Sea of Thieves News
Sea of Thieves Release Notes - 2.8.1
With Season Nine launch month and its cavalcade of bullet-pointed features behind us, April sees the delivery of some more focused fixes and adjustments alongside a wave of eerie new cosmetics. If you're still catching up on what was recently added, we'd advise a viewing of the Season Nine content update video before you go ahead and raise anchor!
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Check out the launch release notes if you want the fully itemised Season Nine feature set, then read on to find out what else is addressed in this month's update. When you're ready to set sail, don't forget to pay a visit to the Outpost you once knew as Golden Sands...
[h2]Pirate Emporium[/h2]
Hygiene is important! That's why those seafaring plague doctors wear masks, although it doesn't explain the state of their dubious tools. If the Sawbones ship set, clothing, weapons and Trinket don't grab you, snap up a Plunder Pass, some quickfire emotes or the monthly freebie!
Season Nine Plunder Pass
[h2]Outpost Cosmetics [/h2]
Order of Souls Cosmetics
[h2]Updates [/h2]
Ghost Fleet Encounter Balancing
[h2]Accessibility[/h2]
Narration Playback Speed
[h2]Events [/h2]
Twitch Drops
[h2]Fixed Issues[/h2]
Gameplay
[h2]Known Issues[/h2]
Sawbones Clothing Visual Issues
To learn more about known issues in Sea of Thieves currently being tracked and their status, head over to our Known Issues support site article.
[h2]Download and Installation [/h2]
Download Size:
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Check out the launch release notes if you want the fully itemised Season Nine feature set, then read on to find out what else is addressed in this month's update. When you're ready to set sail, don't forget to pay a visit to the Outpost you once knew as Golden Sands...
[h2]Pirate Emporium[/h2]
Hygiene is important! That's why those seafaring plague doctors wear masks, although it doesn't explain the state of their dubious tools. If the Sawbones ship set, clothing, weapons and Trinket don't grab you, snap up a Plunder Pass, some quickfire emotes or the monthly freebie!
Season Nine Plunder Pass
- Anyone wishing to take full advantage of Season Nine rewards can still buy the Plunder Pass. Any rewards unlocked will become available upon purchase, so players who have raised their Renown throughout Season Nine can instantly see their hard work rewarded before the Season ends.
- This Season’s Plunder Pass offers early access to the complete Sting Tide Ship Collection and evolving Sting Tide Costume, and can be purchased at any time through the Pirate Log, Pirate Emporium or Steam Item Store.
- Spread your medical 'expertise' across the Sea of Thieves with the Sawbones Ship Collection. Collector's Sails and Figurehead are available to purchase separately.
- Pirates looking for the bare necessities can instead choose the Sawbones Essential Ship Bundle, containing the core components at a discount.
- Don the mask of those who do not falter in the face of pestilence with these well-worn items of medical gear. Pirates are free to purchase the hat, gloves, belt and jacket individually, or all four items bundled together at a discount.
- This bundle of weapons might have seen better days, but they'll never fail to get the job done.
- Captains in dire need of a flask of eyeballs to decorate their ship can now pick up this grim Trinket at the Emporium.
- A pirate knows better than to enter any situation unarmed, so be ready to react with this weapon-specific emote.
- Collect this freebie from the Emporium and show enthusiasm for your crew’s most impressive feats. Or explosions.
- Medical science is a developing field, but still as rough and ready as anything else on the Sea of Thieves. For now, you can at least look the part and come equipped for spontaneous procedures! The Sawbones' Surgery Bundle contains the Sawbones Clothing Bundle and Weapon Bundle, the Quick Draw Weapon Pose Emote, 550 Ancient Coins to spend in the Pirate Emporium and a free bonus of 25,000 gold. Head to the Steam Item Store to find out more.
[h2]Outpost Cosmetics [/h2]
Order of Souls Cosmetics
- Gain Madame Olivia’s approval within the Order by saving up for a selection of clothing, weapons and equipment now in stock at the Outpost shops.
[h2]Updates [/h2]
Ghost Fleet Encounter Balancing
- The damage required to defeat Captain’s Ships and the Burning Blade during a Ghost Fleet encounter has now been reduced.
- The number of Wraith Cannonballs rewarded for completing the encounter has now been increased.
- Ashen Voyages purchasable from the shipwright no longer have a Trading Company reputation requirement, allowing all Captains access to these new Voyages delivered in Season Nine.
[h2]Accessibility[/h2]
Narration Playback Speed
- Players using ‘Let Games Read to Me’ now have additional control within the Settings Menu to adjust the speed of the narration. This will allow players to set a speed that is the most convenient and comfortable for them.
