too heavily on repeating the same ideas. The Siren Statue music riddles were undoubtedly exciting the first few times, but after solving over a dozen of them, they quickly started losing their appeal.

Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life - Should you play it?

Whether you're a pirate legend or someone diving into the game for the first time, Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life is absolutely worth your time and attention. The epic original campaign brings some of Disney's most beloved characters to life in a way fans have never seen before. With loads of new content, a gripping story ingeniously combining two iconic pirate universes, and some amazing new enemies, there has honestly never been a better time to jump into Sea of Thieves.

Ignoring some disappointing technical problems and mild puzzle repetition, I couldn't be happier with what the team at Rare has achieved with Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life. Even my friends who've historically had lukewarm feelings about this pirate sandbox title left these sessions reinvigorated by the possibilities of this game. No matter what your preferences for PvE or PVP might be, A Pirate's Life is worth jumping into for the locations and storytelling alone.

Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life kicks off another bold chapter in the game's story and blows the door wide open for the future. I can't wait for more players to experience this incredible adventure for themselves, especially as it's easily one of the best games on Xbox Game Pass. I've previously stated that Sea of Thieves is one of the most important IPs of the last decade and the incredible creativity and passion dripping from A Pirate's Life only solidifies that belief even further.

What you need to know

• Many players have experienced issues in Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life.
• Rare acknowledged the issues and is working on a hotfix.
• Many of the issues surround the Sunken Pearl tale, including the story not progressing correctly.

Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life launched yesterday, bringing together the worlds of Sea of Thieves and Pirates of the Caribbean. The update is massive and brings several new elements to the game, but unfortunately contains quite a few bugs. Many of the issues involve the Sunken Pearl tale. Rare acknowledged the issues and said that a hotfix is in the works.

The Sea of Thieves subreddit has a megathread just for reporting bugs. Several comments in the thread highlight issues with the Sunken Pearl.

"Was doing the sunken pearl tall tale, and at the part where you fight the kraken on the boat no cannonballs or fruit spawned in the barrels and we couldn't fight the kraken properly," says Patwizer269.

"Yes The Sunken Pearl is a clusterfuck and buggy mess," explains SemSevFor.

xdeltax97 says, "The Sunken Pearl tall tale is the epitome of the pain meme. My god the bugs and annoying glitches."

There are several more reports along the same lines. Most of them have to do with the fact that the game won't progress when you complete steps. For example, a door in the final chapter won't open to allow you to enter the final battle.

Sea of Thieves latest, and most ambitious update is now live across Xbox and PC, bringing the universe of Pirates of the Caribbean into the game.

The huge 'Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life' update includes piles of new story features, new enemies to battle, new cosmetics to unlock, and much more, and you can grab it for free right now bundled with a title update via the Microsoft Store.

A Pirate's Life brings famous characters from the Pirates of the Caribbean universe into the game, complete with an original story where players hunt down the infamous Black Pearl ship. There's also a sizeable list of patch notes for the update, detailing some of the season's new features.

• New season three cosmetics to work towards and unlock
• New items in the Pirate's Emporium premium cosmetics store
• Challenging "Trials" to accelerate your progress through season three
• Phantoms, giant enemy crabs, sirens, and more new enemies
• New locations and a new "cinematic adventure" featuring Captain Jack Sparrow.

Sea of Thieves is available on Steam and the Microsoft Store for Xbox and PC, and is part of Xbox Game Pass as well, making the game accessible on the web and via Android.

A Pirate's Life is by far Sea of Thieves biggest and most ambitious update, showcasing the expansion of Rare and the IP itself as a force to be reckoned with. Sea of Thieves continues to impress across its engagement metrics on Xbox and sales charts on Steam, as the game continues to defy those early review scores from its launch period to become one of the best Xbox games out there. Rare truly has something special with Sea of Thieves, and it just keeps getting better.