New blood brings new opportunities as The Smugglers’ League settle into the shadows of the Sea of Thieves! To learn more about this Season’s headline features, head over to our dedicated Season 17 page.

The Smugglers’ Heist

• For the duration of Act 2, a daring Heist at Royal Crest Fortress will regularly be available via a note pinned to the ship’s mast, allowing all crews to join The Smugglers’ League in their task.

• Once the Heist has begun, crews will need to follow directions to retrieve a key from a Smuggler contact and then set sail to Royal Crest Fortress in search of a precious painting.

• Players must stick to instructions sent by The Smugglers’ League to ensure the correct painting is retrieved. There are many decoy paintings which can also be found and sold, but only the target painting will allow you to become the victor of the Heist!

• Crews that hold the target painting should be ready to fend off Ocean Crawler ambushes while aboard their ship. Other crews can also join in the Heist at any stage, so be prepared to use any means necessary to get the painting safely back to the designated Smugglers’ Hideout.

• Successful crews will earn a hoard of 175,000 gold for returning the correct painting, while Guilds will receive a significant bonus to their Guild Reputation!

Smugglers’ Tide: Act 2 Rewards

• Crews taking on the Heist at Royal Crest Fortress can unlock the Royal Crest Fortress Plans and Royal Crest Fortress Blueprints Trinkets to commemorate their daring accomplishments.

Smugglers’ Route Run Balancing

• The frequency of Phantom encounters while taking part in a Smugglers’ Route Run Voyage has now been reduced.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhrIsEoPNG0

Improved Field of View

• Players can now extend their field of view above the previous limit up to 110, providing a range of wider view options.

• To give players more control over their field of view experience, the graphics settings now provide individual field of view override settings for areas where players dock to an object such as the ship’s wheel, Rowboat or ladders.

Cinematic Banner Improvements

• The cinematic banners shown on the HUD have been extended to provide support for a reduced banner option that retains visibility of the player’s health and ammunition during gameplay.

• Players can navigate to the HUD Settings and switch between Full (default) or Reduced Lower Banner Style.

Underwater Animation Improvements

• Players swimming in water and making quick changes to their pitch and rotation will now find their pirate moves more smoothly when viewed by others.

• These changes aim to reduce the impact of players making fast movements with their mouse or controller to avoid damage during gunplay while underwater.

Ashen Skull of the Banished

• The Ashen Search for Ancient Secrets Voyage in The Devil’s Roar now rewards players with the new Ashen Skull of the Banished, replacing the Skull of the Banished on this Voyage.

Ashen Chest of Bones

• The Ashen Followers of the Flame Voyage now rewards players with an Ashen Chest of Bones, offering higher value than the Chest of Bones.

• The Ashen Chest of Bones retains the same number of charges as a Reaper’s Chest, but will not reinforce crews with Order of Bone and Blade Captains.

Displaying Trophy Tiers

• Captains who have earned multiple tiers of a Trophy are now able to decorate their ship with all previous tiers when interacting with a Trinket location.

Skull of Siren Sorrow

• Players are now able to sprint when holding the Skull of Siren Sorrow.

Sunken Merfolk Statues

• Merfolk Statues found within the Sunken Kingdom will now only store treasure that can be discovered while exploring the various Shrines and Treasuries, and Trading Company items recovered during Raid Voyages.

Show off your personal style with purchases from the Pirate Emporium! Pick up exclusive cosmetics such as ship liveries, costumes, weapons, pets and emotes using your Ancient Coins, purchasable with real money. Head to the Pirate Emporium to browse and buy the latest additions!

New Items – Now in Stock!

• Pirate Pugilist Ship Collection and Ship’s Crest

• Pirate Pugilist Weapon Bundle

• Pirate Pugilist Clothing Bundle

• Pirate Pugilist Speaking Trumpet

• One-Two Punch Emote (free!)

• Inner Sanctum Weapon Bundle

• Inner Sanctum Ship Collection (returning from Season 14 Plunder Pass)

• Inner Sanctum Clothing Bundle (returning from Season 14 Plunder Pass)

• Firestarter Variety Ship Bundle (mixed bundle of existing items)

Pirate Emporium Special Items Tab

• A Special Items tab has been added to the navigation menu within the Pirate Emporium, providing access to items such as the Pirate Deed, Renaming Deed and Pirate Appearance Potion.

New Outpost Stock!

• The shipwrights have restocked with the new Russet Resolute Hull, Sails and Flag.

• The Outpost shops now offer Lucky Rover equipment and instruments.

• The shipwrights have expanded to supply Ship’s Crests for purchase, and Pirate Legends can access the Sovereign Ship’s Crest previously available during Season Ten.

• The weaponsmith in the Pirate Legend Hideout now stocks the Legendary Fortune Double Barrel Pistol, Grapple Gun, Blowpipe, Throwing Knives, Heavy Sword and Rapier. These weapons are all available for purchase upon reaching Pirate Legend status.

• Players who previously purchased the Legendary Throwing Knives, Heavy Sword or Rapier from the Pirate Legend Hideout will find these items have been replaced in their Armoury with the corrected Legendary Fortune colour scheme.

Performance Improvements

• Optimisations made to the loading of environment assets should now provide a more stable framerate for players residing on the Ferry of the Damned while their ship is still moving through the world.

Performance Counters

• Players on console now have the ability to display their ping in the top corner of the screen. This can be enabled from within the Video Settings.

• Players on PC can now choose to display ping only, without displaying their FPS at the same time.

Text Chat in Game Options

• Players can now summon the text chat window from the Game Options menu, providing easy access to chat and freeing up a keybind. Players on console or handheld devices will find the Virtual Keyboard is shown when the chat window opens.

Gameplay

• After being revived, players should find their health bar is now consistently displayed when not at full health.

• Players wearing the Skeleton Curse are now able to equip disguises from the Vanity Chest.

• During an Hourglass streak, crews who become matched again with the same rival within a session will now consistently earn a win towards their streak.

• Crews choosing to leave treasure behind at sea when diving to a Faction Battle will now find that if their dive fails or is cancelled, the treasure they left behind is now floating nearby and no longer becomes stuck within the ship.

• Rum Crates of all varieties are now properly damaged by Gunpowder Barrels.

• When rowing towards a location where a Rowboat can be docked, the interaction now consistently displays at a range where the Rowboat can be attached.

• Tapping to aim down sights with the Eye of Reach no longer causes the screen to blur before the weapon is scoped.

• Bounty Voyages from a Message in a Bottle will now more appropriately scale their difficulty level based on the size of the crew.

• Crews digging up a stolen treasure buried by another crew should now consistently gain the Commendation progress when selling the item. This addresses the following Commendations: Taker of Stolen Stock, Bony Bandit, Bountiful Giving, Charitable Giving, Ritual Recovery and Legendary Thief.

• Players interacting twice with a ship’s cannon while holding an item will no longer find the item is held floating nearby.

• Crews pledging to the Guardians of Fortune or Servants of the Flame and remaining on the sea should no longer be able to increase their ship’s Treasure Grade when recovering the same item onto their ship repeatedly.