[h2]Events [/h2]
Twitch Drops
- Continue to unlock cosmetics throughout Season Nine with Twitch Drops! Stay tuned to Sea of Thieves social channels to find out when Twitch Drops will be active for Partnered streamers, allowing players to earn a selection of items from the Eastern Winds Sapphire set.
- Find out how to link your accounts and more on our dedicated Twitch Drops page.
[h2]Fixed Issues[/h2]
Gameplay
- Seagulls now appear over treasure dropped when defeating a Megalodon.
- Supply barrels jettisoned from a ship will no longer sink while players are nearby.
- Supply barrels harpooned onto a ship will no longer disappear when sailing away from the area where they were collected.
- Players are no longer able to bypass the purchase limit at the shipwright and retrieve multiple supplies.
- Crews are now granted the correct Emissary Grade progression when bringing treasure onto their ship using a harpoon.
- Players below deck caught by the blast from a Trident of Dark Tides as it hits the outside of the ship’s hull will now take reduced damage as intended.
- Rowboats containing treasure will no longer leave items floating in the air when undocked from the Sovereigns’ dock.
- When taking part in a Skeleton Fleet battle, player ships in close proximity to each other will no longer prevent the fleet from appearing from the depths.
- Players discovering the Chest of Legends at the final dig site during a Search for Cursed Treasure will now find the Voyage completes as intended.
- Pirates are now prevented from retrieving multiple Voyages from a Mysterious Journal.
- ‘A Pirate’s Life’ – Crews are now prevented from using the cage key on a nearby door, which would block them from being able to complete the Tall Tale.
- ‘Revenge of the Morningstar’ – Crews are no longer rewarded when cashing in the Skull of Captain Douglas or Chalice of Resurrection.
- Crewmates who join during a battle and are held on the Ferry of the Damned are no longer awarded Allegiance when the battle ends.
- Players who lose a battle while on the Ferry of the Damned should no longer encounter the rare scenario where they appear beneath the waves after returning from the Ferry.
- Further improvements made to saving ship customisations, reducing scenarios where Captains saving a livery, decoration or Trinket would result in their chosen customisations not persisting between sessions.
- A Captain's Logbook will now maintain a consistent record of events after migrating across servers.
- Players should no longer find that events recorded in a Logbook found floating at sea suddenly become blank after reading.
- A Captain's Logbook will now retain its customised appearance after being placed in a Collector’s Chest, or after being dropped and picked up.
- A Captain's Logbook will now show the correct events pages after being placed in a Collector’s Chest.
- Players holding a Captain's Logbook will no longer be offered the option to retrieve treasure from a Collector's Chest.
- Players are now able to preview the King’s Ransom Crown on their pirate while browsing the Emporium.
- The glowing eyes on the Frostbite Figurehead are now much more visible at a distance.
- The Sea Serpent Collector’s Sails now use the correct tile art.
- The Labyrinth Looter Weapon Bundle now displays the correct iconography.
- Pirates can no longer intersect with the environment within the basements of Sea Forts.
- Within the Pirate Legend Hideout, pirates should no longer be able to push through the environment into the sea.
- Pets can now follow players around the new areas of the Pirate Legend Hideout.
- ‘Shores of Gold’ – Players are no longer able to bypass the traps and reach the Gold Hoarder’s vault by passing through the environment.
- ‘A Pirate’s Life’ – Rocks found within the tunnels that lead to Sailor's Grave now appear correctly.
- Players on lower-spec hardware should no longer experience graphical issues or missing UI imagery after leaving a session and quickly joining a new session.
- After raising and lowering an Emissary Flag, bringing up a radial menu should no longer show an active Emissary.
- After switching categories within the shipwright’s Voyage shop, players making a purchase will no longer find the category is reset.
- Storage Crates for single resources such as Cannonball Crates no longer display additional UI elements within the storage limits space.
- Browsing the Trials section within the Pirate’s Log now correctly displays the selected page.
- The name of a player's pet is now displayed correctly in the chat notification pane.
- When enabling the extended audio range of sea rocks to improve sailing audio cues, players using headphones will no longer hear audio effects in both ears at the same time.
- Players using ‘Let Games Read to Me’ will no longer hear punctuation narrated within the Custom Server menus.
- Players using ‘Let Games Read to Me’ will no longer hear incorrect or repeated narration while navigating the ‘Info and Tips’ section.
- When boarding a ship from the sea, players are no longer able to muffle the boarding audio effects by grabbing the ladder while aiming down sights, ensuring nearby players will always hear someone boarding from the ocean.
- Pirates striking another ship with cannon fire will no longer hear other game music quieten for an extended period.
- Players shooting, sprinting and aiming in quick succession with an Eye of Reach should no longer encounter rare scenarios where the weapon animation becomes stuck and prevents aiming down sights.
