Welcome to 2023! Would you believe it’s already been over a month since the start of the new year? Well, turns out it has because we’re back with another round-up of all the goings-on and happenings of January, all together in one convenient place. If you’d thought we’d have a quiet few weeks after the holiday break excitement then you couldn’t be more wrong. Let’s get into it…

The big event in January was, of course, our latest time-limited Adventure. ‘The Secret Wilds’ had players following in the footsteps of Captain Briggsy as her memories took form throughout The Wilds and beyond. Using her old mask, now imbued with mystical powers by Madame Olivia, pirates were able to find shapes in the stars and uncover the legend of a cure to the curse that afflicts Tasha. Whether or not those efforts will succeed remains to be seen…

The new year also meant new fashions, and the Pirate Emporium was ready to oblige. The latest collection to charge onto the scene was the Labyrinth Looter set, taking its cue from a monstrous creature of myth. Meanwhile, the Pocket Pebble Emote granted players a singularly sturdy new pet and the Oar-Inspiring Emote Bundle showed off the multifunctionality of your favourite Rowboat accessory. Throw in the usual free monthly emote silently beckoning you over and it was a good month to pad out your emote radial.

That wasn’t all for January, with the Battle for the Sea of Thieves introduced at the start of Season Eight also getting a brace of updates and improvements. See the release notes for the full story!


You’re likely familiar with the drill by now: with a new Adventure to explore, there was, of course, an Adventures Ahead article to catch you up to speed on the story so far. This time we were delving into the hidden power of Briggsy’s mask and the history behind the Skeleton Curse.

In community news, we wasted no time in getting back to our ongoing series of Spotlights. First in line was a Community Spotlight on illustrious illustrator Shabby to talk about how Sea of Thieves has helped to inspire his artwork; then, towards the end of the month, a new Creator Spotlight centered on the famously hirsute Beardageddon, discussing how he came to the Sea of Thieves and relaying some of his favourite memories from the game.

January also saw a host of new entries into the Community Hub, including a suitably wintry festive ship design and a mind-boggling trick of perspective. Meanwhile, the Rare Store celebrated Lunar New Year with a selection of Year of the Rabbit goodies, while snack lovers were offered another way to pick up some striking new ship parts!



After the excitement of Grogmanay finished off the Festival of Giving for another year, we started looking ahead at what’s coming with 2023’s first instalment of Sea of Thieves News – hosted by a new face too, in keeping with this season of new beginnings.

Anyone looking to fill out their Eastern Winds Sapphire collection will have enjoyed January’s Twitch Drops, with the entire ship set – and a bonus tankard – available to anyone who tuned in to Partnered Sea of Thieves streamers. On the other hand, if you’re more into listening to things than watching them, don’t forget to check out the newly released ‘Factions of Fate’ soundtrack addition for all your battle music needs.

Closing out the month, we took the opportunity to welcome new and returning players to the sea with 10 Things You Need To Know about Sea of Thieves in 2023 before setting sail. You wouldn’t think you could cram all that information into seven minutes or less, but pirates can be sneaky like that.


We came into the new year fighting fit and looking for a battle cry to match. With the Battle for the Sea of Thieves raging on, starting a fight is easier than ever, so it’s good to have a few lined up whenever you weigh anchor!

In less combative news, players remembered the revelries of Grogmanay with the first #SoTShot competition of the year. Under the Pirate Party theme, players across the sea got creative with fireworks and festivities, leading to a submissions folder overflowing with colourful scenes and joyous celebrations before the focus moved on to recreating Movie Moments.

The Festival of Giving didn’t slow down construction of our new port town – pirate builders being surprisingly work-conscious – so we took a look back on how far Golden Sands has come and even revealed a few new secrets you might not have found. Out on the water, we paused in taking advantage of reduced price crates to have a brief crisis about the deck layout of our Sloop. Fortunately we just had to look at some frogs to calm ourselves down, and from there we moved on to intriguing history lessons delivered by #TriviaTuesday and exploration by way of #SundayVibes.



All of which brings us now to February! January was obviously just the start of what we’ve got planned for 2023, so keep your ears open to get all the news as it comes. To make sure you don’t miss anything, be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube or Twitch, or join the official Forums or Discord. See you there! Or here! Or everywhere!

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Sea of Thieves Round-Up: December 2022

Season Seven saw the latest creative contest swing onto the seas, and our crew and community alike delighted in a stream of stylish screenshots and clever clothing combos, with the prestigious Fashionista’s Finery Gloves being awarded to all the top scoundrel stylists who impressed us.

Of course, as Season Seven was the first iteration of the contest, we were eager to see how things went – and while some elements worked well and resulted in a colourful catwalk of costume creations, it was clear that we needed to take other parts back to the workshop for alterations. After some internal conversation, we're now pleased to present the latest rendition of rules for the next Style of Thieves contest.

Some things will stay the same while others will be changing, so make sure you read the rundown carefully if you’re planning on strutting your stuff for Season Eight!


Image credit: @Taaaaamas on Twitter

Just like last time, there will be three stages:

Theme Announcement

Four new themes will be revealed, ready for you to begin raiding your stash and planning your pose. We recommend starting to secure those shots once the categories are announced; you’ll only be given 24 hours to submit your screens for each theme!

Post Your Pics!

Along with the theme announcement, you’ll be given a date for each category’s submissions to be entered, each staying open for just 24 hours. Make sure you share your screenshot by tagging @SeaOfThieves and #StyleOfThieves on Twitter, @SeaOfThievesGame on Instagram, posting your submission as a reply to the theme post on Facebook, or through the #pirate-fashion channel in the official Sea of Thieves Discord. Be sure to include the name of the theme you’re entering in your post.

Winner Selection

The biggest change compared to our first season is that the shortlisting and winner selection will all happen internally. Our crew, including special guest judges from our Art team, will whittle down the entries to their most fashionable favourites. With three top model marauders per category, a total of 12 pairs of the glorious Fashionista’s Finery Gloves will be awarded at the end of the season’s contest.


Image credit: @SirSwizy on Twitter

How to Wow

We’ve put together some handy hints and rules for composing the perfect shot:

• No Costumes on the catwalk - we want to see your creativity and individuality, so no all-in-one Costumes, and avoid complete cosmetic sets.
  
• Unless a theme calls for it, all shots should be solo snaps, no crews. Only the pirate in the picture will be eligible for the prize.
  
• Find a simple or plain background to pose against to let your outfit pop. Backgrounds and locations will not be counted as adding to the theme.
  
• Lighting is key, so find a well-lit spot to fully show off your picks – any coloured or tactical lighting won’t be considered as part of the outfit.
  
• Toggle off your HUD for that clean finish!
  
• Screenshots should be true to the game – no editing or filters.
  
• Keep your submissions to a 16:9 ratio to help us when framing the winners.
  