• Ancient Skeletons defeated by skeletons allied to the crew now consistently award Ancient Coins to the members of the crew.

• Crews are no longer able to gain additional Gunpowder Barrels from Skeleton Camps.

• Crews are no longer able to encounter multiple Skeleton Captains or Ashen Guardians at the same Skeleton Camp.

• Players moving across a tightrope should now consistently appear in the correct position to other players.

• ‘Shores of Gold’ – Players dying within the Devil’s Shroud during this Tall Tale should now return from the Ferry of the Damned with their equipment and resources intact.

Smugglers’ Tide

• The following Commendations can now be progressed consistently when performing the required criteria: Revered Rum Runner, Fine Art Felon and Super Smuggler. Players with prior progress may remain temporarily blocked as the team works behind the scenes to sync their progress.

• The Skull of Siren Sorrow now sinks after the correct amount of time when left floating on the sea.

• The Deed to Sink a Smuggling Skeleton Ship with a Black Powder Barrel now progresses consistently.

• Smuggler characters can no longer be interacted with from behind or while airborne.

• Players wearing the Black Powder Barrel Disguise now show a tooltip to others to inspect The Smugglers’ League mark, to ensure a more effective disguise.

• Players will no longer progress the Chest Buster Commendation when being forced out of the Black Powder Barrel Disguise.

• A range of island improvements have been made to Smugglers’ Hideout locations, addressing visual issues and ensuring traps trigger consistently.

• Skeletons can no longer walk through items or walls in Smugglers’ Hideouts.

• Enemy Phantoms will no longer appear inside Smugglers’ Hideouts.

• Smugglers’ Treasure found washed up will now direct players to the correct location of The Smugglers’ League.

• The ship’s map should now consistently show the Smugglers’ Route Run path when switching between Safer Seas and High Seas sessions.

• Crews should now be awarded progress towards the Storm Sale Commendation when handing in a Horn of Fair Winds to The Smugglers’ League.

• Players should now consistently earn progress towards the Seeker of Smugglers’ Caches Commendation when locating Smugglers’ Caches on islands.

• Smugglers’ Caches now remain buried when leaving and returning to islands.

• Speaking with Lottie no longer causes her body to change shape.

Reapers Rising

• Crews taking on a Voyage for The Reaper’s Bones will now find that joining and leaving an Alliance will retain their raised Reaper’s Bones Emissary Flag and Reaper’s Mark Flag.

• Players should now find it easier to interact with a moving Skeleton Mercenary in order to give them an item to hold.

• Items dropped onto the Ancient Pillars or Sarcophagus found during the Search for Ancient Secrets or Followers of the Flame Voyages are now placed safely away from the location instead of becoming stuck within them.

• Skeletons can no longer walk through the Ancient Pillars or Sarcophagus found during the Search for Ancient Secrets Voyage.

• Notifications shown during the Search for Ancient Secrets Voyage will now appear consistently.

• Treasured Fish are now held correctly by Skeleton Mercenaries.

• Showing a map to an allied skeleton now consistently results in the skeleton aiding the player to find the location.

• Improvements have been made to readability for the Quest Maps during the Search for Ancient Secrets Voyage.

• Crews digging up multiple Pillars in quick succession should no longer prevent Ancients from appearing.

• The Order of Bone and Blade should now have no trouble in digging up the Sarcophagus during the Search for Ancient Secrets Voyage.

Visual and Audio

• The Alabaster Wildcat now appears in the correct colour when summoned or viewed in the Pet Chest.

• Various throwing knives have had their visual effects restored when performing melee attacks.

• Emerging Phantoms and Ocean Crawlers are now accompanied by the intended music.

• Voting daggers now sit correctly on the Quest Table when cancelling a Voyage.

• Animals and skeletons will now move more smoothly when idling around islands.

• Players opening and exiting a shop will no longer see their character become temporarily invisible.

• Players equipping the Rare Regalia Hull will now find all areas of the ship are coloured consistently.

Environment

• Players are no longer able to venture underneath Port Merrick by using the Cannon of Rage to fire themselves into the environment.

• Improvements have been made to the environment in ‘The Journey to Mêlée Island’, ‘The Quest for Guybrush’ and ‘A Pirate’s Life’ Tall Tales to prevent players from using a Grapple Gun to leave the designated areas.

• Players can no longer fall out of the environment by using a Grapple Gun to navigate within Ancient Vaults.

• Barrels in Sea Forts can no longer be accessed through the ceiling.

• ‘The Lair of LeChuck’ – The area behind the Headless Monkey no longer contains hidden water that allows players to swim in mid-air.

User Interface

• Emissary Ledgers should now consistently show the next unlockable reward when the Ledgers refresh each month.

• Players are now prevented from purchasing Ship’s Crests and Banners within the Pirate Emporium if they do not yet own a Captained ship.

• The Ghostly Curse Alsatian now requires Pirate Legend status to purchase within the Emporium.

• The countdown shown in the Season overview now displays the time correctly.

• The Last Played date now displays correctly for newly created pirates.

• Pirate options can no longer be opened while a pirate is in the process of being deleted.

• Pirate previews now display correctly after deleting a pirate.

• Trading Company shops now require the correct promotion to be unlocked before a corresponding item can be purchased.

• During the Tutorial Voyage for the Order of Souls, the destination island will no longer be obscured by notifications.

Text and Localisation

• Players starting the Tutorial Voyage for the Merchant Alliance at Ancient Spire Outpost will now find the notifications refer to the correct islands during the Voyage.

• The Merchant Alliance Tutorial Voyage now consistently shows the intended text on the quest parchment during the Voyage.

• Players unlocking the All-seeing Commendation will now see the appropriate description in the Pirate Log.

• Terminology for the Chest of Fortune has been improved when playing in Japanese to better differentiate the item from a Treasure Chest.

• Following player feedback, the terminology used for Fight Nights has been improved when playing in Polish.

• Various terminology improvements have been made for The Smugglers’ League in Russian and Spanish (Mexico) languages.

Performance and Stability

• Crews on Safer Seas should no longer experience scenarios where their ship begins to lift into the air.

• Wielding Treasure Maps no longer causes performance issues when the maps update.

• Players on lower-spec hardware should no longer find the loading wheel stops animating for long periods of time.

• Further improvements have been made to game stability to reduce scenarios where players unexpectedly exit the game or become disconnected from their session.

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.

A hectic summer of Events, updates and general pirate chaos is finally coming to an end and that can mean only one thing: time to round up everything you might have missed in August. So settle in while we give you a whirlwind tour of the last month, ahead of everything still inbound this autumn…

As we set sail into August, we were rapidly coming up on the end of Season 16. In a distinctly un-piratelike show of generosity, the Trading Companies thought they’d offer a helping hand to any pirates scrambling to max out their Renown before the Season closed, leading to a full Gold & Glory Weekend for everyone to enjoy. Who doesn’t love doubled rewards?

From there, Season 17 burst to life in an explosion of proportions never before seen on the seas – that’s right, the arrival of The Smugglers’ League brought with it fearsome Black Powder Barrels and a host of new loot, Commendations and Voyages for pirates to dive into. At the same time, Rare’s 40th Anniversary had us celebrating with anything and everything ruby, and August concluded with the latest Community Weekend to mark this special milestone in fine style.

