Another year is almost over, both here and on the shores of the Sea of Thieves, where the Festival of Giving is about to get underway! Everyone’s invited to join the festivities in the latest free Sea of Thieves update, available today on Steam.

Brand new Events and fan-favorite Voyages mingle with incentives such as login gifts and Twitch Drops as the festive season sweeps across the seas, from The Shores of Plenty to The Devil’s Roar. And before getting started, you can grab some stats on your piratical performance in 2020 by checking out Your Story So Far!


During the inevitable end-of-year visits to the tavern, Sea of Thieves’ pirates will find Larinna offering two more Voyage options, both returning favorites. Reserved for special occasions, Gilded Voyages come with the promise of seriously boosted bounty, while the explosive Black Powder Stashes have widened their scope to include more recent toys like the Chest of Rage and Ashen Winds Skull.



Meanwhile, in true Festival of Giving spirit, a line-up of time-limited Events will let pirates rake in the riches and a range of cosmetic prizes. In the 12 Deeds of Giving Event running through to January 20, beating Challenges based on a familiar festive song (with a Sea of Thieves twist) grants goodies with a new and effortlessly elegant Eastern Winds Jade theme.

Alongside this, pirates are encouraged to give generosity a go in Plundered Presents, which brings bonus payouts and Gold Hoarder goods in return for gifting treasure to other crews. On December 30 this makes way for Grogmanay, a fiery line-up of half a dozen new Challenges with their own rewards to send pirates roaring into the new year!

Players expecting the Pirate Emporium to be full of wintry wonders this December will be in their element. The latest livery is the Frozen Horizon Ship Collection, with matching weapons also available to buy – so if you claim the Twitch Drops clothing rewards throughout the month and the free Frozen Horizon Tankard just for logging in and playing, you’ll have all the glacial gear you could need!



Glacial also applies to the Curse now afflicting the Inu and Ragamuffin pets in the Emporium, but they don’t seem too bothered by the drop in body temperature and are perfectly cool with being pirate sidekicks. There are Festival of Giving outfits for pets of all shapes and sizes – a seasonal collection that also includes weapons and emotes – while the Bonechiller Costume offers a much darker twist with the chance to cosplay as a creepy, crimson-clothed Skeleton Lord. And as the end of the year approaches, you can light up the seas with fireworks courtesy of the brand new Cannon Flare options!


For more information on the Festival of Giving update, including full release notes, visit the Sea of Thieves website. The update is available for free to all Sea of Thieves players who have bought the game on Steam, simply download and install the latest Sea of Thieves update to get access.

New to Sea of Thieves? Join the fun with our Maiden Voyage, a narrative-driven tutorial experience. New players will begin their travels within this scenario – and more tips can be picked up from our online Pirate Academy, which provides invaluable information on topics ranging from sailing to swordplay. Learn more about Sea of Thieves at https://www.xbox.com/seaofthieves, or join the ongoing adventure at https://www.seaofthieves.com/ where you can embark on an epic journey with one of gaming’s most welcoming communities!

From November 26 to December 1, players can purchase Sea of Thieves on Steam at a 25% discount, and will also receive a number of glorious gifts along with the game. This time-limited bundle includes a set of feast-themed musical instruments based around the game’s Festival of Plenty and a golden Reaper’s Heart weapon set to show your affection, pirate-style!



A Cloudy Capuchin pet is also invited to the party as part of the bundle, along with a suitable Capuchin Outfit of Plenty to wear. Additionally, you’ll receive 550 Ancient Coins to spend in the Pirate Emporium, a place where premium outfits and weapons, pet costumes and much more are available to purchase. Plenty of reasons to celebrate with family and friends on the Sea of Thieves!

As we approach the end of a strange year, we as a team are proud of the amount of free content rolled out to all Sea of Thieves players in 2020 despite all the changes and challenges of remote working. To continue to deliver on this throughout the year has been testament to the team spirit and culture we have here, and the way everyone on the team has supported each other throughout it all has made me even more proud to be a part of Team Rare.