• While emotes are allowed, any features added to the costume via the emote won’t be taken into consideration during judging.
  
• One shortlist will be compiled per theme, using entries across all platforms, meaning it’s not necessary to post your submission to all channels. If you make sure you use the correct tags, we will see it!

Image credit: @Sailors_Bounty on Twitter

That’s everything you need to know ahead of Season Eight’s Style of Thieves contest. Keep your spyglass trained on our social channels and this very website for the upcoming theme reveals and submission dates!

While it might be a little too late to wish you all a Happy New Year, we can definitely wish you a Happy February – and with it, the arrival of another Sea of Thieves Community Day. This Valentine’s Day-tinted community celebration is one to slink straight into your sailing schedules, with the proceedings kicking off at 10am UTC on Saturday, February 11th and lasting a full 24 hours.

While Season Eight’s brilliant new Battle for the Sea of Thieves feature might be a little bit fighty, we’ve carved out this day as a special 24 hours of showing you, our amazing community, some love. And how are we going to do that, you may ask? Well, we’re about to tell you. Let’s get into it…

Hopefully you all know the drill by now, but if you don’t, allow us to recap. The beauty of Community Day is that we put in-game rewards in your hands and give you the opportunity to collectively boost the Community Emissary Grade via Twitter. Simply by tweeting #SeaOfThievesCommunityDay after the 10am UTC kickoff, you’ll play your part in raising the in-game boosts being awarded.

There are five Community Emissary Grades to work through on the day, with the top Grade giving everyone two-and-a-half-times the regular amount of gold, reputation and Seasonal Renown for handing in hard-earned treasure. Better still, if you're also sailing as an Emissary for one of the Trading Companies, this multiplier stacks with any boosts accrued there too!

As with our last Community Day, the usual Gold Rush periods will be switched off for the duration of the day – so once that fifth Community Emissary Grade is unlocked, you can hand in loot for maximum value whenever you want.

With Renown also subject to this scaling multiplier, keen corsairs who’ve yet to hit the heady heights of level 100 in Season Eight have it all to gain from this Community Day celebration. There’ll also be a generous fixed boost to Allegiance, giving players a great opportunity to accelerate their Faction progress towards either one (or both) of Sea of Thieves’ newest Curses.


As is traditional, Season Eight Community Day comes with a couple of in-game gifts. For the romantic and pastel-persuaded among you, this event’s flag bears beautiful pink and purple hues. Collect your flag simply by logging in during the 24-hour Community Day period – and don’t forget to flap it in your crewmates’ directions to make sure they know you love them (not a euphemism).

Logging in during Season Eight’s Community Day will also bless your inventories with a second bonus: the top-drawer Scorecard Emote, allowing you to playfully rate your crew or any other passer-by on their piratical performance. Except the number on the card is chosen at random, so it’s a little bit of a lottery as to whether you’ll declare love or war. Best have a blunderbomb at the ready just in case…

These aren’t the only items you can score for your inventories this Community Day: tune in to any participating Sea of Thieves streamer for a couple of hours to bag yourself the Celestial Steed Sails (coincidentally, a perfect sail to complement the Community Day Flag) and the Ebon Flintlock. These Twitch Drops will be active from 10am UTC on February 11th alongside all our other activity, and run for 24 hours – so don’t forget to nip over to Twitch and support your favourite creator for a while.



From Saturday, February 11th to Wednesday, February 15th (both 10am UTC), swing by the Pirate Emporium to peruse an assortment of lovey-dovey items all under the spell of our Delightful Discount Sale. Fan favourites such as the Reaper’s Heart Pets and matching weapons will have their price slashed for the duration of the sale, and a whole host of romantic emotes will also be up for grabs at a discounted cost of Ancient Coins.

It’s not just the vendors of the Sea of Thieves who are all in on making sure you bag a bargain, either – most Sea of Thieves-themed items on the Rare merchandise store will be eligible for a nifty 30% discount for the duration of Community Day, to any thrifty shopper using the COMMUNITYDAY discount code at the checkout. We’ve got everything a pirate might need to gift their loved one this Valentine’s Day, so if you’re ready to lay all your cards on the table to a secret love, we can help you with the cards (as well as the table).

Extra-special event swag will also be gracing the store’s aisles, as for one day only (Community Day, unsurprisingly) an actual Community Day T-shirt and Flag will be available to purchase. You’ll need to be the speediest of shoppers to ensure you secure these time-limited items.

Our #BeMorePirate rampage returns for the latest Community Day, so make sure you’re sharing the love with your favourite friends and crewmates! It’s a day to celebrate our amazing artists, players, creators and community MVPs – so we’ll be scouring our channels and the #BeMorePirate hashtag for amazing Sea of Thieves stories, from now until the end of the big day.

Worthy winners will be awarded the Hat of Unfeasibly Glorious Fame, so get your submissions in soon to see if your antics warrant your (or your nominee’s) pirate’s head being graced with one of the sea’s most coveted caps.



Fiery-hearted fashionistas will be thrilled to hear that this Season’s Style of Thieves competition will be coming soon to a screen near you. Season Eight Community Day will unveil the theme list and submission dates, so all debonair corsairs keen to play dress-up can expect the latest rules of engagement come February 11th.

Keep your eyes peeled on our Sea of Thieves News page for the latest on the competition – and in the meantime, make sure your pirate’s wardrobe is well stocked for the challenge. After all, there’s a set of super-special gloves on offer for those who make the cut.

Season Eight Community Day will also see the triumphant return of the Rare crew streaming from the Tavern! From 10am UTC, you’ll be able to watch as some familiar friendly faces tackle special Community Day challenges, and generally embrace the chaos involved when a bunch of folks sneak into Rare HQ on a Saturday for shenanigans. The aforementioned Twitch Drops will of course be active on this stream, and if you’re lucky, you might even see another surprise or two during the broadcast…

It's set to be a wildly entertaining session, so swing by and say hello to our pirate crew if you find the time – we promise to do some fun shout-outs on air too!



Whether this is your first or your fourth Community Day, these events are all about celebrating every pirate who chooses to spend time on our seas. While there is an outrageous amount of gold, glory and goodies on offer, the core aim of these pirate parties is to shine the spotlight on our amazing sailors and salute their spirit. So we hope you’ll join us this Community Day to share some screenshots, bag some swag and spread some love across the waves of the Sea of Thieves!

The festive season has come and gone, but while pirates across the waves were busy celebrating Grogmanay, the Order of Souls were hard at work. Hoping to cure Tasha the tavern keeper of a skeletal curse that’s consuming her, Madame Olivia has now recovered memories of Captain Briggsy – the notorious rogue who once searched far and wide for the rumoured restorative that would free her from her own fleshless fate.