As always, the first addition to the News pages in August was our This Month in Sea of Thieves article, swiftly followed by the latest Community Spotlight, focused on artist extraordinaire Middy! Alongside a Community Hub update and two full #SoTShot rounds – Pretentious Photography and Rare View – there were plenty of opportunities to find out what community folks had been up to.

The introduction of a new Season always requires a little explanation to help players find their feet, so a Season launch article was delivered just in time for the update, followed by a Smugglers’ League guide introducing the new faces on the seas! After that, all that was left to do was tee up the delights of Season 17 Community Weekend with an in-depth article, and then wait for the screenshots to start rolling in.

We started our streaming news in August not with a stream of our own but with a Community Stream Team refresh! A whole new cast of streamers have signed on to represent Sea of Thieves, with some new goodies to give away to lucky viewers. They weren’t the only ones either – the Pirate Emporium team had new items with some real outlaw swagger ready to show off this month, and they weren’t about to miss that opportunity.

Elsewhere in the world of video we rounded up the regular monthly Sea of Thieves News, a new Developer Update from Production Director Drew, and, of course, a Launch Trailer and Content Update video for the new Season! As if that wasn’t enough, a new Seasonal title screen meant that the Audio team were on call for their usual trick of producing an anthemic tune to add to Sea of Thieves’ streamable soundtrack.

All of which brings us to the end of August and the first stirrings of a damp September wind across the waves! There’s sure to be more to report in on a month, but until then, please seek us out on your social media of choice: Twitter/X, Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Threads and Twitch, or you can join in the conversations happening on our Forums or official Discord server. Hope to see you there!

Sea of Thieves Round-Up: July 2025

Sea of Thieves Round-Up: June 2025

Sea of Thieves Round-Up: May 2025

Sea of Thieves Round-Up: April 2025

Sea of Thieves Round-Up: March 2025

Sea of Thieves Round-Up: February 2025

Sea of Thieves Round-Up: January 2025

What’s that? Another month of shenanigans on the horizon, is it? Why yes, it is! As we step into the run of -ber months, kicking off with a pumpkin-spiced September, a feast of delights await you on our shores. Let’s get into what you can expect…

Rare’s 40th Anniversary – until Saturday, October 4th

Although all the in-game fun has now finished for our big 40th milestone, some Rare Ruby remnants remain available until the first week of October. Players with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate can swipe the ravishing Rare Ruby Emote until this date via the Perks programme, while the roguish Rare Ruby Hat remains obtainable via Microsoft Rewards in participating territories, either by completing a punch card or as a bundled bonus when redeeming against Ancient Coin packs.

‘The Fine Art of Theft’ Release – Friday, September 12th

To whet your whistles for the Smugglers’ Heist Event (more on that later), we’re releasing the music that soundtracks the final part of the experience. Stream this rousing, epic track via Spotify or other streaming service of your choice from September 12th, to get yourself in the mood for pulling off a serious art heist.

Sea of Thieves Season 17: Act 2 – Thursday, September 18th

The second update of Season 17 drops on September 18th, bringing with it a Voyage of Luck for players for logging in to enjoy the new experiences on offer, and a generous gold bonus for those who dive in during the first week. The update also features a hotly discussed update for Field of View: from September 18th, the FOV cap will increase from 90 to 110, providing players more choice in how they play Sea of Thieves.

Russet Resolute ship items hit the Outpost shops this month, as do Lucky Rover instruments and equipment, while Pirate Legends can head to the Hideout to find new weapons in the Legendary Fortune set. Over in the Emporium, fans of fisticuffs will be able to exchange their Ancient Coins for the Pirate Pugilist set, with the complementary One-Two Punch Emote is available as this month’s freebie. Inner Sanctum items are also up for purchase, originally part of Season 14’s Plunder Pass!

Smugglers’ Heist Event – Thursday, September 18th – Thursday, October 16th

The headline of Act 2 is, of course, the Smuggler’s Heist Event. The Smugglers’ League are asking pirates to procure one of Flameheart’s prized paintings, and brave buccaneers up to the challenge will need to sneak into Royal Crest Fortress and take it from under the bony noses of the Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons charged with its defence. The target painting is worth a stonking 175,000 gold – so it’s a high-stakes heist that promises a plentiful payout for crews participating.

Pirate Emporium Talk Like a Pirate Day Sale – Friday, September 19th – Wednesday, September 24th

To celebrate this key moment on the pirate calendar, you can enjoy Pirate Emporium discounts on some premium piratey wares! The anarchic Stone Islehopper Outlaw set is on offer, as is the Labyrinth Looter set, along with bundles of parrots, weapons and perfectly piratical emotes. The Pretty Polly Sails will also make their traditional time-limited return, so swing by and see what takes your fancy.

Twitch Drops – Friday, September 19th – Friday, September 26th

If you like your cosmetics free instead of deliciously discounted, make sure you tune in to any Sea of Thieves Partner during this week to grab a glorious hoard of items. Watch for six hours total to unlock 75,000 gold, a level of Seasonal Renown, a Voyage of Luck, the Eastern Winds Ruby Blunderbuss, a Gilded Voyage of the Ancient Isles, the Gilded Phoenix Shovel, Amethyst Mercenary Boots and the Mandrake Figurehead.


October is shaping up to be a similarly spicy experience to September, with Act 3’s Sea Fort refresh offering an overhauled take on a well-loved experience. There’ll also be a timely sprinkle of autumnal spookiness on the horizon – but more on that in the next edition of our This Month article. Farewell for now, and we’ll see you on the seas!

The ruby-hued Season 17 Community Weekend is now live until Sep 1st (11am UTC)! Set sail for a free flag and emote, unlock the Ruby Legend Figurehead as a community, boost the Community Emissary Grade multiplier by watching Sea of Thieves on Twitch, earning you boosted gold, reputation, Seasonal Renown, Allegiance and Guild Reputation, and more!

As always, please note that Gold Rush windows are not active during Community Weekends, so you don't need to hoard! As the Community Emissary Grade rises, you'll always be earning the maximum multiplier available whenever you decide to deliver.

Pop-Up Plunder returns, with a twist! Below are the times these loot roulettes will appear, alongside a starting island. These locations will be key to the puzzle, but won't necessarily be the island containing the spot, so we hope you're ready for a race! Good luck...

Want to do something more co-operative? Well, if players complete at least 100,000 World Events over the Weekend, all participants will earn the extra-special Ruby Legend Figurehead! So spot that cloud on the horizon and set your course...

And that's not all: beating those World Events will also unlock two bonus Twitch Drops, the Obsidian Captain’s Table and Obsidian Captain’s Logbook! If unlocked, they'll be available from participating streamers between Sep 5th and 12th (10am UTC), at 90 minutes' watch time each.

Need some Twitch Drops now? Eight rewards are available during this Event, including two suitably ruby cosmetics for Rare Ltd's 40th anniversary! Tune in to any participating Sea of Thieves stream from now until Sep 5th (10am UTC) and earn everything you see below over six hours.