We’ve been busy with more than the regular updates you’ve already experienced: we’re hard at work behind the scenes on some significant changes that will lead us into 2021, with plans in motion for how we continue supporting the game and some major news still to come. Sea of Thieves isn’t slowing down any time soon.

However, it does mean that we’ve had to slightly rethink our end-of-year updates to lay some groundwork and allow us to focus on things beyond the immediate future. So November’s update is more of a quality of life update, largely focused on bug fixes and improving the core Sea of Thieves experience for all players. However, we’ve made sure there’s still plenty to do in terms of events and in-game activities, extending some events and building on the success of others, while the Pirate Emporium team have also restocked the shelves with more of the endlessly creative things they’ve been working on.

The progression of weekly Challenges and Voyages throughout the Fate of the Damned update led to a point where all Challenges and Voyages were unlocked and available, so those will stay in the game until December 9th for players to embark upon and earn rewards including Soulflame weapons and gear. Talk to Larinna at the tavern or visit the Fate of the Damned Event page for details on what you can get and how to get it!

If you enjoyed September’s Vault of the Ancients update, you’ll be pleased to know we’ve continued to add to that, and The Devil’s Roar region has now joined the list of possible Treasure Vault locations. So one of those Voyages picked up from the Gold Hoarders could now be made even more epic by superheated seas and fire from the sky! And if you tackle a Treasure Vault Voyage over Thanksgiving, you could get rich quick as that’s when we’ll be running the next Gold & Glory Weekend, with double gold and reputation on offer for all treasure handed in.



November’s Emporium update puts the Fightin’ Frogs Ship Set up for anyone to buy, if they haven’t already earned it by playing through Act I of the new Battletoads. Joining it are our latest unique pets, The Hunter’s Call Forager Parrot and Monkey – but we couldn’t overlook the other pets, so there are also Bone Crusher Outfits available for all species including cats and dogs. The popular Festival of Plenty pet outfits and musical instruments make a return to mark this time of year. Meanwhile, players always looking for new ways to express themselves should enjoy the all-in-one Varied Weapon Pose Emote, along with new Barrel Emotes and the Fightin’ Frogs Flex Emote that we’re making available as a freebie for everyone.

So even with a lighter update than usual, there’s still plenty to get your teeth into! Full release notes will accompany the update as usual on Wednesday November 18th, so you can see everything that’s new and all the latest performance and quality of life fixes, while the Pirate Emporium and Events Hub pages will be brought right up to date.

We hope you enjoy it, and also hope you’re looking forward to the end-of-year celebrations and Sea of Thieves’ next stage of adventure that lies beyond. We’ve got a special edition of SoT News coming in the next few weeks that will talk about the December update, and we’ll also be talking about our plans heading into the new year. We have some significant and exciting changes coming as we move into what’s likely to be Sea of Thieves’ biggest year yet, and we’re excited to share our thoughts with you all soon!

As the nights draw in and pumpkins pop up in unexpected places, it’s time for Sea of Thieves to celebrate the scariest of seasons with its latest free update, available today to all Sea of Thieves players on Steam.

This year, pirates will be dealing with a sudden influx of dangerous enemies known as Shadows of Fate – a tricky type of skeleton normally confined to the Fort of the Damned. Working together with the Bilge Rats, players will uncover the story behind this emerging threat as it unfolds week by week, carrying crews into different regions of the seas.


Nowhere is completely safe during the Fate of the Damned update, as an advancing threat spreads across the seas. Pirates will receive Mysterious Notes before they set out on their adventures, urging them to speak with Larinna outside the tavern to find out what she’s learned, as well as which regions are being menaced by the Shadows of Fate that week – and those places are likely to be a hive of piratical activity, encouraging crews to plan their adventures accordingly.