Sea of Thieves’ previous Adventure, ‘The Rogue’s Legacy’, tasked pirates with recovering keepsakes hidden by Briggsy long ago, intended to train Tasha in pirate practices as she went about retrieving them (if you need to learn more about this quest, our latest Adventures Ahead article can fill in the blanks). Three of these gifts were successfully delivered to Madame Olivia at Plunder Outpost, but that was only the beginning of the story...

All too aware how dangerous it would be to place a Skeleton Lord’s spirit back into their waiting skull, Madame Olivia has accomplished an equally tricky task, imbuing Briggsy’s distinctive mask with the memories of its former owner. How close was Briggsy to locating the cure she so desperately sought? The only way to find out is for pirates to take up the mask, learn the truth from Briggsy herself and journey to The Wilds in her wake.




Inquisitive crews will soon discover that Briggsy’s mask confers more than one advantage. Its jewelled eye is no mere gemstone; rather, it houses Ancient knowledge of secret starfields, each very different from the night sky to which pirates have become accustomed. When considered correctly, these constellations reveal a long-forgotten tale of duty and sacrifice that set Briggsy on her path to the cure, though all may not be quite as it seems...

Picking up the quest that Briggsy began so long ago is a considerable undertaking. Cunning and curiosity will be needed in equal measure if Tasha is to be saved, especially when The Wilds continue to bloom with strange, lush patches that suggest powerful forces are at work behind the scenes. To start your journey into ‘The Secret Wilds’, begin the Adventure by speaking with Larinna outside the tavern at any time between now and February 2.





Elsewhere on the waves, the Battle for the Sea of Thieves continues to rage between the Guardians of Fortune and the Servants of the Flame. The team at Rare have been hard at work improving the PvP matchmaking feature set based on player feedback, with the aim of allowing Faction crews to seek out combat much more swiftly.

As detailed in the latest release notes, today’s content update not only delivers a new Adventure but includes a number of enhancements to these on-demand ship encounters, including same-Faction battles designed to boost the pool of viable opponents and get battle-hungry crews into the fray with a minimum of waiting.


For more information on the latest Sea of Thieves update, including full release notes, visit the Sea of Thieves website. This 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? Find out about the latest free content updates on our What’s New page, get familiar with Who’s Who or pick up some gameplay tips from our Pirate Academy, which provides invaluable information on topics ranging from sailing to swordplay as you prepare for your maiden voyage. Learn more about Sea of Thieves here, or join the ongoing adventure at www.seaofthieves.com where you can embark on an epic journey with one of gaming’s most welcoming communities!

It’s a triple treat in this month’s content update as we point the way to a brand new time-limited Adventure, score a bullseye in the Pirate Emporium and deploy another set of improvements to the Battle for the Sea of Thieves! If you need a reminder of what everyone’s fighting about, rediscover the Season Eight trailer below...



You can also look back on the release notes from Season Eight’s launch for the complete picture, but if you know full well what the state of play is on the seas these days, don’t let us keep you any longer from sifting through the spoils of this latest update!

Time is running out for Tasha the tavern keeper as her skeletal curse continues to spread, and Madame Olivia relies on the aid of adventurous pirates as she strives to find a cure. Will you retrace Briggsy's steps through the secrets of the past in this eleventh time-limited Adventure?

‘The Secret Wilds’ (January 19th – February 2nd)

• To start the Adventure, talk to Larinna and be directed to Madame Olivia at Plunder Outpost. She will then explain the importance of retracing Briggsy’s steps to find a cure for Tasha.
  
• To aid pirates in their quest, Madame Olivia will hand over Briggsy’s Mask that will allow them to view hidden starfields. Tasha will also provide one of her childhood storybooks that she hopes will aid in the search for a cure and the missing amulet fragments.
  
• Pirates who fully complete the Adventure will earn an exclusive Title and a cosmetic reward to serve as a Memento of their quest.

From battles for honour within the same Faction to rebalanced rewards, another round of improvements have been made to on-demand ship combat in this update. Rejoin the Battle for the Sea of Thieves and rack up some Allegiance in the most balanced experience to date!

Same Faction Battles

• Improvements to matchmaking now allow players the opportunity to battle against other crews from the same Faction in a battle for honour. These improvements will reduce matchmaking times for all pirates seeking battle!
  
• Crews will vote on the War Map and begin searching for an opponent in a rival Faction as before. However, after a period of time when a rival has not been found, the search for crews will expand to include those from the same Faction.
  
• These battles for honour within a Faction will play out in exactly the same way as a traditional battle, with Allegiance, Hourglass Value and Streaks all continuing to be earned. Most Commendations and Captaincy Milestones will also continue to progress, omitting those that specifically involve the opposing Faction.

Additional Battle Locations

• Two crews travelling beneath the waves and resurfacing to fight will now find around 50 new battle locations have been added across the seas where an encounter can take place.
  
• Many of these new locations will be only a stone’s throw away from a nearby Outpost, allowing the victors an opportunity to leave their Faction and claim their Hourglass value or restock before diving back beneath the waves.

Allegiance Balancing

• Crews who are defeated in a Faction battle will now receive a slight increase to their Allegiance as compensation for their loss.
  
• Crews fighting for the Servants of the Flame and flying a Reaper’s Emissary Flag will now earn increased reputation for The Reaper’s Bones upon winning a battle.
  
• Crews who lose by being run out of the battle area will now receive a small amount of Allegiance as compensation for their loss.
  
• In rare circumstances, crews may find they are not moved away from a server after sinking while in a Faction. In this scenario, crews will no longer receive Allegiance for repeatedly sinking the same ship in a server, preventing opportunities for crews to progress faster than intended.

Deterring Teaming in Battles

• Improvements have been made to matchmaking rules to reduce the chance of crews encountering a battle with multiple opposing ships.
  
• Crews who discover two Faction ships in a battle will no longer be rewarded with Allegiance, Streak increases or Hourglass value for joining the fight and sinking the Faction ships, as they are not part of the battle.

Update on Cross-Stamp Matchmaking

• While we announced cross-stamp matchmaking in the January edition of SoT News, a critical issue was uncovered during final testing. To ensure the stability of our matchmaking as it stands, we've pulled this feature from today's release and will deliver it following further testing when we can implement it with greater confidence.

Get your head down for a new month of Emporium additions! The Labyrinth Looter collection leads the charge with a ship set, costume, weapons and drum. But there's an Oar-Inspiring new set of emotes too, and you'd need to have a heart of stone to ignore the Pocket Pebble Emote...

Season Eight Plunder Pass

• Anyone wishing to take full advantage of Season Eight rewards can still buy the Plunder Pass. Any rewards unlocked will become available upon purchase, so players who have raised their Renown throughout Season Eight can instantly see their hard work rewarded before the Season ends.
  
• This Season’s Plunder Pass offers early access to the complete Ravenwood Ship Collection and evolving Ravenwood Costume, and can be purchased at any time through the Pirate Log, Pirate Emporium, or Steam Item Store.