Spot the Deckhand or Quartermaster Sails on the horizon and you could secure spoils! Crews flying these sheets will have Celestial Steed ship items, Obsidian Capstans, Gilded Phoenix Ship's Crests and Six Item Packs to gift to playful pirates throughout the Event.

And that's the line-up for this Event! Time to pose at a Picture Wall, set some goals, get your hands on a haul and make it another Community Weekend to remember. If you need a refresher on anything, it's all here: https://www.seaofthieves.com/community-weekend

As August draws to a close, we’re delighted to share with you a more in-depth look at the shenanigans scheduled to land for Season 17 Community Weekend, taking place from Saturday, August 30th to Monday, September 1st (11am UTC). This Event comes delightfully themed to our studio’s 40th anniversary; the good ship Rare has been sailing for four whole decades, so this particular Community Weekend commemorates our history, as well as offering a couple of cute cosmetics that reflect the ruby-red shine to our celebrations.

For those of you confused about where Season 16’s Community Weekend went, here’s your reminder that as we wrangled the transition to a more predictable Seasonal rhythm of content releases and Events, we had to sadly skip that one to get this Weekend into your hands so early in Season 17. The good news is, this one is here with some extra lovely stuff to make up for the missing Event!

It wouldn’t be a Community Weekend without a suite of goodies shuffled into your inventory, all for the pleasure of popping in for a sail. Log in after 11am UTC on Saturday, August 30th and you’ll bag yourself a beautiful white, red and gold Community Weekend Flag, plus the glorious Rare-themed Paper Cutout Emote. That’s not all on offer, though: if players complete at least 100,000 World Events over the Weekend, all participants will earn the extra-special Ruby Legend Figurehead. Completion of that Community Spirit Goal will also unlock a couple of additional Twitch Drops – but more on that later!

Hopefully most of you know the drill by now, but just in case: to raise the Community Emissary Grade and influence the in-game generosity, pirates just need to watch Sea of Thieves streamers on Twitch, with the total watch time powering Grade progress. So all you need to do is watch any of your favourite content creators within the Sea of Thieves category during the Event period. You can tune into Sea of Thieves Partners, wave hello to our Stream Team, watch a friend or even find a random creator. It doesn’t matter where you watch, as long as you’re watching Sea of Thieves!

Every time the Community Emissary Grade increases, so does the boost to gold, reputation, Seasonal Renown, Allegiance and Guild Reputation for everyone – with the top Grade offering two-and-a-half times the rewards for your work. These multipliers affect High Seas sailors only, so make sure you plan accordingly and prepare to defend your loot from potential pirates looking to steal the fruits of your labour.

Although the real reward from watching our wonderful streamers is the fun you have along the way, you can also swipe a stunning set of Twitch Drops just for tuning in! On offer during the Event will be the Eastern Winds Ruby Pistol and Cutlass, Gilded Phoenix Pocket Watch, Mandrake Sails, a Voyage of Luck, A Legendary Search for Cursed Treasure Voyage, bonus Renown and 75,000 gold.

And going back to that Community Spirit Goal: if a total of 100,000 World Events can be smashed during Community Weekend, then for the following week, the Obsidian Captain’s Table and Obsidian Captain’s Logbook will be made available as bonus Twitch Drops to be unlocked! That’s a serious hoard of lovely, shiny free stuff for players prepared to tune in and watch their fellow pirates sail the seas.

We’ve been crunching some numbers here, and we’re thrilled to see that Pop-Up Plunder remains one of the most popular features introduced in recent times! However, we do like to keep you on your toes, so we’re ready to mix it up a bit and see how you all rise to the challenge. Enter this Community Weekend’s fresh take on Pop-Up Plunder, now featuring – drumroll please – starting islands.

That’s right: for Season 17 Community Weekend, we’re taking the unprecedented step of publishing the Pop-Up Plunder times and accompanying starting locations ahead of the day to support your crews getting closer to the shenanigans once a new dig spot drops. Just scroll down right now to see for yourself!

We will of course still be dropping clues on social media channels at these scheduled times to ensure you've all got a way to work out the specific spot you need to stick your shovel in, although the actual dig may not be on the island mentioned below (it'll make sense on the day). Think of the islands more like the starting grid of a race. Our hope is that more fun will follow if we can push you all a little bit closer together.

The loot’s absolutely worth fighting for too, with a pool of high-value goodies on offer to those who brave the challenge – so start your Pop-Up Plunder strategising now, because things are about to get a little more chaotic!

Alongside Pop-Up Plunder, pirates who set sail over Community Weekend will find Picture Walls at every Outpost, with The Reaper’s Hideout Picture Wall returning too. We want to see all your lovely crew moments captured at these special posing points, so please share them on social and tag us in – not much makes us happier than seeing you and your crews in pride of place in front of our Picture Walls, so we’re counting on you to deliver the goods.

Sailors can also expect to swipe a Community Spirit Firework Crate, free of charge, from their local Merchant Alliance representative over the Weekend. Nothing says “we’re friendly!!” quite like some of these beautiful community-themed fireworks, so make sure you have the box ready for when you bump into other crews. Or not, if you’re planning on sinking them.

If you think you or one of your crewmates are deserving of fame and a particularly fetching blue hat, look no further as our usual #BeMorePirate giveaway gets amped up over Community Weekend! This is an occasion to celebrate amazing artists, players, creators and community MVPs – so as is customary, we’ll be scouring our channels and the #BeMorePirate hashtag for suitably special Sea of Thieves stories, from now until the end of the Event. Worthy winners will be awarded the Hat of Unfeasibly Glorious Fame, so get your submissions in ASAP to see if your antics warrant your pirate’s bonce being crowned with such a special bonnet.

While a lot of these celebratory activities centre around setting sail, at its heart this Event is designed to honour and excite you, our amazing players. So this Community Weekend, we would love for you to share your favourite clips, creators, screenshots and crewmates in celebration of the stories you’ve all experienced on our shores. Sea of Thieves has already accounted for a seven-year slice of Rare’s amazing 40-year history, and we’re proud to be here in 2025 feeling just as excited for its future as we were when it was just a glint in the studio’s eye.

Whether you’re new to Sea of Thieves or thinking about diving in for the very first time, Community Weekend – with its gifts, goals and impeccable vibes – is the perfect opportunity not just to set sail, but to dip your toes in the lovely warm waters of our online community. So come on in! We’re a friendly bunch, promise. Alliance?

Season 17 has begun! And some unfamiliar faces have been spied on remote islands as The Smugglers’ League settle in and begin their hunt for high-value, dangerous prizes.

While they show a surprising appreciation of Fine Art and fragile bottles of even finer rum, the League are also on the hunt for Black Powder Barrels. These devastating delights pack more of a punch than any other explosive on the seas, so you’ll want to be careful about bringing them aboard your own ship.

And there is cargo to be found! A recent run of bad luck has seen several Smugglers’ Shipwrecks left to languish beneath the waves, hiding treasures that can be returned to the League for a comfortable payout.