Larinna will also be offering free Voyages that send players in search of her missing Bilge Rat crews, a task that guarantees some spectral scuffles along the way. Luckily, these same Voyages will give players the knowledge and tools to find the light that can banish the Shadows of Fate. The Ferryman aboard the Ferry of the Damned will also offer advice on how pirates might best defend themselves.


Players who choose to help turn the tide against this invading enemy, or who gather Flames of Fate to celebrate the Sea of Thieves’ traditional Festival of the Damned at this time of year, will find their efforts rewarded in the Fate of the Damned Event that forms part of this update. New Challenges will be unveiled as the Event progresses, each containing a number of varied Goals for pirates to tackle.



As more Goals are completed, new rewards will be made available, including the striking Soulflame weapons and lantern. Pirate Legends who go the extra mile and complete all Challenges will find they have access to the envy-inducing Soulflame Crew Set, available to them and anyone who’s currently sailing aboard their ship!

Last year’s spooky Fort of the Damned update saw a Skeleton Parrot and Monkey find their way into the Pirate Emporium – and not to be outdone, a Skeleton Cat and Dog have just arrived in search of loving owners who don’t mind their pets being a bit on the skinny side. They’re just as loyal as their flesh-and-blood friends, and guaranteed not to leave hair all over the furniture.



Elsewhere in the Emporium, the Soulflame Ship Set is ready to light up the seas with an eerie glow that captures the ethereal essence of the Well of Fates. If you prefer to travel by firelight, you can also acquire the free, irreverent Lantern Dance Emote that helps lighten even the gloomiest moments. Speaking of emotes, there’s a new set that allows your pirate to play the fool courtesy of a skeleton arm that’s a lot less dead than it should be, plus fear-inducing facepaints and plenty more.


For more information on the Fate of the Damned update, including full release notes, visit the Sea of Thieves website. The update is available for free to all Sea of Thieves players who have bought the game on Steam, simply download and install the latest Sea of Thieves update to get access.

New to Sea of Thieves? Join the fun with our Maiden Voyage, a narrative-driven tutorial experience. New players will begin their travels within this scenario – and more tips can be picked up from our online Pirate Academy, which provides invaluable information on topics ranging from sailing to swordplay. Learn more about Sea of Thieves at https://www.xbox.com/seaofthieves, or join the ongoing adventure at https://www.seaofthieves.com/ where you can embark on an epic journey with one of gaming’s most welcoming communities!

The Gold Hoarders will pay their Emissaries extra gold for any loot, but beware - the Reaper's Bones will also be offering their Emissaries much more for any Gold Hoarders' Emissary flags, and their reward will get more generous with each passing week…

[This event takes place every Friday, 00:00–23:59 UTC]

Here we are again, approaching that most important day of the year for pirate enthusiasts worldwide! With Sea of Thieves recently passing 15 million players, we’ve got a lot of pirates to cater to, from grizzled veterans to fresh-faced rookies and every kind of adventurer in between. So this year we’ve gone all out with different ways to celebrate talking, playing, flaunting and fighting like a pirate!

On Talk Like a Pirate Day itself, all our players will be able to scoop double the usual gold and reputation gains when handing in treasure thanks to the latest Sea of Thieves Gold & Glory Weekend, running from September 18-21. Haven’t actually got the game yet? Grab it at a discount in the sale that runs September 17-21 on Steam. There's no better time to invite your friends to the Sea of Thieves!



If you’re a relative newcomer to the seas, we’ve got you covered this year. Not only do we have a refreshed version of our Everything You Need To Know About Sea of Thieves video coming up on our YouTube channel before the big day, we’re also polishing the first batch of explanatory articles for our new Pirate Academy, where Sea of Thieves characters break down the basics and offer their wisdom on how to set yourself up for a long and successful seafaring life. Look out for those on the Sea of Thieves website soon. In the meantime, if you’ve yet to pick a Trading Company to align with for your early Voyages, we’ve put together a Pirate Personality Quiz to help you find out where your priorities match up!