Labyrinth Looter Ship Collection

• Reminisce over your near-mythical misadventures with this ancient ship livery. Collector’s Sails and Figurehead are available to purchase separately.
  
• Players can also pick up just the core components of this set at a discount in the form of an Essential Ship Bundle.

Labyrinth Looter Costume

• Start a beef in this outfit inspired by a hulking beast of myth! The mask might smell awful, but it’s worth it for the intimidation.
  
• If an enemy gets too close, give them due warning with the built-in Charge Up Emote.

Labyrinth Looter Weapon Bundle

• Adorned with trophies from your amazing adventures, these weapons let everyone know you're not to be trifled with.

Labyrinth Looter Drum

• If a drum isn't enough for you, it doubles as a maze puzzle to keep you entertained on long nights at sea.

Oar-Inspiring Emote Bundle

• Oars can be good for more than just rowing, as these inventive emotes allow you to demonstrate.

Pocket Pebble Emote

• The seas can be lonely, but now there’s a handy pet rock to help keep you sane. It’s even got a little smiley face!

Freebie Come On Emote

• Beckon other pirates over to face what’s coming with this freebie emote.

Time-Limited Lunar Festival Pet Outfits

• Get your pet dancing like a dragon to celebrate the Lunar Festival in one of these striking pet outfits, back on sale for a limited time.

Amazing Adventurer Bundle (Store Only)

• Why risk venturing into perplexing passageways, especially ones where legendary beasts roam freely, when there's a safer way to acquire treasures? The Amazing Adventurer Bundle contains the bullish Labyrinth Looter Costume, Weapon Bundle and Drum, as well as 550 Ancient Coins to spend in the Pirate Emporium and a bonus haul of 25,000 gold. Head to the Steam Item Store to find out more.

Bristling Barnacle Cosmetics

• Show off your love of the sea with the new Bristling Barnacle clothing pieces, ship set, weapons and equipment. All can be purchased for gold from the appropriate shopkeepers.

Wailing Barnacle Hairstyles

• New hairstyles for this old favourite set are now available to purchase for gold from the Outpost clothing shops.

Storage Crate Pricing

• Storage Crates have now been reduced in price, and can now be purchased from the Merchant Alliance for 5,000 gold instead of the original 17,500 gold.

Twitch Drops

• Continue to unlock even more cosmetics throughout Season Eight with Twitch Drops! Stay tuned to Sea of Thieves social channels to find out when Twitch Drops will be active for Partnered streamers, allowing players to earn Eastern Winds Sapphire items.
  
• Find out how to link your accounts and more on our dedicated Twitch Drops page.

Gameplay

• Treasure can no longer be used around ships to reduce the damage taken from cannon fire.
  
• Treasure held by a player will no longer float in the air after being harpooned.
  
• Pirates will no longer be able to shoot through the wall underneath the stairs on the Sloop and damage players outside the ship.
  
• Treasure collected from wrecks within the Sunken Graveyard during the Legend of the Veil Voyage should no longer disappear from a crew’s ship after finishing the Voyage.
  
• Storage Crates acquired from Skeleton Ships can now be buried.
  
• Cannonball Crates of the Damned released when completing Order of Souls Ghost Ship Voyages will now only reward a single Wraith Cannonball.
  
• Athena’s Fortune artefacts found during the Legend of the Veil Voyage will now progress the Hider of Legendary Secrets Commendation when buried.
  
• Animals will now take damage when caught in the blast of cannon fire, explosions and blunderbombs.
  
• Ships can no longer be attacked by a Kraken while traversing the Tunnels of the Damned.
  
• Shadow Skeletons in the Fort of the Damned will now be instantly stunned if they emerge into an area with the correct type of lighting.
  
• If players shoot through a broken Rum Crate and hit a Gunpowder Barrel, the barrel will now explode as intended.
  
• The Old Brinestone Fortress storeroom key will no longer be present in the lock after the Fort has cleared, allowing crews to gain access again in the future.
  
• ‘Dark Brethren’ – Collecting the Siren Heart from Jack while holding an item will now drop the held item on the ground and collect the Siren Heart.

The Battle for the Sea of Thieves

• Ships that become beached and subsequently destroyed during a battle will now cause that crew to lose the encounter.
  
• Crews should no longer experience the rare scenario where they surface for battle only to find another battle already taking place.
  
• The Ghost Lord Commendation is now unlocked when meeting the requirements needed.
  
• The Commendations entitled Risk It All, His Favourite Crew, In His Name, Running the Risk, Exemplary Captain and Pretty Good At This will now progress for Captains and crewmates alike when sailing on a Captained ship.
  
• The Proven Your Worth Commendation has now been removed. The Guardian Ghost Spyglass and Guardian Ghost Speaking Trumpet can still be earned by earning the Quite the Collection Commendation.
  
• Players will now need to earn the His Favourite Crew Commendation in order to unlock the Twin Pegs lower body cosmetic instead of the previously listed Commendation.
  
• Players will now need to earn the Quite the Collection Commendation in order to unlock the Guardian Ghost Flag instead of the previously listed Commendation.
  
• Sitting down or sleeping while below the waves waiting for another opponent will no longer cause the player to become stuck or removed from the ship, or for the player’s camera to become stuck in the environment when a rival is found.
  
• If a crew’s ship is lost due to becoming beached on land, the ship will now retain its Faction status.
  
• Quickly rotating the Hourglass of Fate and joining a Faction should now consistently display the correct Faction alignment.
  
• When the Blessing of Athena’s Fortune or Ritual of the Flame cutscenes begin playing, only the players who are observing the cutscene will see the subtitles.
  
• Crew members leaving during the Blessing of Athena’s Fortune or Ritual of the Flame cutscenes should no longer cause the cutscene to end.

Captains of Adventure

• Captained ships with a large number of Captain’s Voyages in the Bookcase should no longer experience issues when purchasing ship supplies.
  
• Completing A Commission of the Ancient Veil now updates the Milestone for ‘A Veteran Voyager’.
  
• Players can now flip through the pages of a Ruined Logbook.
  
• As the ship is sinking, the Captain’s Logbook interaction prompt now disappears.
  
• When a crew member picks up their own Logbook from a wreck, their gamertag icon will now show that treasure is being carried.
  
• Captains changing a Ship’s Banner should now see the new banner after leaving the Ship Customisation Chest.

Pirate Emporium

• Players will now be able to repair the Soaring Oracle Wheel as normal.
  
• Players’ hands no longer intersect with the top of the barrel when reloading the Soaring Oracle Eye of Reach.
  
• Players can no longer equip belts over the top of the Soaring Oracle Costume.
  
• Players can no longer equip an eyepatch while wearing the Soaring Oracle Costume which includes the blindfold.
  