Season 17 wouldn’t be complete without a host of new Commendations to measure your success! Completing Voyages for the Smugglers and handing in their cargo will help you unlock a wealth of cosmetics to update your pirate’s style.

September and October will bring in Act 2 and Act 3 of Season 17, where there’ll be plenty more Smuggler activity to join in with including a daring Heist and newly fortified Reaper Fortresses. Get a preview of those in the Content Update trailer:

For the more complete rundown of what you can look forward to in the Season, head to the full Season 17 Launch Article. And for even more details in painfully diligent detail that the Merchant Alliance would surely give a small nod of approval, you can read the release notes right here.

The free Rare Ruby Eyepatch is now on offer as a celebratory Sea of Thieves login bonus to mark Rare Ltd's 40th anniversary! Set sail between now and Sea of Thieves' September update to secure your celebratory patch.

There's plenty more to discover with today's update, from a new Plunder Pass and Pirate Profiles in the Emporium to a range of new Outpost cosmetics to splash your gold on, so all that's left is to wish you successful smuggling! We'll see you on the seas...

Season 17 has begun! And some unfamiliar faces have been spied on remote islands as The Smugglers’ League settle in and begin their hunt for high-value, dangerous prizes. They’re open to letting pirate crews help them transport their cargo where it needs to go, and maybe recovering some choice items misplaced along the way. Their true goal, however, remains rather mysterious… but for now, let’s find out what you can expect from this new Season in Sea of Thieves!

These shadowy newcomers have set up shop in secret hideaways across the seas, and they’ve set their sights on some explosive new treasures. While they show a surprising appreciation of Fine Art and fragile bottles of even finer rum, the League are also on the hunt for Black Powder Barrels. These devastating delights pack more of a punch than any other explosive on the seas, so you’ll want to be careful about bringing them aboard your own ship.

As The Smugglers’ League get accustomed to life on the Sea of Thieves, they’re recruiting pirates to ferry some of their precious cargo safely from pick-up point to destination. That means sending crews out on Smugglers’ Route Runs, perilous delivery Voyages along a highly contested route. If you want to make it through unscathed and with the cargo still in your possession, you’ll need to keep a keen eye on that horizon. Elsewhere, find a Message in a Bottle with the Smugglers’ mark and you can set out on other Smugglers’ Runs too, ranging far and wide with some of the most valuable contraband on the seas.

You don’t last long in the smuggling trade by doing business out in the open, so The Smugglers’ League have sought secret spots on the Sea of Thieves to conduct their covert operations. Each of them has established a Smugglers’ Hideout, somewhere out of sight and protected by traps. You’ll have to pinpoint these Hideouts yourself if you want to get to know the League and deliver any cargo you discover on your travels.

And there is cargo to be found! A recent run of bad luck has seen several Smugglers’ Shipwrecks left to languish beneath the waves, hiding treasures that can be returned to the League for a comfortable payout. Some of this wayward cargo has also washed up on beaches for passing ships to spot, while opportunistic Skeleton Ships have been seen to scoop up the rest. Hunt them down and sink them if you want to claim those spoils for yourself…

Surreptitious they may be, but those Smugglers don’t sit still for long. When September and October bring in Act 2 and Act 3 of Season 17, there’ll be plenty more Smuggler activity to join in, including a daring Heist that pits crew against crew to secure some very valuable loot. Those who take part will descend upon Royal Crest Fortress in search of a painting specially requested by an important patron of the League, but remember: you won’t be the only one after the prize! Surviving skirmishes with rival sailors will be crucial to claiming the payout.

In the meantime, Captain Flameheart’s forces are using the distraction offered by the League’s arrival to strengthen their position at the Skeleton Forts. In Act 3 of Season 17, you’ll be able to find the newly fortified Reaper Fortresses under siege from a Phantom fleet. Fight off both sides, and you might just be able to escape with a cache of dangerous loot – provided none of the Fort’s new traps get you first…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhrIsEoPNG0

With so many new additions to the seas, Season 17 wouldn’t be complete without a host of new Commendations to measure your success! Completing Voyages for the Smugglers and handing in their cargo will help you unlock a wealth of cosmetics to update your pirate’s style. For completionists, new achievements (and Trophies) present a tantalising challenge as the potential gamerscore on offer climbs towards a tremendous total…

As always, there are new Pirate Emporium offerings including the dusty outlaw chic of the Riptide Rodeo set, plus of course a new Season means a new Plunder Pass packed with goodies to unlock – this time including the Rare Regalia ship set and clothing, as well as 750 Ancient Coins for spending in the Pirate Emporium.

Whether you pick up the Pass or not, there’s a trove of rewards on offer for climbing 100 more levels of Renown this Season, including items from the Master of the High Seas, Fabled Fins and Faraway Shores sets. To help you earn these time-limited rewards, a new Deed system has been implemented to encourage arrangements with the Smugglers and earn increased Renown by doing so!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7yJNfCsqxEPirate Profiles also arrive this Season, offering a way to access an extra pirate persona without overwriting your existing one. Want to keep your current adventurer firmly on their own path, while embarking on a separate seafaring saga under another pirate identity? Adding a new Pirate Profile will let you do that, splitting your time between two (or three, or more) profiles as you see fit. Swing by the Pirate Emporium and purchase a Pirate Deed if this sounds like something for you!

There are a lot of changes coming to the seas this Season, spaced out to ensure you have something new to discover each month. For a full tour of everything arriving in August, be sure to read through the detailed Season launch release notes, and check out the dedicated Season 17 page – and for more about the features coming in September and October, follow Sea of Thieves on your social media channel of choice to stay in the loop. Until then, we wish you good luck and successful smuggling!

New blood brings new opportunities as The Smugglers’ League settle into the shadows of the Sea of Thieves! To learn more about this Season’s headline features, head over to our dedicated Season 17 page.

The Smugglers’ League

• The Smugglers' League have sailed in from unknown waters and established six Hideouts across the islands of the Sea of Thieves. Visit these new locations to learn more about The Smugglers’ League and cash in Smugglers’ treasure.

Smugglers’ Route Run

• The Smugglers’ League now provide an on-demand Voyage from the Quest Table, tasking crews with covertly transporting dangerous and fragile high-value goods.

• The Smugglers’ Route Run will always direct players down the same treacherous pathway marked on the ship’s map, where other opportunist crews may lie in wait…

Messages in a Bottle

• For the duration of Season 17, any Message in a Bottle discovered outside The Devil's Roar will offer a sneaky Smugglers’ Run along a route hidden from the map, providing lucrative rewards.

Black Powder Barrels

• The Black Powder Barrel is a powerful new explosive item that can be sold to The Smugglers’ League at their Hideouts.

• This barrel is held upright, making it an easier target, but is also reinforced for increased durability. The barrel will show visual signs of damage before it explodes, dealing more damage than a Stronghold Keg and with a considerably wider blast radius.

• Each Black Powder Barrel has a long 10-second fuse, allowing for more devious traps to be laid.

Smuggling Skeleton Ships

• Skeleton Ships have recovered valuable Smugglers’ League treasure items and weapons, and are now stockpiling them on board in addition to their usual rewards.