Already fully invested and out there on the seas seeking treasure? In addition to Gold & Glory Weekend there’ll be a new round of Twitch Drops, this time offering an opportunity to pick up the Ancestral Ship Set inspired by Ori and the Will of the Wisps. Kicking off on Talk Like a Pirate Day, this runs from September 19-24 and offers different ship parts each day just for spending some time watching Sea of Thieves Partnered streamers. Meanwhile, any players who’ve been enjoying the ever-growing soundtrack selection available on streaming and download services will be pleased to hear that Becalmed – Seafarer’s Song, a new vocal version of that much-loved ocean melody, will join the tracklist on September 18.



So yes, there’s a lot going on around Talk Like a Pirate Day this year! Join our crew on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube for more pirate fun and games, and however you celebrate, make sure you celebrate with Sea of Thieves!

For more information on the latest free content update, Vaults of the Ancients, visit the Sea of Thieves website. The update is available for free to all Sea of Thieves players who have bought the game on Xbox One, on Windows 10 PC or via Steam. Simply download and install the latest Sea of Thieves update to get access.

New to Sea of Thieves? Join the fun with our Maiden Voyage, a narrative-driven tutorial experience. New players will begin their travels within this scenario, which provides guidance and information to fledgling sailors. Learn more about Sea of Thieves at https://www.xbox.com/seaofthieves, or join the ongoing adventure at https://www.seaofthieves.com/ where you can embark on an epic journey with one of gaming’s most welcoming communities!

It’s time for the focus to swing back to Sea of Thieves’ original Trading Company, the Gold Hoarders, in the latest free update available today to all Sea of Thieves players across Xbox One, Windows 10 PC, and Steam. Vaults of the Ancients brings in a new Voyage type as players are tasked with tracking down well-hidden keys to the Gold Hoarders’ top secret Treasure Vaults – but will these Vault Keys be safely returned, or will pirates do what they do best and claim the gold as their own?


The perilous Puzzle Vaults built in a bygone age have more recently been repurposed by the Gold Hoarders, turned into Treasure Vaults for their ever-expanding wealth. But Captain Flameheart’s continued rise to power threatens the security of these safehouses, and the Hoarders need to reclaim the keys they once went to great lengths to hide.



Take on a Treasure Vault Voyage from the Gold Hoarders’ representative at your nearest Outpost, and you’ll be given a Golden Wayfinder compass – this will help you find the pieces of the map to the hidden Vault Key. Once you have the key, the choice is yours: do you deliver it into the hands of the Gold Hoarders and claim your reward? Or risk using it to unlock the Treasure Vault, where you have a chance to gather up even greater riches and escape before the built-in traps take you out?

If you haven’t reached a high enough rank to be trusted by the Gold Hoarders but think you’re up to tackling a Treasure Vault regardless, speak to new arrival Larinna at the tavern where she’s taking over from Duke as the public face of the Bilge Rats.




The Pirate Emporium is a whirl of activity this month as three different breeds of dog come bounding in, all looking for new pirate owners! Pick up an Alsatian, a Whippet or an Inu with a coat pattern of your choice, and keep this honorary crew member at your side as you set sail for adventure. The dogs of the Sea of Thieves are mostly ship-trained, but as your deck’s constantly getting washed clean by rain and seawater anyway, don’t worry about it too much. If you’re one of those pirates who likes everything to be co-ordinated, you can even kit out your new canine sidekick in a suitable seafaring outfit!



Also new to the Emporium is a fearsome ship livery for anyone who missed the chance to start collecting it in our recent Hunters of the Deep event: the Shrouded Ghost Hunter Ship Set! Prove to all others on the ocean that you will not rest until you’ve clashed with this fabled beast and lived to tell the tale.