- When a Skeleton Fleet battle is active, players moving around The Reaper's Hideout will no longer hear the audio effects cutting out.
- After speaking with various characters found across the world, players leaving the conversation will now hear the correct ending phrase.
- Equipping the Lucky Hand Dress no longer causes a pirate’s tattoos to appear cut off.
- The Sweet Treat Capstan now blends more seamlessly with the pool of chocolate when being raised and lowered.
- White corners are no longer visible on the Season Nine title screen.
- The Mysterious Stranger will now consistently appear at the intended level of detail when visited in the tavern.
- Players with a buried treasure map will now see the correct iconography on the map after migrating servers.
- All ‘Vote to Scuttle’ options within the Settings Menu no longer display debug text strings and are translated to all non-English languages.
- The description for the Fortune's Favour Commendation has now been corrected to reflect that handing in the Chest of Fortune at a variety of locations will still count towards progressing the Commendation.
- Players attempting to equip invalid decorations to a Sloop will now see a translated error message in the player’s preferred language.
- The Emissary tutorials now mention that Doubloons as well as gold and reputation are increased based on Emissary Grade when selling items as an Emissary.
- When players speak to Larinna, she will now mention the new features introduced as part of Season Nine.
- Improved server stability to reduce instances where players are disconnected from their session.
[h2]Known Issues[/h2]
Sawbones Clothing Visual Issues
- Elements of the Sawbones Jacket and Sawbones Belt are not affected by the Blessing of Athena’s Fortune, and will currently remain solid in appearance.
- Players may experience scenarios where they encounter ping spikes at random while playing, resulting in rubberbanding or client stutters. While improvements were most recently released in update 2.7.3, the team continue to work on further improvements for future updates.
- In areas of intense action, players may find themselves firing shots or landing strikes that do not cause damage to their targets. While small improvements continue to be delivered during our regular updates, we are continuing to investigate and identify further improvements to the player combat experience.
To learn more about known issues in Sea of Thieves currently being tracked and their status, head over to our Known Issues support site article.
[h2]Download and Installation [/h2]
Download Size:
- Steam: 7.1 GB
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: March 2023
So, not sure if you noticed, but March was something of a whirlwind, with so many things going on that it’s a wonder anyone managed to keep track of it all. If you’re in need of a refresher – or if you happened to step outside and walked back in on a scene of barely controlled chaos – here’s a brief history of everything that happened last month in 1200 words or less. Can we do it? Let’s find out.
[h3]Content Update[/h3]
As mentioned, March was home to many excitements: Season Nine arrived on stage and Sea of Thieves turned five! For the anniversary celebrations we started things off early with the Marauder’s Medley Event, running pirates through challenges based on content updates from Sea of Thieves history in pursuit of a suite of legacy cosmetics.
There was no slowing down from there as we all jumped straight into the release of Season Nine! This is a Season of subtle game-changers and bountiful quality-of-life updates, many of which – like the Chest of Fortune, Skull of Destiny, Bait Crates and a new face at Stephen’s Spoils – were cheekily teased well ahead of release. For the full dirt on everything Season-related, plant a shovel in the launch release notes.
When it comes to the Pirate Emporium, you know the drill by now – new month, new cosmetics, and Season Nine’s arrival was no exception. This latest update introduced not only a new Plunder Pass brimming with the ethereal Sting Tide collection, but also stocked Emporium shelves with the fierce Sea Serpent collection for any budding hunters taking to the waves, and the twinkling Lodestar Ship’s Crest for pirates with an affinity for the night sky.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]News and Features[/h3]
As busy as March was with events and celebrations, you wouldn’t have thought we’d have time to cram anything else in – but at the beginning of the month we brought back our From Concept to Cosmetic series, delving into the development of Season Eight’s Ravenwood collection. If you’ve ever wondered what an animator looks like twirling dinner knives for reference footage, now’s the time to find out.
From there, it was time to get fully stuck in. With so much to cover, March delivered its share of handy explainer articles walking you through everything happening for our fifth anniversary, Season Nine and Community Weekend. And because all the best things come in fours, apparently, we added in an extra one to break down the newly released 2023 and Deluxe Editions of the game. There was news of time-limited Anniversary Celebration Bundles too, the reveal of an upcoming Sea of Thieves board game and the latest addition to our streamable soundtrack in ‘Fated Enemies’!
Even amid the chaos, our Creator Spotlight never faltered in its ceaseless hunt, landing first on costume aficionado TizzyTam before alighting on famed teller of tales, Cliff the Story Guy. If you’re in the market for some top tips on overcoming obstacles and building an audience for yourself, be sure to check them out.