• Skeleton Ships are now guaranteed to have a Black Powder Barrel aboard, and a high chance of rare items like the exotic rum crates favoured by the Smugglers, Skulls of Siren Sorrow and Ashen Winds Skulls.

• All roaming and ambushing Skeleton Ships encountered on the seas contain these new Smugglers’ League treasures, while the Skeleton Fleet world encounter remains unchanged.

Smugglers’ Shipwrecks

• Crews setting sail may now discover these smuggling vessels sunk while transporting their precious cargo. While these wrecks are rarer than traditional shipwrecks, their rewards are worth the detour!

• Smugglers’ Shipwrecks contain an assortment of high-value treasure in addition to their usual rewards, with unique ship journals that can be returned to The Smugglers’ League and an assortment of weapons including devastating Black Powder Barrels.

• Players diving down to a Smugglers’ Shipwreck will find handy air bubbles throughout the ship to help them while exploring.

• For the duration of Season 17, the Reaper’s Chest and Reaper’s Bounty are now exclusively found within sunken Smugglers’ Shipwrecks and no longer found within the Fort of the Damned.

Smugglers’ Caches

• As some of the Smugglers’ vessels have been lost at sea, caches of their goods have now begun washing ashore on islands. Finding them will reward eagle-eyed crews with various Smuggler treasures and resources.

Reaper’s Bones Rowboats

• These returning Rowboats have been refitted with reinforced Gunpowder Barrels and can also be found with a cannon or harpoon attached. They can be rowed, docked and repaired just like standard Rowboats, but detonate after taking enough damage or when the fuse is lit.

• While now a permanent addition to the seas, these Rowboats will appear more frequently for the duration of Season 17.

Smugglers’ Tide Commendations and Rewards

• A range of new Smuggler Commendations have been added this Season to provide an additional challenge to players. Explore these from the newly rebranded Adventure at Sea Commendation tab in the Pirate Log.

• The Smugglers’ League now offer access to themed clothing and ship rewards along with a range of Trinkets and a mischievous Black Powder Barrel Disguise, unlocked through their Commendations. These items will arrive over the course of Season 17 and can be found in Outpost shops once unlocked.

Season Overview Menu

• A new Season Menu has been introduced, showcasing the new content set to arrive this Season and helping players track their progress and earned rewards.

• The Overview tab breaks the Season into three Acts, highlighting the content coming throughout these three months of updates. Players can view the content, progress and available rewards.

• The Deeds & Rewards tab introduces challenges to complete during each Act. Completing these will earn players a boost to their Season progression along with a few time-limited rewards.

• With this new approach to Seasons, the old Weekly, Monthly and Seasonal Trials and Daily Deeds have now been retired.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhrIsEoPNG0

Another Season means 100 new levels to climb by raising your Renown, with racks full of rewards to snag along the way – and an optional Plunder Pass adding even more!

Season 17 Rewards and Plunder Pass

• Progressing through the 100 levels of Renown in Season 17 will reward players with Master of the High Seas clothing items and unique Season 17 rewards, alongside time-limited Fabled Fins collectibles. Head to the Seasons profile page to browse the new rewards and check your pirate’s progress!

• Pick up a Plunder Pass to gain access to a plethora of additional unlockable cosmetics from the Rare Regalia collection, including a ship set and selection of themed clothing, all individually earned by raising your Renown. The Plunder Pass can be purchased in-game through the Pirate Log or Pirate Emporium, or via the Pirate Emporium webpage or Steam Item Store.

Season 17 Emissary Ledger Rewards

• This Season, the Guild Emissary Ledgers offer the ‘Moonrise Mariners’ Painting, ‘The Unseen Deal’ Ornament and the Guild of Crafty Contrabandists Title to Guilds who represent them well and perform proudly in the Ledgers.

• The Hunter’s Call Emissary Ledger now offers the Call of the Seas Wheel and Cannons along with the Assailant of Treacherous Targets Title. These new rewards are earnable by Hunters representing the Company as Emissaries.

Chest of Fortune

• The Chest of Fortune remains within the Fort of Fortune and crews can now earn the next Grade of the Fortune’s Favour Commendation, unlocking access to the Regal Fortune Lantern, Spyglass, Compass and Bucket.

Reaper’s Chests

• Crews chasing down the tell-tale beacon of the Reaper’s Chest or Reaper’s Bounty can earn the next Grade of the Reaper’s Riches Commendation and start unlocking access to the Regal Fortune Banjo and Drum.

Show off your personal style with purchases from the Pirate Emporium! Pick up exclusive cosmetics such as ship liveries, costumes, weapons, pets and emotes using your Ancient Coins, purchasable with real money. Head to the Pirate Emporium to browse and buy the latest additions!

New Items – Now in Stock!

• Riptide Rodeo Ship Collection and Ship’s Crest

• Riptide Rodeo Weapon Bundle

• Riptide Rodeo Hat, Jacket, Boots and Mask

• Riptide Rodeo Pocket Watch

• Ghostly Curse Alsatian (requires Pirate Legend status)

• Fan the Hammer Emote (free!)

Pirate Profiles

• Players can now purchase additional Pirate Profiles, unlocking access to multiple pirate slots from the Pirate tab in the front-end menu. Each pirate will have their own journey with separate progression, rewards and visual customisation.

• Players can open up these extra profiles by purchasing a Pirate Deed, either from the Pirate Menu or the Pirate Emporium, where bundles of three Deeds can also be purchased at a discount. Once a Deed has been purchased, players can create and customise a new pirate.

• Pirate Appearance Potions can now be used on individual pirates through the Pirate Menu.

Sea of Thieves studio Rare is celebrating 40 years of making games, and the festivities include a range of Ruby-themed cosmetics rolled out for pirate players to pick up in various ways!

Login Bonus

• Players will receive the Rare Ruby Eyepatch for free when arriving on the seas at any time between Season 17 launch day and September 1st.

Outpost Stock

• Appropriately colourful new items are now on offer in the Outpost shops: the Ruby Celebrations Eyeshadow, Lipstick and Makeup along with Red Buckled Boots, Red Sailor Bandana and Red Stitched Shirt.

Pirate Emporium

• Available to buy until the September update, the Ruby Reaper’s Mark Sails put a special anniversary spin on this classic time-limited design.

Microsoft Rewards

• Players can acquire the Rare Ruby Hat as a redeemable item through Microsoft Rewards.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Perks

• Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can get access to the Rare Ruby Emote through the XGPU Perks programme.

Season Ten Legacy Cosmetics

• Cosmetics previously available during Season Ten have arrived in the Outpost shops and can now be purchased with Doubloons!

• Players can purchase the Intrepid Explorer clothing set, plus the Intrepid Explorer Bobbed Hair, Braided Hair and Beard. The Compass of Nuanced Navigation, Spyglass of Skilful Steering and Bucket of Eternal Cooking are also available.

• Pirate Legends can purchase the Larinna Tribute Tattoo.

• The time-limited Gilded Sovereign items, however, remain exclusive to players who participated in Season Ten.