For more information on the Vaults of the Ancients update, including full release notes, visit the Sea of Thieves website. The update is available for free to all Sea of Thieves players who have bought the game on Steam, simply download and install the latest Sea of Thieves update to get access.

New to Sea of Thieves? Join the fun with our Maiden Voyage, a narrative-driven tutorial experience. New players will begin their travels within this scenario, which provides guidance and information to fledgling sailors. Learn more about Sea of Thieves at https://www.xbox.com/seaofthieves, or join the ongoing adventure at https://www.seaofthieves.com/ where you can embark on an epic journey with one of gaming’s most welcoming communities!

For those of you who were planning to get away for the summer, but had your plans scuppered by our collective situation – don’t worry, there’s a whole other world for you to explore from the safety of your sofa! If you’re stuck on land with nowhere to go, the ‘Summer of Sea of Thieves’ event kicks off today, inviting you to dive in and take a challenge-driven tour of our beautiful ocean regions.

From meeting the local pirate populace to attempting explosive aerobatics, this event serves up 10 challenge sets, each containing four goals, plus one more for Pirate Legends with some special tasks to tackle! You’ll have until the event ends on September 30 to pick and choose which of the wildly varied goals you want to complete, based on your play style and the rewards on offer.

There are glittering piles of gold and Doubloons up for grabs, plus rare cosmetics and player Titles – including a highly prized ‘Legend of the Sun’ Title to be bagged by those heroes who fully commit to this event’s adventurous antics and risky requests.

To find out more about the ‘Summer of Sea of Thieves’ in-game event, watch our handy video then head to the Events Hub to check out the challenges!



It’s not just your in-game summer experience that we’re aiming to improve: thanks to a new summer-themed set of merchandise soon to land in the official Sea of Thieves store, you’ll be able to enjoy the sunshine in true pirate fashion. Deckchairs and towels will be on offer for those of you who want to sunbathe in style, and you’ll even be able to keep hydrated with your very own Sea of Thieves water bottle.

Head to the Sea of Thieves store later to this month to pick up the first of your pirate poolside accessories, and make sure you’re quick about it! Wouldn’t want things to get salty if you miss out…




For more information on the ‘Summer of Sea of Thieves’ event, including the full roster of challenges, please visit the Events Hub on the Sea of Thieves website. The event is available for free to all Sea of Thieves players who have bought the game on Xbox One, on Windows 10 PC or via Steam, or players who have access to it with Xbox Game Pass. Simply download and install the latest Sea of Thieves update to take part.

New to Sea of Thieves? Join the fun with our Maiden Voyage, a narrative-driven tutorial experience. New players will begin their travels within this scenario, which provides guidance and information to fledgling sailors. Learn more about Sea of Thieves at https://www.xbox.com/seaofthieves, or join the ongoing adventure at https://www.seaofthieves.com/ where you can embark on an epic journey with one of gaming’s most welcoming communities!

Hi everyone, I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe. I wanted to share an update on Sea of Thieves plans as we head towards our next update, coming August 19th.

As we came off the back of our July release, we had an opportunity to assess our planned set of features for August – and it quickly became apparent that everything was coming in a little hot.

Since we started working from home, we’ve definitely had to be a bit more flexible with our plans for each month, and as such we’ve decided to move our key planned features back to our September release.

Because of this, tomorrow’s update focuses on a range of bug fixes and quality of life improvements while rolling out a series of live events to mark the Summer of Sea of Thieves. There will not be a Pirate Emporium refresh as part of this update.

Keep your eyes on our Sea of Thieves channels to learn more about the live events on their way, and remember you can always check the Sea of Thieves Events Hub for the latest live events and Daily Bounties to tackle.

Thanks to everyone for their understanding and ongoing support as we continue to work through this unique situation. We have seen so many players, both new and old, head to the Sea of Thieves over the summer, and we continue to love hearing about all your stories and adventures.

As always, see you on the seas!