• The visual effects for the Soaring Oracle Costume emote have now been corrected for all body types.
  
• The aurora effect on the Boreal Aurora Cannons and Capstan is now consistent all the time.
  
• The Ravenwood Costume visual effects will now appear correctly when performing the emote while sailing on a ship.
  
• Players’ hands will now appear correctly while wearing the Mandrake Costume.

Environment

• The unfurled War Map no longer intersects with the Bone Crusher and Bilge Rat Captain’s Tables.
  
• Players will no longer be able to swim away from the Shrine of Ancient Tears and appear beneath the sea bed.
  
• It is no longer possible to swim onto the exit at the Shrine of the Coral Tomb.
  
• Players will no longer appear to start swimming on a wall at the Shrine of Ocean’s Fortune.
  
• There is no longer a hole deep underground at Wanderers Refuge.
  
• The player camera will no longer intersect with the ground while sitting south-west of the tavern on Sanctuary Outpost.
  
• Players will no longer intersect with Phantoms when sitting in the Tavern of the Damned.
  
• Players sailing on a Galleon will no longer be able to sit on a barrel where pets may also sit.

User Interface

• The fire and retract actions of the harpoon can once again be rebound within the Settings menu.

Visual and Audio

• Pirates will no longer appear tiny if they emerge from a Rowboat cannon when returning to the ship via a mermaid.
  
• The Ghostly Curse will now appear consistently when equipped by pirates of all body types.
  
• Scooping audio will no longer play when using a bucket on a dry deck or island.
  
• ‘The Sunken Pearl’ and ‘Dark Brethren’ – Areas of rising and lowering water during the Tall Tales no longer display an incorrect texture.
  
• ‘Lords of the Sea’ – Jack Sparrow’s voice now stays in sync with his location throughout the Tale.

Text and Localisation

• The Athena Shield, Is That All You’ve Got, Hunt Them Down and Righteous Victory Commendations all now have the correct requirements to unlock them listed within their descriptions.
  
• The descriptions for rank 70 and 75 promotions for Gold Hoarders, Merchant Alliance and Order of Souls have now been corrected.
  
• The text on Merchant Alliance quest parchments now appears correctly when the language is set to Russian.
  
• Samuel in the Pirate Legend Hideout no longer has an error in one of his dialogue options.
  
• The War Map tooltip for choosing to fight a larger foe is now a consistent size with other prompts.
  
• ‘The Legendary Storyteller’ – The Tall Tale book will no longer have overlapping or compressed sentences when the language is set to Thai.

Performance and Stability

• Improvements have been made to reduce scenarios where players can experience extended black screen loading times when using a mermaid or returning from the Ferry of the Damned.
  
• Reduced instances where players are being disconnected from their session when travelling through the underwater tunnels.
  
• Ubebeard error message should no longer appear after rapidly changing tabs from within the crew selection screen when setting up a session.
  
• Improved server stability to decrease the chances of players becoming disconnected from their session.
  
• Improved client stability when interacting with the Captain’s Logbook while playing on Xbox One.

Reduced Server Performance

• Players may experience scenarios where they encounter ping spikes at random while playing, resulting in rubberbanding or client stutters. While improvements were most recently released in update 2.5.3, the team continue to work on further improvements for future updates.

Ranged and Melee Weapon Hit Detection

• In areas of intense action, players may find themselves firing shots or landing strikes that do not cause damage to their targets. While small improvements continue to be delivered during our regular updates, we are continuing to investigate and identify further improvements to the player combat experience.

To learn more about known issues in Sea of Thieves currently being tracked and their status, head over to our Known Issues support site article.

Download Size:

• Steam: 8.1 GB

If there’s one thing that can travel across the waves faster than a Galleon at full billow, it’s gossip. Grog-houses across the Sea of Thieves continue to buzz with stories and speculation, discussing strange areas of lush growth and sapphire skies that have mysteriously appeared throughout the normally desolate region known as The Wilds.

Over at The Unicorn tavern, however, Tasha is in no mood to join in with rumourmongering as she continues to face a private peril of her own. Her last few weeks have been spent waiting impatiently for answers to arrive, however indirectly, from an old friend…

There are many different kinds of transformative curses that can plague pirates going about their business, but not all of them are entirely unwelcome. Some crews will even go so far as to accept an affliction willingly as a sign of dedication to the likes of Captain Flameheart, while the Gold Hoarders consider a glittering finger or two nothing more than proof of a hard day’s work.

Tasha, on the other hand, never asked to be cursed, and while she remained oblivious to the root cause of her cadaverous conversion (discovered shortly before the events of ‘The Rogue’s Legacy’), she was not about to sit back and let it consume her without a fight. Recalling tales of a cure told by her friend and mentor, the notorious Captain Briggsy, Tasha set out for Plunder Outpost to confide in the Order of Souls, hoping that they’d be able to provide her with more concrete information.

Unfortunately for Tasha, Briggsy’s skull had been drained of its memories years ago, after her own skeletal transformation led to a fatal confrontation with pirates who knew little of Briggsy’s tragic past. This complication forced Madame Olivia to gather the knowledge she needed in a much more unorthodox fashion...



Briggsy had buried many keepsakes throughout The Wilds, intending them to be discovered by Tasha once she was old enough. Madame Olivia wisely recruited pirates who were willing to retrieve several of these guarded gifts on Tasha’s behalf, uniting the mementos with a paranormal process intended to extract memories of days long past. Much to Tasha’s relief, that ritual has finally been completed, granting Olivia fresh insight into Briggsy’s time in The Wilds – and setting the stage for another expedition to uncover the truth.

Unwilling to risk bestowing any kind of power upon the skull of a Skeleton Lord, Madame Olivia has instead chosen to transfer these memories into Briggsy’s distinctive mask, ready to be wielded by pirates prepared to undertake this Adventure. Whoever dons the mask will hear the wisdom and insights of the Cursed Rogue herself as they follow in her footsteps, scouring The Wilds on the hunt for a cure to Tasha’s curse.

And yet, as is always the case with the legends of Captain Briggsy, all is not as it seems. The distinctive jewel in Briggsy’s mask, which Madame Olivia once assumed to be little more than an ostentatious decoration, has proven to contain knowledge of its own. In fact, the gem is a star map created by the Ancients, and has been used to chart constellations that appear strangely different to the night skies today’s pirates have come to know.



As Sudds would explain at length if given the opportunity, the Ancients sought to preserve their folklore and so enshrined many of their most important legends in the heavens. Wherever these strange constellations may have originated, Briggsy clearly believed that the mythology behind them was closely tied to the curse that affected her and now attacks Tasha – and, perhaps, the means to reverse it.