Improved Controller Keybinds

• Players on controller now have the ability to use separate keybinds for a range of actions. These actions can now be customised independently or share a button: Secondary Interact and Swap Weapons, Secondary Interact and Reload, and Primary Interact and Reload.

• These keybinds can be customised in the Controller Settings Menu, with the default remaining as Y on Xbox controller and Triangle on DualSense™ wireless controller, and can be reset to default if changed at any time.

Cross-Region Matchmaking Improvements

• Following the release of Cross-Region Matchmaking in 3.4.1, players now have the choice to opt out of this feature and return to only matchmaking within their home region.

• Players are free to change this setting either in the front-end settings or in-game during a session, and this will take effect when next attempting to matchmake into an experience such as Faction Battles, Voyages, entering the Tunnels of the Damned for Tall Tales or scuttling a ship.

• When playing in a crew, if any player has chosen to opt out of Cross-Region Matchmaking, that will prevent the crew from migrating across regions during their session.

• Support for additional regions has been added in France, South Africa and India, providing lower-latency servers for players in those regions and additional Cross-Region Matchmaking routes for nearby locations.

Performance Improvements

• Following the prior rebuild of the Sloop, Brigantine and Galleon, this update now allows the game client to utilise the system to smooth out how other ships are loaded when approaching them at a distance, stabilising framerates while sailing.

Hit Registration Improvements on Animals

• Players attacking various animals like chickens and pigs with melee attacks will now experience improved hit registration, dealing more consistent damage to targets.

Search for Ancient Secrets Voyage Notifications

• Players who have their Skull of the Banished stolen by a rival crew will no longer be notified with a pop-up notification. This ensures consistency with how stolen items are handled across the wider experience.

The Devil’s Roar Balancing

• Further improvements have been made to volcanoes, ensuring that players caught on an island about to erupt can more predictably plan their escape. After a volcano starts to smoke, the time before it erupts has now been reduced slightly as a result.

Season 17 Community Weekend (August 30th – September 1st)

• Your favourite 48-hour event is back for Season 17! Enjoy free gifts, pose at Picture Walls, solve puzzles as you seek Pop-Up Plunder, and make use of reward boosts thanks to the Community Emissary Grade raised by watching Sea of Thieves streamers on Twitch.

• As a bonus goal to tie in with Rare’s 40th anniversary celebrations, reaching a cumulative community total of World Events completed during Community Weekend will unlock the Ruby Legend Figurehead for everyone.

• Find out more in August’s This Month in Sea of Thieves article, and stay tuned for a full rundown closer to the date!

Gameplay

• Players taking damage soon after healing to full health will no longer find their health bar becomes hidden even though they are not at full health.

• Voyage notes pinned to the ship’s mast now require players to be much closer and facing the note before being able to interact with it, preventing accidental use.

• Skeletons killed by a thrown knife will no longer leave behind an invisible surface that prevents players from attacking enemies behind it.

• Improvements have been made to boarding audio effects to prevent players muffling certain effects when repeatedly attempting to give an item while grabbing the ladder.

• Ships that are beached in shallow waters around islands can now be consistently sunk by rival crews. Once sufficient damage has been dealt to a ship, even if the ship is unable to fill with water, it will be considered sunk and destroyed.

• During a Faction Battle, a ship that is sunk due to heading into the Devil’s Shroud now consistently causes the match to end and loses the encounter.

• Bone piles belonging to the Order of Bone and Blade should no longer appear on lava where they cannot be dug up.

• Ashen Lords in combat will now continue to actively attack players using a nearby cannon.

Followers of the Flame Voyage

• If players are moved to another server during the Followers of the Flame Voyage, the Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons will now continue to behave as expected.

• Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons revived near the dig site will no longer seem to disappear.

Reaper’s Chests Unsealed

• Unsealed Reaper’s Chests and Chests of Bones that have been depleted will no longer show bones inside the chest.

• Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons should no longer start following allied players if the unsealed Reaper’s Chest is not nearby.

Cannon of Rage

• Players approaching a deployed Cannon of Rage will now find the interactions have been repositioned to make the weapon easier to load, fire and retract.

• Retracting a Cannon of Rage no longer causes it to briefly disappear.

• Players joining a session in progress should now see deployed Cannons of Rage in their correct state.

Environment

• Improvements have been made to the environment beneath Skeleton Camps to prevent players from using a Grapple Gun to leave the designated area.

• A range of island improvements have been made to prevent players becoming stuck within the environment.

• Mysterious journals found on Crescent Isle should now all be readable.

Visual and Audio

• Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons now move smoothly when following players or walking while holding weapons.

• When Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons appear, the visual effects now show consistently.

• Dropping a Chest of Bones or Reaper’s Chest no longer causes the audio effect to be heard at extended distances.

• Players will now consistently hear their pirate gasp for breath when resurfacing if they had begun to drown.

• Crews with the Regal Fortune Wheel equipped will now find it appears visually correct after being fully repaired.

• When performing the Grog Shaker Emote, the audio effects can now be heard fully.

• Ancient Phantoms encountered during the Search for Ancient Secrets Voyage should now consistently have audible voiceover when subtitles are shown.

• The image on the Crate of Immaculate Diamonds now appears at the correct orientation when placed on the ground.

• Players wearing the Oyster’s Prize Eyepatch will now find the eyepatch is hidden when performing a disguise.

• Players’ hands will now appear correctly when performing the Target Hide Emote.

Text and Localisation

• ‘The Lair of LeChuck’ – Players using non-English languages will now find interactions on the Headless Monkey are translated.

• ‘Captains of the Damned’ – Captain Jack Sparrow’s subtitles will now be shown fully when speaking.

• ‘Lords of the Sea’ – The voiceover and subtitles shown during this Tall Tale now match correctly.

• Players using replaced gamertags will now see Half-Stew Jean’s name spelled correctly.

• Players using Russian language settings should now find the Dire Dark Warsmith set name has been changed to better differentiate it from the original Dark Warsmith set.

Performance and Stability

• Further improvements have been made to game stability to reduce scenarios where players unexpectedly exit the game or become disconnected from their session.

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.

Download Size:

• Steam: 2.9 GB

Can you believe it’s been a full month since we last stopped by with a round-up? We hardly could, but our calendars insist upon it which means we’ve got a job to do. A lot of big news arrived throughout July, as well as a game update and a bumper Event, so let’s look back at all the things you may have missed in the last few weeks.

No month would be complete without a Sea of Thieves content update, and in July that meant the final update of Season 16, delivering the second Voyage for The Reaper’s Bones – known as Followers of the Flame – along with an Ashen version of the Search for Ancient Secrets. The update also took a second shot at rolling out a rebalance of Kraken activity. Fingers and tentacles crossed that she behaves a little better this time around.

The animosity between the Pirate Lord’s Legends and Captain Flameheart’s Reapers has been on the rise again recently, culminating in two full weeks of chaos in July! During Legends Unleashed, pirates on both sides of the conflict were tasked with completing Goals to earn gold, reputation, Renown and even a few exclusive Trinkets. And, in case that wasn’t quite enough to keep you occupied, the Compass of Chaos saw a new expansion of prompts based on the latest Season 16 content. Never a dull moment!

