Next Sea of Thieves technical alpha test open to all who sign up by December 1

Sea of Thieves, the upcoming multiplayer pirate adventure from the folks at Rare, has seen its fair share of testing throughout 2017. As the Xbox One and Windows 10 exclusive moves toward its early 2018 release date, Rare is gearing up for the next play session, and it turns out anyone who wants to jump in will have the chance to.

In a new post on Xbox Wire (opens in new tab), the Sea of Thieves team announced that everyone who joins the Sea of Thieves Insider Program by December 1 will get a chance to join in with the next play session. That's a shift from previous play sessions, which have been fairly limited in scope. According to Rare, however, it has slowly ratcheted up from 1,000 players in the first wave to nearly 200,000, and they're ready for more.

Sea of Thieves is an Xbox Play Anywhere game, and it's one of the more anticipated exclusives coming to Xbox One and Windows 10. The game places a heavy emphasis on exploration an teamwork, allowing players to team up with their friends to take to the high seas in the search for treasure on remote islands. Ship battles will also be a big focus, with players able to attack other players' vessels as they encounter them. Though the game is pretty open-ended, it also features many quests and other opportunities for adventure.

Sea of Thieves has been delayed before, but it's currently due for an early 2018 release. And if you picked up an Xbox One X, you'll be able to play the game in native 4K on the console. For now, you can sign up to take part in the next technical alpha play session at the Sea of Thieves Insider site. Keep in mind that you will need an Xbox Live Gold membership if you plan to play on Xbox One. You'll also have to sign an NDA to get in, so you won't be allowed to stream your gameplay or otherwise share your experience with others outside of the program.

Sign up for the Sea of Thieves Insider Program

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