- Joe “Three Sheets” Neate

This month’s Sea of Thieves content is being served up hot – literally! Captain Flameheart’s manipulation of Stitcher Jim, Duke and countless other pirates on the seas has finally granted him the knowledge and resources he needs to transform some of his most trusted underlings into Ashen Lords. This July, pirates are tasked with taking down a fearsome foursome in Sea of Thieves’ latest monthly update Ashen Winds, available today for all Sea of Thieves players across Xbox One, Windows 10 PC, Steam and with Xbox Game Pass.




July’s update centers on the rise of the Ashen Lords: four of Flameheart’s followers boosted by the blistering energy of the Ashen Curse, leaving them capable of causing huge destruction. These powerful skeletal foes have emerged across the Sea of Thieves and will strike back with fire, ash and flaming rocks at any pirates who dare to challenge them. The Ashen Lords have distinct personalities and different abilities to anything else seen on the seas, so seafarers must stay sharp at all times to ensure their defeat.

These emergent enemies will appear on islands indicated on the horizon by a raging tornado cloud, and will remain on the Sea of Thieves as a permanent threat to pirates. The Ashen Lords’ fires are far from burning out, and their hot-headed ways are set to rain fiery terror down on players for months to come!




In combat, an Ashen Lord can spit flame at its opponents – but even after defeat, it’s rumoured that the Ashen Winds Skull left behind is potent enough to use as a deadly weapon. Take the cursed cranium and aim it at your enemies to use its fire for your own purposes, but be warned: constant use will drain its power, and reduce its substantial value to the Order of Souls. So if it’s the gold and reputation you’re after, a little restraint will go a long way. If not… fire at will!


In a continued push to open the seas to everyone, more accessibility options are being added to Sea of Thieves this month. The most notable is support for play with a single analog stick, where players can opt to, well, play with just a single analog stick. All ship, pirate and menu controls are moved to your stick of choice, allowing anyone not comfortable with a traditional controller to reduce the number of held inputs required to set sail.

In addition there’s a new auto-centering camera option that ensures it always tends towards the horizon, and an auto-float mode to keep pirates with a dislike of the watery depths bobbing on the surface in a virtual lifejacket. With the number of options in the menu, there’s also a handy button to reset all accessibility options to their default state.


Ashen Curse pets are sizzling onto the scene with July’s update, and these charmingly charred critters are joined in the Emporium by new roleplay emotes for your pirates, based on the mannerisms of some of your favorite Sea of Thieves characters. If you’ve ever wanted to prop up the bar just like Duke or delve deeper into roleplaying as a Trading Company Emissary, you’re in luck.



Meanwhile, if you’ve been hankering to dress your four-legged friend in something that reminds you of your many-tentacled enemies, look no further: Kraken cat outfits have reached the Emporium, so your cute kitty can trot about in a dapper new outfit inspired by a terrible behemoth!

There’s also a sale coming to the ship livery aisle of the Pirate Emporium, with a range of Rare-inspired ship bundles (paying tribute to games as diverse as Banjo-Kazooie, Viva Piñata and Perfect Dark) getting a sweet 35% discount to mark Rare’s 35th anniversary. Check out the Pirate Emporium page for all your window shopping needs.


For more information on the Ashen Winds update, including full release notes, visit the Sea of Thieves website. The update is available for free to all Sea of Thieves players who have bought the game on Xbox One, on Windows 10 PC or via Steam, or players who have access to it with Xbox Game Pass. Simply download and install the latest Sea of Thieves update to get access.

New to Sea of Thieves? Join the fun with our Maiden Voyage, a narrative-driven tutorial experience separate from Adventure and Arena modes. New Sea of Thieves players will begin their travels within this scenario, which provides guidance and information to fledgling sailors. Learn more about Sea of Thieves at https://www.xbox.com/seaofthieves, or join the ongoing adventure at https://www.seaofthieves.com/ where you can embark on an epic journey with one of gaming’s most welcoming communities!