Next Sea of Thieves closed beta test kicks off January 24

By Dan Thorp-Lancaster
published

Now that the new year is underway, Rare is ready to kick off the next closed beta test for Sea of Thieves.

If you're eager to jump into Rare's upcoming pirate adventure, Sea of Thieves, the developer is getting ready to launch another closed beta test later this month. Rare has revealed (opens in new tab) that the Sea of Thieves closed beta will start back up on January 24, with testing set to run through January 29.

The closed beta test will be open to anyone who took advantage of signing up o be a Sea of Thieves Insider before December 1. You can also get in just by preordering the game (opens in new tab) for Xbox One and Windows 10. As a bonus, this beta session won't require you to adhere to an NDA, so you're free to share your gameplay in any way you see fit.

Sea of Thieves is an Xbox Play Anywhere game, and it's one of the bigger exclusives to be coming to Xbox One and Windows 10 in 2018. The game tasks players with exploring an open pirate world with their friends, taking to the high seas in search of treasure on remote islands. Players can also engage in ship battles with others that they encounter while sailing around the world. The experience promises to be pretty open, and Rare says there will be plenty of quests and opportunities for adventure to check out. And if you own an Xbox One X, you'll be able to play the game in native 4K.

Sea of Thieves is available for preorder now for $59.99 ahead of its expected March 20 release.

Dan Thorp-Lancaster
Dan Thorp-Lancaster

Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the former Editor-in-Chief of Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central, Android Central, and iMore as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl. 

7 Comments
  • When I first start this I'll probably just stare at the gorgeous water for an hour 
  • Agree with you!
  • Arrrrrgh, matey! We can't still sign up without preordering? Well shiver me timbers...
  • you can sign up to be an Insider which will also grant you access to the beta.
  • The closed beta test will be open to anyone who took advantage of signing up o be a Sea of Thieves Insider before December 1.
  • I'm looking forward to it, I've been an Insider for a while and have been anxiously awaiting a beta to crop up.
  • I've been an insider for this for quite some time so I'm happy to try it out. I'm still hoping for no microtransactions/lootboxes. If they do, I hope they have the courage to add it in the beta.