If Tasha is to be saved, it will be up to pirates to complete Briggsy’s odyssey and decipher the meaning behind these strange stars, not to mention any connection the constellations might have to the recent revitalisation of The Wilds itself. Crews will get their chance to see the world through the eyes of a Legendary Storyteller when ‘The Secret Wilds’ launches on January 19th. What happens next is written in the stars…

---

Adventures Ahead: ‘The Rogue’s Legacy’
Adventures Ahead: ‘Return of the Damned’
Adventures Ahead: ‘The Herald of the Flame’
Adventures Ahead: ‘The Sirens’ Prize’
Adventures Ahead: ‘A Hunter’s Cry’
Adventures Ahead: ‘The Forsaken Hunter’
Adventures Ahead: ‘Lost Sands’
Adventures Ahead: ‘The Shrouded Deep’
Adventures Ahead: ‘Forts of the Forgotten’
Adventures Ahead: ‘Shrouded Islands’

It’s a brand new year, but we can’t leave the old one behind without a final round-up now, can we? So much happened in December that frankly it’s all a bit of a blur, but we’ve picked out a few highlights to share as we take a look back over the happenings of the final month in 2022…

The Festival of Giving is still fresh in our memory, but if you cast your mind even further back you’ll realise just how much was going on in December! The first major development came in the form of ‘The Rogue’s Legacy’, our tenth Adventure, which saw players joining the search for a cure to Tasha’s osteal ailment. Fortunately, following in Briggsy’s footsteps left Madame Olivia with the tools she needed to learn more.

Later in the month, we embraced the holiday spirit as December’s content update sent the Festival of Giving into full swing. From a Gifts & Glory Weekend and Twitch Drops to the annual challenges of Grogmanay, there was so much going on that honestly it’s a wonder anyone was able to keep track of it all. Although, on second thought, Grogmanay might have something to do with the hazy memories.

If you could drag your attention away from the festivities for long enough to buy a little seasonal treat for yourself, you might have popped over to the Pirate Emporium. Alongside some returning festive favourites, December’s update introduced the raptor-themed Soaring Oracle set, a new collection of rhythmic emotes and a trio of Trinkets drawing inspiration from familiar stories. Or for anyone watching their Ancient Coin purse, there was a free Tree Decorator Emote so you could raise a star of your own. There’s still time to grab any or all of these before the January update arrives!


As is tradition, we couldn’t release an Adventure without first giving you a new Adventures Ahead article to bring you up to speed – this time on Briggsy and Tasha’s exploits. Over on the player side of things, we updated the Community Hub one last time for 2022 and shared a new Spotlight on a pillar of the UK community, CalamityKez, to hear how she got into Sea of Thieves and what her work with her SoTUK family looks like.

Looking ahead, we thought the final month of the year would be a good time to fill you in on some of the upcoming improvements to the Battle for the Sea of Thieves, following a lot of feedback on the challenges players have been facing during matchmaking. If you’re still sitting here wondering what stamps have to do with anything, fear not, the summary is this: we’ve heard your concerns and we’re working on getting those matchmaking times down. All you need to do is keep sinking ships.

With all that done, we saw off the year with the Festival of Giving celebrations and left you with a thorough article-based summary of everything that would be going on through the holiday period. But we didn’t neglect our out-of-game content either, filling in the backstory of everyone’s favourite Reaper in the latest Sea of Thieves: Origins comic, ‘The Servant’s Tale’. You can pick it up for free right here!


After so much new content dropped with Season Eight in November, it was inevitable that some people would still have questions about how everything worked, but have no fear! We released a… unique video at the start of December to set the record straight. Then, when it was time for a new Adventure, we dropped a cinematic trailer and a launch trailer to fill you in on Tasha’s situation and set you up for the arrival of ‘The Rogue’s Legacy’.

With the year’s last Adventure safely underway, we turned our attention to the Festival of Giving, throwing in a jam-packed episode of Sea of Thieves News to discuss December’s imminent update. Then we kicked off the Festival proper with a livestream to switch on the holiday decorations and share our best memories of 2022 – only to find the festivities interrupted by a surprise spherical visitor! Over the course of the next few days, the Orb shared mysterious visions of the future and hinted at what might be coming soon for the Sea of Thieves…

Of course, no Festival of Giving would be complete without a suitable song. To ensure that we were all able to really get into the spirit of things, the livestream debuted the ‘On Yule Tides’ shanty. To cater to all tastes, the ‘Sleighbell Selects’ collection offered a more traditional take on the music of the season so that everyone could enjoy the Festival with a jingle or two.


As you might expect from the end of the year, December on our social channels was awash with looking back on the year and celebrating everything we’ve not only done ourselves but watched our incredible players pull off. Pirates from across the sea shared tales and wrote poems, while others offered their aid to new sailors taking to the seas for the first time.

The community also got creative with names, while elsewhere a visit from a special kitty threw the Doubloon economy into turmoil. Meanwhile the final #SoTShot contests of the year brought us Brawling Boats, celebrating some truly spectacular naval combat, and then a good old Pirate Party.

As always, December offered an opportunity to explore Your Story So Far with a series of personalised stats from, well… your Sea of Thieves story so far. And following a whistle-stop tour of New Golden Sands and a heartfelt wish for Happy Holidays all round, when it was finally time to close the year out, we threw in one final caption challenge to carry you through the New Year.



And that was December! Were you able to get involved in the festivities? What were your happiest memories from the year just gone? Let us know! And to get all the latest news and updates as they happen, make sure you follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube or Twitch, or join the official Forums or Discord. And now with 2022 officially over, on with the New Year!

---

Sea of Thieves Round-Up: November 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: October 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: September 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: August 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: July 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: June 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: May 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: April 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: March 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: February 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: January 2022

While the Factions continue to clash as we breach the second month of Season Eight, a growing spark of camaraderie can be found in the taverns as the annual Festival of Giving returns – although crews fully focused on the Battle for the Sea of Thieves will also find improvements and adjustments made to the flow of battle this month. If you’re not sure what all this talk of Factions is about, take a dive back into the Season Eight launch trailer!


The Season Eight launch release notes are a crucial port of call for anyone needing the specifics, while early December’s release notes have more information on the ongoing Adventure! Now find out what’s new in the year’s climactic content update...

Since Season Eight unleashed the Battle for the Sea of Thieves, the waves have churned with crews clashing in on-demand ship combat. A range of balancing improvements have now arrived to level the playing field not only within the Battle, but encounters throughout the shared world.

Blunderbomb Impact Balancing

• Blunderbombs fired from a cannon now have a reduced area of effect range when exploding, and players caught in the blast will no longer be propelled so far into the air, preventing them from being so easily sent overboard.
  
• Blunderbombs fired from a cannon to hit a ship’s hull now deal reduced damage to players caught in the blast inside the ship.

Reduced Blunderbomb Availability

• Blunderbombs are now discovered slightly less frequently in island barrels, and fewer are collected at once.
  
• Captains restocking at the shipwright will find the throwables supply now contains fewer throwables and has been reduced in price accordingly.
  