[h3]Videos and Streams[/h3]
With a new Season due, we started out in March dedicating our video channels to previews of what was to come. To kick off, we hosted a reveal livestream from the on-site Tavern, premiering our shiny new Season Nine update trailer. Just a few days later, we set out to answer your most burning questions with a Deep Dive into those incoming Season Nine features. And just in case that wasn’t enough hype for you all, we threw in a brand new Welcome to Our Playground trailer to fire up both new and returning players to the Sea of Thieves.
For such a momentous occasion as our fifth anniversary, we had to pull out all the stops – and that meant it was time for the big screen. On the day of our anniversary we hit publish on our snazzy feature-length documentary, Sea of Thieves: Voyage of a Lifetime. Crammed with developer interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and cameos from familiar community faces, it’s the perfect viewing experience for anyone interested in not just the Sea of Thieves story but the realities of game development.
A few days after that, we checked in with everything going on in Sea of Thieves News, before rounding off the month with a thrilling tournament in the form of our Fifth Anniversary Invitational. Pirates from around the world teamed up to tackle Bilge Rat Bingo, even going head to head with assorted members of the Rare team...
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]Social Channels [/h3]
For us, an anniversary always feels like the perfect time to carve out a moment for recognition of the community that’s supported us every step of the way. So from March 25th-27th, we hosted an extended Community Weekend offering login bonuses, sales and exclusive merch, boosted rewards, a lucrative Ancient Skelly surge and much more for anyone who wanted to get involved. Plus of course the traditional bingo card!
Also on March’s social media calendar was the hottest competition of the Season: Style of Thieves. After the themes were revealed last month, the beginning of March saw the winners walking away with their very own Fashionista’s Finery Gloves. Not to be outdone, the next round of #SoTShot sent players hunting for the perfect picture to represent the Order of Souls, while creators from across social media battled it out for a coveted spot in the Community Hub.
It wasn’t all fierce competition: pirates ended up working together to decode some devilish pictograms and shared their mad hiding skills. With the new Season fresh in our minds, attention briefly shifted to the shiny new Chest of Fortune and the renewed allure of taking on a Fort of Fortune – or not, if you’re anything like us. Fortunately the celebratory anniversary vibes swept in before the fighting could get too vicious, and we turned our attention to reminiscing on how far we’ve come in the last five years.
All of which finally brings us to the end of March. What a month! We barely had a moment to catch our breath, let alone do much sailing of our own. So if you have a Chest of Fortune going spare – or if you just want to know what else we’ve got going on between these monthly updates – drop in on us over on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube or Twitch, or join the official Forums or Discord. In the meantime, we’ll get geared up and set sail in pursuit of those swanky new chests for ourselves. You might just need to remind us to look where we’re going.
(PS Just over 1100 words! Phew.)
[hr][/hr][h3]Previously in 2023: [/h3]
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: February 2023 Sea of Thieves Round-Up: January 2023
[h3]Content Update[/h3]
As mentioned, March was home to many excitements: Season Nine arrived on stage and Sea of Thieves turned five! For the anniversary celebrations we started things off early with the Marauder’s Medley Event, running pirates through challenges based on content updates from Sea of Thieves history in pursuit of a suite of legacy cosmetics.
There was no slowing down from there as we all jumped straight into the release of Season Nine! This is a Season of subtle game-changers and bountiful quality-of-life updates, many of which – like the Chest of Fortune, Skull of Destiny, Bait Crates and a new face at Stephen’s Spoils – were cheekily teased well ahead of release. For the full dirt on everything Season-related, plant a shovel in the launch release notes.
When it comes to the Pirate Emporium, you know the drill by now – new month, new cosmetics, and Season Nine’s arrival was no exception. This latest update introduced not only a new Plunder Pass brimming with the ethereal Sting Tide collection, but also stocked Emporium shelves with the fierce Sea Serpent collection for any budding hunters taking to the waves, and the twinkling Lodestar Ship’s Crest for pirates with an affinity for the night sky.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]News and Features[/h3]
As busy as March was with events and celebrations, you wouldn’t have thought we’d have time to cram anything else in – but at the beginning of the month we brought back our From Concept to Cosmetic series, delving into the development of Season Eight’s Ravenwood collection. If you’ve ever wondered what an animator looks like twirling dinner knives for reference footage, now’s the time to find out.
From there, it was time to get fully stuck in. With so much to cover, March delivered its share of handy explainer articles walking you through everything happening for our fifth anniversary, Season Nine and Community Weekend. And because all the best things come in fours, apparently, we added in an extra one to break down the newly released 2023 and Deluxe Editions of the game. There was news of time-limited Anniversary Celebration Bundles too, the reveal of an upcoming Sea of Thieves board game and the latest addition to our streamable soundtrack in ‘Fated Enemies’!