July began with the usual This Month in Sea of Thieves article, followed by a lengthy unpicking of something new we’ve decided to embark upon in the spirit of openness: the Sea of Thieves Community Direct! After that came the unveiling of Season 16’s Style of Thieves contest categories – and, later, the names of the fashionable pirates sailing away with a win.

Community creativity also came under the spotlight in a #SoTShot round focused on landmarks and a fresh collection of Community Hub entries, this time with a little SoTFest twist. The community spirit isn’t for everyone, though, is it? With so many celebrations taking place, The Reaper’s Bones were quick to remind everyone that their ruthless approach to piracy was the focus of Season 16, with a substantial guide to the ins and outs of their Company. If you’re looking for the lore on these red and black-clothed reavers, look no further!

We led into July’s monthly update with the usual suspects: an episode of Sea of Thieves News to announce what was coming up, a Developer Update from Drew digging into some of the work already going on behind the scenes, and a trailer or two showing off the new arrivals players could expect to enjoy.

It wasn’t all standard fare, however! As mentioned earlier, July saw our very first Community Direct, in which some familiar faces sat down to discuss the current state of Sea of Thieves and everything we want to accomplish in future. Even more information was to follow in our latest official podcast, focused on Season 16. This gave us a chance to clarify some things touched on in the Community Direct, such as how our new approach to Seasons will incorporate permanent changes to the game world, and whether or not Drew was wearing trousers. All in all, a very enlightening watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKQiiI3ElkU
And with that, we’re at the end of July and our latest round-up! If you have a few more seconds to spare, you’re always welcome to come and find us on social media, including Twitter/X, Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Threads and Twitch, as well as the official Forums and Discord! You can drop by to send us any feedback you might have, or just stop in to say hi, provided you maintain a respectful distance from our loot pile. No, genuinely, leave it alone. See you there!

Sea of Thieves Round-Up: June 2025

Sea of Thieves Round-Up: May 2025

Sea of Thieves Round-Up: April 2025

Sea of Thieves Round-Up: March 2025

Sea of Thieves Round-Up: February 2025

Sea of Thieves Round-Up: January 2025

Welcome to another edition of This Month in Sea of Thieves, and August’s turn to take a star turn in the spotlight. It’s a big month for us here at Rare as the studio’s 40th anniversary swings into focus, and we’ve got a ton of seafaring fun to put the wind in your sails and add spice to your sailing sessions!

It’s a packed few weeks, with not just the anniversary celebrations but a new Season and a couple of exciting events too – so let’s not waste any time getting down to details…

Rare’s 40th Anniversary – from Monday, August 4th

The studio turns 40 years old imminently – so to celebrate, we’ve got a boatload of things to share with fans and players. Starting from August 4th, we’ve organised a suite of Ruby-themed gifts and tie-ins!

For Xbox Game Pass Ultimate players, the sparkling Rare Ruby Emote will be available as an XGPU Perk all the way through to October 4th. The roguish Rare Ruby Hat will also be earnable via Microsoft Rewards, and from August 6th there’ll be huge Pirate Emporium discounts on Sea of Thieves sets inspired by classic Rare titles (see full sale info below).

The free Rare Ruby Eyepatch will be on offer as a celebratory Sea of Thieves login bonus starting from the launch of Season 17 on August 14th and running right through to the September update – and a grab bag of new ruby-tinted Outpost stock will be available to pick up with your in-game gold from the same date.

Rare-inspired cosmetics will also be purchasable in a mega-bundle from August 14th, while the glorious Ruby Reaper’s Mark Sails will be made available as a time-limited Pirate Emporium offering. Meanwhile, the optional Season 17 Plunder Pass will allow players to unlock the classically themed Rare Regalia ship set and clothing as they power through those levels of Seasonal Renown!

There’s also more on offer in Season 17’s Rare-themed Community Weekend – but more on that later…

Pirate Emporium Rare Anniversary Sale – Wednesday, August 6th – Monday, August 11th

A major milestone deserves a major sale, so you can expect a huge range of deals to explore in the Pirate Emporium while this one is live! The Emporium has no shortage of ship sets, costumes, weapons and Trinkets inspired by Rare’s games and characters from the last 40 years, and most if not all of them are part of this special sale. From Bear & Bird to Paradise Garden, Night Wulf to Huntress and everything in between, there’s a look here for everyone to enjoy!

‘Smugglers’ Tide’ Release – Friday, August 8th

The official Sea of Thieves soundtrack that’s streamable and downloadable from your choice of music provider gets another of its regular additions, this time the moody signature music from the upcoming Smuggler-driven Season. Check it out from August 8th, ahead of the Season’s launch a little under a week later…

Gold & Glory Weekend – Friday, August 8th – Monday, August 11th

Our boosted rewards Event beckons players in over the second weekend of the month, giving persistent pirates a perfect opportunity to hit level 100 Renown in Season 16 before it ends! Gold, reputation, Allegiance and Renown will all be boosted for the duration of the Event, so make sure you’re heading out on the waves to make the most of these gains.

Season 17 Launch – Thursday, August 14th

Announced at the Xbox Games Showcase back in June, Smugglers’ Tide finally comes to Sea of Thieves’ shores later this month. With explosive Black Powder Barrels, fresh faces to meet and interact with, Smugglers’ Route Runs and new Deeds, Commendations, rewards and treasures, our smuggling-themed Season is all set to offer pirates new ways to make their fortune.

Stay tuned to Sea of Thieves social channels for more information on what’s to come as part of Season 17’s package.

Pirate Profiles Launch – Thursday, August 14th

Also launching alongside Season 17 are Pirate Profiles, which players will be able to pick up from the Pirate Emporium! For those of you who like the idea of having multiple pirate personas to roleplay with – or if you just fancy taking on new challenges with a fresh-faced pirate (and no worries about overwriting your old one) – you’ll find this feature just the thing to help you scratch that itch.

Season 17 Community Weekend – Saturday, August 30th – Monday, September 1st

Remember a few paragraphs ago, when we mentioned the next Community Weekend? Well, that’s all set to happen nice and early in the Season 17 calendar, with rewards and Pop-Up Plunder both themed to our 40th anniversary milestone. As usual, the Community Emissary Grade will be powered by hours of Sea of Thieves watched on Twitch – with a suite of Twitch Drops on offer for folks tuning in. Picture Walls will return to Outposts with a special ruby-red flavour, with one at The Reaper’s Hideout also back in action for the 48 hours of this Event.

Pirates who pop in during the Weekend will receive two glorious login bonuses: the Season 17 Community Weekend Flag and the Paper Cutout Emote. And, if 100,000 World Events are completed during Community Weekend, a special Ruby Legend Figurehead will be unlocked for all participants. It’s set to be a stunning celebration of all things Rare, so make sure to mark the dates in your diary now to avoid disappointment.

And that’s all for August! We hope to see you on the seas in honour of our studio’s milestone anniversary, and our thanks, as always, to those of you who have set sail with us at any stage of this unforgettable journey.