• The number of throwables found during the ‘Captains of the Damned’ Tall Tale has now been significantly reduced.
  
• Crates found during the ‘Dark Brethren’ Tall Tale now contain fewer blunderbombs.

Jettisoning Ship Supplies

• When a ship sinks, the resources held within its barrels now float to the surface in the barrels to be easily collected. Sinking another ship now offers simpler restocking options after a battle, while also giving crews who sink due to emergent encounters a chance to retrieve their hard-earned supplies!

Starting Ship Supplies

• All ships will now start a session with additional cannonballs per barrel, increasing the Sloop stock to 80, with the Brigantine and Galleon stocking 90.
  
• Ship defensive stocks have been increased with additional wooden planks, with the Sloop and Brigantine now holding 35 planks and the Galleon holding 40.
  
• Ships will now find more plentiful food stocks, as all ships now hold 16 coconuts in addition to their existing banana supply.

Battle for the Sea of Thieves – Restocking after Defeat

• Crews who are thwarted by an enemy in battle and become another sinking wreck for the graveyard will now appear on the new server at an Outpost, allowing them to quickly restock and get back into the fight!

Battle for the Sea of Thieves – Emissary Flags

• Collected Emissary Flags will now be brought with the ship when diving below the waves, allowing crews to chain battles back-to-back before returning to an Outpost to cash them in.

Barrels of Plenty Balancing

• The number of floating barrels that appear in a group has now been reduced. However, the likelihood of finding a rare items in these has now been increased.

It's a dashing end to the year in the Emporium as the Soaring Oracle collection takes flight. The Boreal Aurora ship set is back too, alongside new Nautical Dance emotes, more Rare-themed Trinkets, a big Holiday Sale and the latest chance to grab some Festival of Giving classics...

Season Eight Plunder Pass

• Anyone wishing to take full advantage of Season Eight rewards can still buy the Plunder Pass. Any rewards unlocked will become available upon purchase, so players who have raised their Renown throughout Season Eight can instantly see their hard work rewarded before the Season ends.
  
• This Season’s Plunder Pass offers early access to the complete Ravenwood Ship Collection and evolving Ravenwood Costume, and can be purchased at any time through the Pirate Log, Pirate Emporium or Steam Item Store.

Soaring Oracle Ship Collection

• Amid a sea of more ostentatious liveries, this set may appeal to those who prefer things of a more understated, refined nature. The Soaring Oracle Collector’s Figurehead and Sails are available to buy separately from the main Ship Bundle.
  
• Players can also pick up just the core components of this set at a discount in the form of an Essential Ship Bundle.

Soaring Oracle Costume

• Some pirates think the cost of seeing the future is never seeing the present. Others remember to take off the blindfold.
  
• While wearing the Soaring Oracle Costume, players can perform the Pensive Piccolo Emote.

Soaring Oracle Weapons

• Become a predator of the night with weapons carved by your own hands, adorned with the scavenged bounty of the sea.

Soaring Oracle Banjo

• Pieced together from shoreline nests and beach debris, this banjo always smells faintly of the sea.

Boreal Aurora Ship Collection

• Previously featured in the Season Five Plunder Pass, the Boreal Aurora ship set is now available to purchase from the Pirate Emporium.

Gold Curse Inu

• Being made of solid gold isn’t going to be enough to slow this excitable pup down.

Rare Goods Trinket Bundle

• Players wanting to show off their love of classic Rare titles can continue to do so with another three Trinkets made to match fan-favourite cosmetic sets. Pick up the Fightin’ Frogs, Huntress and Night Wulf Trinkets in this new bundle!

Nautical Dance Emote Bundle

• Borrowing some choreography from unexpected sources, these dances let you continue sailing even when you're on land.

Freebie Tree Decorator Emote

• A tiny piece of sky! Now if only you could find a palm tree to perch it on.

Time-Limited Bonechiller Costume

• Back to help you bring the fear to your foes is the terrifying Bonechiller Costume, which can be worn with or without the ‘jolly’ beard – available to purchase for a limited time.

Time-Limited Festival of Giving Collection

• Express your love for this time of year through the Festival of Giving weapons and pet outfits, back on sale for a limited time.

Seer’s Gear Bundle (Store Only)

• Some pirates may mistake your inner calm for a reluctance to defend yourself – but you always come prepared. The Seer's Gear Bundle contains the Soaring Oracle Costume, Weapon Bundle and Banjo, along with 550 Ancient Coins to spend in the Pirate Emporium and a free bonus of 25,000 gold. Head to the Steam Item Store to find out more.

Pirate Emporium Holiday Sale

• Fabulous discounts are available on a range of Pirate Emporium items from December 23rd to January 3rd. Pirates will be able to pick up festive deals on a range of pets, ship sets, weapons, emotes and more!

Time again for the Festival of Giving and all it contains – which is a lot this year! The traditional lights switch-on becomes a shared community moment, while Gifts & Glory and Grogmanay await later in the holidays. Get the full Festival overview in our launch article!

Grand Festival of Giving Switch-On (December 16th)

• Join the livestream on Sea of Thieves’ Twitch channel at 6:15pm UTC on December 16th to celebrate the community, look back over the past year, and most importantly switch on the festive in-game decorations! There may be a few other surprises lying in wait too…
  
• Crews sailing the seas while the stream is underway can gather at the tavern on New Golden Sands Outpost to watch the switch-on happen live!
  
• With the seasonal decorations on, pirates can find an appropriately festive firework to claim for free from a Merchant Alliance representative on any Outpost.

Gifts & Glory Weekend (December 23rd – December 26th)

• Gather your crew and set sail during this Gold & Glory Weekend with a Festival of Giving twist! Pirates will earn boosted gold, reputation and Seasonal Renown for their exploits throughout the weekend.
  
• Crews taking part in the Battle for the Sea of Thieves will also be able to gain boosted Allegiance for their chosen Faction.
  
• As a festive treat, all pirates sailing the seas this weekend will find a free Gilded Treasure Voyage added to their inventories. Better yet, existing and fresh Pirate Legends will also receive the gift of a Gilded Legendary Voyage.

Grogmanay (December 30th – January 2nd)

• End the year with the clink of tankards as Grogmanay returns! Complete a grog-fuelled Challenge to earn the Grogmanay Flag.
  
• Complete two Challenges to unlock the Bilge Rat Celebration Firework Crate and grab it for free from the Merchant Alliance to end the night with a bang!
  
• Complete four or more Challenges to earn the Grogmanay Annual Tankard, or a noteworthy new notch on your existing Tankard if this isn’t your first time taking on the Grogmanay Event.

Twitch Drops (December 19th – January 2nd)

• Continue to unlock even more cosmetics throughout Season Eight with Twitch Drops! The final Drops of the year will be active for all participating streamers in batches throughout the holiday period stated above, allowing players to pick up a wide selection of Frozen Horizon clothing items.
  