Even amid the chaos, our Creator Spotlight never faltered in its ceaseless hunt, landing first on costume aficionado TizzyTam before alighting on famed teller of tales, Cliff the Story Guy. If you’re in the market for some top tips on overcoming obstacles and building an audience for yourself, be sure to check them out.
[h3]Videos and Streams[/h3]
With a new Season due, we started out in March dedicating our video channels to previews of what was to come. To kick off, we hosted a reveal livestream from the on-site Tavern, premiering our shiny new Season Nine update trailer. Just a few days later, we set out to answer your most burning questions with a Deep Dive into those incoming Season Nine features. And just in case that wasn’t enough hype for you all, we threw in a brand new Welcome to Our Playground trailer to fire up both new and returning players to the Sea of Thieves.
For such a momentous occasion as our fifth anniversary, we had to pull out all the stops – and that meant it was time for the big screen. On the day of our anniversary we hit publish on our snazzy feature-length documentary, Sea of Thieves: Voyage of a Lifetime. Crammed with developer interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and cameos from familiar community faces, it’s the perfect viewing experience for anyone interested in not just the Sea of Thieves story but the realities of game development.
A few days after that, we checked in with everything going on in Sea of Thieves News, before rounding off the month with a thrilling tournament in the form of our Fifth Anniversary Invitational. Pirates from around the world teamed up to tackle Bilge Rat Bingo, even going head to head with assorted members of the Rare team...
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]Social Channels [/h3]
For us, an anniversary always feels like the perfect time to carve out a moment for recognition of the community that’s supported us every step of the way. So from March 25th-27th, we hosted an extended Community Weekend offering login bonuses, sales and exclusive merch, boosted rewards, a lucrative Ancient Skelly surge and much more for anyone who wanted to get involved. Plus of course the traditional bingo card!
Also on March’s social media calendar was the hottest competition of the Season: Style of Thieves. After the themes were revealed last month, the beginning of March saw the winners walking away with their very own Fashionista’s Finery Gloves. Not to be outdone, the next round of #SoTShot sent players hunting for the perfect picture to represent the Order of Souls, while creators from across social media battled it out for a coveted spot in the Community Hub.
It wasn’t all fierce competition: pirates ended up working together to decode some devilish pictograms and shared their mad hiding skills. With the new Season fresh in our minds, attention briefly shifted to the shiny new Chest of Fortune and the renewed allure of taking on a Fort of Fortune – or not, if you’re anything like us. Fortunately the celebratory anniversary vibes swept in before the fighting could get too vicious, and we turned our attention to reminiscing on how far we’ve come in the last five years.
All of which finally brings us to the end of March. What a month! We barely had a moment to catch our breath, let alone do much sailing of our own. So if you have a Chest of Fortune going spare – or if you just want to know what else we’ve got going on between these monthly updates – drop in on us over on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube or Twitch, or join the official Forums or Discord. In the meantime, we’ll get geared up and set sail in pursuit of those swanky new chests for ourselves. You might just need to remind us to look where we’re going.
(PS Just over 1100 words! Phew.)
[hr][/hr][h3]Previously in 2023: [/h3]
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: February 2023 Sea of Thieves Round-Up: January 2023
A Look Back at Our Fifth Anniversary Community Weekend
Five years, eh? We’ve come a long way since launch, and while plenty has changed for those of you who sail our seas, one thing never falters for us: this amazing community makes Sea of Thieves what it is.
Following previous Seasons’ celebratory Community Days, the event for Season Nine took the form of a fifth anniversary special, running a full 24 hours longer than usual. Of course, we still started by asking you all to take part in the usual hashtag hijinks – but this time we tracked the new #SoTAnniversaryPromo tag on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram and YouTube, and it all helped to increase the in-game Community Emissary multiplier! Through a combination of that freedom and the lure of a boost to Ancient Skeletons appearing at Grade Five, you smashed our cumulative cacophony ceiling within five hours and 15 minutes. Outstanding!
Of course, even if you never heard the pulse-racing jingle of an Ancient Skelly, simply logging in during Community Weekend was enough to earn you the Gilded Flag of Fellowship, Baker’s Barrel Disguise Emote (used 186,611 times over the weekend!) and a Skull of Destiny Voyage, while a quick visit to the Pirate Emporium sale yielded a free Down the Hatch Emote too.
But as we announced would happen ahead of the day, reaching the maximum Community Emissary Grade enabled us to use magic (some nifty engineering) to encourage more frequent emergences of those Ancient blue-boned keepers of cash. As per the plan, a total of 50 million Ancient Coins were claimed by lucky pirates during the weekend surge, with Ancient Skeleton appearances returning to their normal rarity after a little over 17 hours of action. To those who were lucky enough to claim a slice of the prize pot, congratulations – we hope those Ancient Coins have gone towards something nice in the Emporium.
Pirates who got lucky and pirates who didn’t were seen coming together throughout the weekend at New Golden Sands Outpost, where the fifth anniversary picture wall built for the occasion was enjoying its final days on display following its appearance on March 20th. The perfectly posed pictures you shared from that special spot throughout the weekend truly warmed our hearts. Thank you.
We’re worryingly close to getting sentimental now, so before our tear ducts try anything wet, let’s talk numbers. Facts! Facts won’t make us weep. Starting with the most important insight, bananas are still a pirate’s top choice of nourishment with 9,177,967 cronched over the weekend, although coconuts were a close second as we saw pirates smash a total of 9,027,677 into their faces. Some of you have more curious dietary habits though, given that 1,788 burnt leeches were also consumed. Perhaps they taste like chicken?
Despite the friendly wrapping of a Community Weekend, however, combat is inevitable when you throw pirate crews into a treasure-filled sandbox, so colour us unsurprised that 50,741,900 cannonballs were launched during the window, likely contributing to the 46,147,284 skellies smashed, 67,431 Megs dispatched and 24,030 Krakens dismissed. Not sure the 3,850,326 player pirates fired from cannons were as effective, nor the 68,860 dogs for that matter.
All this carnage led to loot, with a grand total of 19,749,926 individual items handed in, so congratulations if some of that was yours and commiserations if it used to be. Clocking up a bar tab of 2,592,392 grogs and showing off your moves with the standard Dance Emote 629,307 times does show us that you all just enjoy a good time in the end.
We also love to see how you’re celebrating – so much so that we crowned yet more deserving ne’er-do-wells with their very own Hats of Unfeasibly Glorious Fame as part of our neverending celebration of the #BeMorePirate mantra. From the cosplay props of neonautic_art on Instagram to the cinematic flair of Twitter’s Capt_Angelica, variety was, as it often is, the watchword of the day. ArcalenithSoT’s logo-inspired Trinket, JRedler_Art’s Gold Hoarder and swdrawings_nl’s striking sketch all earned the honours of fancy headwear too.
Outstanding creativity isn’t the only thing we reward, however. Servant of the Flame stan MutinousMel finally saw her presence in the community acknowledged by way of the Hat, while other long-standing MVPs (most valuable pirates) were also suitably honoured, including Fleeni, KroTukk, BriittyBear and TheD’sBack. Oh, and The Longest Johns, who we probably meant to give Hats to a while back but kept getting distracted by their tunes. This isn’t a complete list, but congratulations to all who were lucky enough to receive one this time around.
We served up plenty of fun social content for you to join in with during the weekend too: showing us your pirate and ship customisation screenshots were a key part of it, and a quick glance at the #SoTAnniversaryPromo tag on any social media channel will show just that! Silliness naturally took hold as the weekend went on, however, with memes and quote misremembering taking over throughout day two. You even got us trending on Twitter, so cheers for that!
Phew, got a little breakneck at the end there so take a minute if you need to breathe. Right, with all of that out the way the only thing left is to say our thanks, and probably cause some of those emotions we were trying to avoid. We started this article saying that the community makes Sea of Thieves what it is, and every time we run an event like this it only proves it even more.
Thank you for bringing your creativity, fun and energy to the full Community Weekend and, above all else, thank you for continuing to enjoy our silly pirate game in a myriad different ways. These events will continue, so keep your spyglass trained on our social media channels to learn about the next Season’s celebration closer to the time.
Five years, eh? Here’s to five more!
Following previous Seasons’ celebratory Community Days, the event for Season Nine took the form of a fifth anniversary special, running a full 24 hours longer than usual. Of course, we still started by asking you all to take part in the usual hashtag hijinks – but this time we tracked the new #SoTAnniversaryPromo tag on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram and YouTube, and it all helped to increase the in-game Community Emissary multiplier! Through a combination of that freedom and the lure of a boost to Ancient Skeletons appearing at Grade Five, you smashed our cumulative cacophony ceiling within five hours and 15 minutes. Outstanding!
Of course, even if you never heard the pulse-racing jingle of an Ancient Skelly, simply logging in during Community Weekend was enough to earn you the Gilded Flag of Fellowship, Baker’s Barrel Disguise Emote (used 186,611 times over the weekend!) and a Skull of Destiny Voyage, while a quick visit to the Pirate Emporium sale yielded a free Down the Hatch Emote too.
But as we announced would happen ahead of the day, reaching the maximum Community Emissary Grade enabled us to use magic (some nifty engineering) to encourage more frequent emergences of those Ancient blue-boned keepers of cash. As per the plan, a total of 50 million Ancient Coins were claimed by lucky pirates during the weekend surge, with Ancient Skeleton appearances returning to their normal rarity after a little over 17 hours of action. To those who were lucky enough to claim a slice of the prize pot, congratulations – we hope those Ancient Coins have gone towards something nice in the Emporium.
Pirates who got lucky and pirates who didn’t were seen coming together throughout the weekend at New Golden Sands Outpost, where the fifth anniversary picture wall built for the occasion was enjoying its final days on display following its appearance on March 20th. The perfectly posed pictures you shared from that special spot throughout the weekend truly warmed our hearts. Thank you.
We’re worryingly close to getting sentimental now, so before our tear ducts try anything wet, let’s talk numbers. Facts! Facts won’t make us weep. Starting with the most important insight, bananas are still a pirate’s top choice of nourishment with 9,177,967 cronched over the weekend, although coconuts were a close second as we saw pirates smash a total of 9,027,677 into their faces. Some of you have more curious dietary habits though, given that 1,788 burnt leeches were also consumed. Perhaps they taste like chicken?
Despite the friendly wrapping of a Community Weekend, however, combat is inevitable when you throw pirate crews into a treasure-filled sandbox, so colour us unsurprised that 50,741,900 cannonballs were launched during the window, likely contributing to the 46,147,284 skellies smashed, 67,431 Megs dispatched and 24,030 Krakens dismissed. Not sure the 3,850,326 player pirates fired from cannons were as effective, nor the 68,860 dogs for that matter.
All this carnage led to loot, with a grand total of 19,749,926 individual items handed in, so congratulations if some of that was yours and commiserations if it used to be. Clocking up a bar tab of 2,592,392 grogs and showing off your moves with the standard Dance Emote 629,307 times does show us that you all just enjoy a good time in the end.
We also love to see how you’re celebrating – so much so that we crowned yet more deserving ne’er-do-wells with their very own Hats of Unfeasibly Glorious Fame as part of our neverending celebration of the #BeMorePirate mantra. From the cosplay props of neonautic_art on Instagram to the cinematic flair of Twitter’s Capt_Angelica, variety was, as it often is, the watchword of the day. ArcalenithSoT’s logo-inspired Trinket, JRedler_Art’s Gold Hoarder and swdrawings_nl’s striking sketch all earned the honours of fancy headwear too.
Outstanding creativity isn’t the only thing we reward, however. Servant of the Flame stan MutinousMel finally saw her presence in the community acknowledged by way of the Hat, while other long-standing MVPs (most valuable pirates) were also suitably honoured, including Fleeni, KroTukk, BriittyBear and TheD’sBack. Oh, and The Longest Johns, who we probably meant to give Hats to a while back but kept getting distracted by their tunes. This isn’t a complete list, but congratulations to all who were lucky enough to receive one this time around.
We served up plenty of fun social content for you to join in with during the weekend too: showing us your pirate and ship customisation screenshots were a key part of it, and a quick glance at the #SoTAnniversaryPromo tag on any social media channel will show just that! Silliness naturally took hold as the weekend went on, however, with memes and quote misremembering taking over throughout day two. You even got us trending on Twitter, so cheers for that!
Phew, got a little breakneck at the end there so take a minute if you need to breathe. Right, with all of that out the way the only thing left is to say our thanks, and probably cause some of those emotions we were trying to avoid. We started this article saying that the community makes Sea of Thieves what it is, and every time we run an event like this it only proves it even more.
Thank you for bringing your creativity, fun and energy to the full Community Weekend and, above all else, thank you for continuing to enjoy our silly pirate game in a myriad different ways. These events will continue, so keep your spyglass trained on our social media channels to learn about the next Season’s celebration closer to the time.
Five years, eh? Here’s to five more!
Sea of Thieves Spotlight Showcase #5
As we sail full speed into April, the fifth instalment of the Spotlight Showcase is here! We last checked in with you all the way back in November, so there’s a whole new cast of Sea of Thieves Spotlight occupants to walk you through, with scientists, artists, streamers and even a carpenter here to share their thoughts. Without any further ado, let’s dive in…
Leafing all the way back through the 2022 holiday season, we find plant prospector Solarlunar34 in the Community Spotlight! Discussing his experiences with Ancient Isles University, the ‘Plant King’ explained how he got into pirate plant classification and what goes into naming the fantastical flora of the Sea of Thieves. Did you know the Latin word for banana? Now you do!
Taking us from botany to geography, our next Community Spotlight jumped to Jerem, the creative mind behind the daily puzzler SoT Guessr. Jerem discussed how he and his crew worked together to capture hundreds of screenshots from across the seas to challenge eagle-eyed fellow players, and explained how his ship is named after an ongoing hunt for the elusive Shrouded Ghost.
As we rolled into the cold month of December, our thoughts turned to warm summer memories of SoTFest as CalamityKez walked us through her history with Rare and how it all ultimately led her to becoming a pillar of the SoTUK community. Like Jerem, she also discussed the rarest of the Megalodons, though this time with a successful hunt to look back on and celebrate.
For our first Spotlight of 2023, we got creative with one of the most widely shared artists in the community, Shabby! He spoke about where he finds inspiration for the mystical monsters he creates and how a Twitter meme ended up leading to him obtaining the legendary Hat of Unfeasibly Glorious Fame. Clearly one shouldn’t underestimate the power of the phrase ‘It’s Reapin’ Time’.
The first Creator Spotlight on this list went to the streaming inspiration behind the Legacy Beard cosmetic, Beardageddon. He talked about his transition from YouTuber to Twitch streamer, and the journey that led to him becoming a major component of the Sea of Thieves streaming community (even if he did confess to thinking the game looked a bit silly in the beginning)...
February put us in a crafty mood, and who better to celebrate with than a woodworking wizard? In his Community Spotlight, MiniMeMarcLee spoke about nearly 40 years of history with games and how his training as a joiner enabled him to become a master at making Sea of Thieves props. He even teased a new project he’s working on, though the details were very hush-hush…
And for a February finisher we turned to some of the most recent content creator corsairs inducted into the Sea of Thieves Partner Programme, beginning with LazyBuzzard. While it’s no surprise that his interests include unhurried birds of prey, we also learned that this streamer keeps his sights set on fun times for his viewers with a harmonica in hand for extra entertainment options.
All of which brings us to March and a sensible cutoff point for this substantial Spotlight Showcase! As always, you can find many exciting insights into the lives of these creators and community stars through their interviews, so be sure to check out the full versions. You can also filter our News section to show all the previous Community, Creator and Legend Spotlights so that you can catch up on any you might have missed, and of course our previous Spotlight Showcase offers another set of handy recaps.
The Spotlights don’t end here, of course, so keep an eye out for the next one on the horizon! We’ll have more for you next month and beyond, so stick with us, keep calm and sail on…
Leafing all the way back through the 2022 holiday season, we find plant prospector Solarlunar34 in the Community Spotlight! Discussing his experiences with Ancient Isles University, the ‘Plant King’ explained how he got into pirate plant classification and what goes into naming the fantastical flora of the Sea of Thieves. Did you know the Latin word for banana? Now you do!
Taking us from botany to geography, our next Community Spotlight jumped to Jerem, the creative mind behind the daily puzzler SoT Guessr. Jerem discussed how he and his crew worked together to capture hundreds of screenshots from across the seas to challenge eagle-eyed fellow players, and explained how his ship is named after an ongoing hunt for the elusive Shrouded Ghost.
As we rolled into the cold month of December, our thoughts turned to warm summer memories of SoTFest as CalamityKez walked us through her history with Rare and how it all ultimately led her to becoming a pillar of the SoTUK community. Like Jerem, she also discussed the rarest of the Megalodons, though this time with a successful hunt to look back on and celebrate.
For our first Spotlight of 2023, we got creative with one of the most widely shared artists in the community, Shabby! He spoke about where he finds inspiration for the mystical monsters he creates and how a Twitter meme ended up leading to him obtaining the legendary Hat of Unfeasibly Glorious Fame. Clearly one shouldn’t underestimate the power of the phrase ‘It’s Reapin’ Time’.
The first Creator Spotlight on this list went to the streaming inspiration behind the Legacy Beard cosmetic, Beardageddon. He talked about his transition from YouTuber to Twitch streamer, and the journey that led to him becoming a major component of the Sea of Thieves streaming community (even if he did confess to thinking the game looked a bit silly in the beginning)...
February put us in a crafty mood, and who better to celebrate with than a woodworking wizard? In his Community Spotlight, MiniMeMarcLee spoke about nearly 40 years of history with games and how his training as a joiner enabled him to become a master at making Sea of Thieves props. He even teased a new project he’s working on, though the details were very hush-hush…
And for a February finisher we turned to some of the most recent content creator corsairs inducted into the Sea of Thieves Partner Programme, beginning with LazyBuzzard. While it’s no surprise that his interests include unhurried birds of prey, we also learned that this streamer keeps his sights set on fun times for his viewers with a harmonica in hand for extra entertainment options.
All of which brings us to March and a sensible cutoff point for this substantial Spotlight Showcase! As always, you can find many exciting insights into the lives of these creators and community stars through their interviews, so be sure to check out the full versions. You can also filter our News section to show all the previous Community, Creator and Legend Spotlights so that you can catch up on any you might have missed, and of course our previous Spotlight Showcase offers another set of handy recaps.
The Spotlights don’t end here, of course, so keep an eye out for the next one on the horizon! We’ll have more for you next month and beyond, so stick with us, keep calm and sail on…