• Find out how to link your accounts and more on our dedicated Twitch Drops page.

Frostbite Equipment, Weapons and Ship Set

• The remaining parts of the Frostbite set, including the equipment, weapons and ship parts, are now available from Outpost stores. These new items are locked behind the existing Humble Giving and Generous Giving Commendations.

Pendragon’s Sacrifice

• Loyal followers of Flameheart can now revel in their victory by posing next to a new painting hung proudly in The Reaper’s Hideout.

Season Notifications

• When performing multiple actions that award Seasonal Renown, players will now see fewer notifications.

Gameplay

• Crews should no longer encounter scenarios where a Legend of the Veil Voyage can fail due to a missing Quest Item that was safely stored on a ship.
  
• Crews should no longer find treasure seemingly disappears from their ship while sailing.
  
• Ship’s masts receiving damage should now consistently display cracks, clearly indicating the need to repair.
  
• When using an Xbox controller while playing on PC, if the controller disconnects during a session, players will now be able to reconnect it without issue.

Battle for the Sea of Thieves

• Crews are now prevented from joining a Faction while in the Devil’s Shroud or near the Shores of Gold. Crews are also prevented from starting the ‘Shores of Gold’ Tall Tale when aligned with a Faction.
  
• Crews who previously joined a Faction and headed deep into the Devil’s Shroud will no longer be considered a suitable target for the opposing Faction.
  
• Players repeatedly placing items into a Collector’s Chest will find it no longer raises their Treasure Grade.
  
• Players repeatedly docking Rowboats with treasure aboard will find it no longer raises their Treasure Grade.
  
• Crews should no longer encounter scenarios where their cannons are inaccessible after surfacing from beneath the waves.
  
• Crews reaching an Allegiance Streak of 4 should now consistently unlock the Nigh Unsinkable! achievement.
  
• Ships surfacing from the deep on a Brigantine or Sloop will now see the sea appear correctly as they breach the waves.
  
• Crews surfacing from beneath the waves to battle should no longer immediately encounter Barrels of Plenty in their ship’s path. Crews can still encounter barrels during the encounter for restocking as before.
  
• Crews who have chosen a Faction are now prevented from entering the Tunnels of the Damned.
  
• Players leaving the Ferry of the Damned at the same time as losing a battle will now find they consistently arrive in a new server along with their ship.
  
• Crews successfully defending from an attacker will now be free to leave the fight at an Outpost, even if they have only recently chosen a Faction.
  
• Crews scuttling a ship as they are about to dive will no longer become stuck beneath the waves.
  
• Crews diving beneath the waves to find a rival crew should no longer experience visual issues when swimming into the depths.
  
• Crews diving beneath the waves for battle will now hear an improved ambient audio experience.
  
• Players are no longer able to navigate around the Pirate Legend Hideout to reach locked areas before they are eligible.
  
• The Rising Up and Thanks for the Boost Commendations have now been removed from the representative Factions. The Concealed Upper Body skeleton cosmetic has now been moved and requires players to complete the Boo Be Gone Commendation in order to unlock it.
  
• Allegiance Streak visual effects can now be seen while travelling beneath the waves.
  
• Ships breaching the waves for battle will now see water rushing across the deck of the ship.
  
• Players experiencing the Blessing of Athena’s Fortune will no longer see a glimpse of any held weapons during the end of the sequence.
  
• Crews should no longer see duplicate Battle Banners appear if their rival leaves the game.
  
• Players performing emotes near the Pirate Lord in the extended Pirate Legend Hideout will no longer find their viewpoint becomes stuck.
  
• Crews who scuttle their ship at the same time as another is surfacing should no longer cause both ships to become stuck in battle.
  
• Players observing a member of their crew during the Blessing of Athena’s Fortune are now free to use the Vanity Chest without causing other players to become stuck.
  
• Players choosing to cancel matchmaking should no longer find their pirate unable to move for a short time.
  
• Players will be prevented from stepping off a docked Rowboat while travelling beneath the waves.
  
• Trinkets earned from participating in the Battle for the Sea of Thieves now correctly show the Milestone requirements.
  
• If a player joins a crew after a battle has been cancelled, parts of the ship no longer act as if underwater for the joining player.
  
• Crews cashing in an Hourglass of Fate following a battle will now find the ‘Gold Earned’ Milestones progress accordingly.
  
• Players’ hands no longer intersect with various torsos when using the Skeleton Clap Emote.
  
• The Milestones for earning Hourglass Value no longer refer to Sands of Fate on both the Pirate and Ship Milestones.
  
• Players should no longer see multiple Krakens or Megalodons while travelling beneath the waves.

Captains of Adventure

• Captains sailing solo should no longer experience a scenario where they are informed that the Captain has left the session.
  
• Captains diving beneath the waves to battle should now consistently find their saved customisations such as ship liveries and decorations persist between sessions.
  
• Captains changing a Ship’s Banner should now see the new banner after leaving the Ship Customisation Chest.
  
• Disabling user-generated content from the Xbox settings should now replace other crews’ ship names.
  
• Harpoons on the Sovereign marquee can no longer become stuck to the platform they are on and cause the floor to shake.
  
• Crews discovering a Captain’s Logbook for a ship that is no longer on the server will now see a replaced ship name for it.
  
• Players will now see a failure message when attempting to buy ship stock from the shipwright if their ship has become too full.

Visual and Audio

• The Mysterious Stranger’s Gloves now match the gloves the character wears.
  
• Repairing the King’s Ransom Wheel now shows the makeshift handles with the correct material.
  
• Players wielding the Splash Fight Eye of Reach will now see the correct visual effects within the stock.
  
• After killing a pig, snake or chicken, the audio effects for hitting them should no longer be heard repeatedly.
  
• ‘A Pirate’s Life’ – The torches within Dead Man's Grotto will now light correctly when performing the required actions.
  
• ‘The Sunken Pearl’ – When picking up the keys from the crab, the camera no longer moves into open water.
  
• ‘Dark Brethren’ – During the intro to the final battle, Jack should no longer be seen floating in the air and his voice can now be heard.

User Interface

• Players browsing the various deeds and story within the Adventures menu should now more consistently see the imagery refresh.

Text and Localisation

• Improvements to the Pirate Lord’s dialogue to correct punctuation and spelling.
  
• The Hourglass of Fate ‘Change Faction’ prompt is now localised across a range of languages.

Performance and Stability

• Players using ‘Voice Chat Push to Talk’ set to Toggle will now find the setting continues to function after migrating across servers or after hunting a rival crew beneath the waves.
  
• Optimisations to client memory usage.
  
• Improved server stability when using the Tunnels of the Damned.
  
• Improved server stability for ships leaving the Tunnels of the Damned.

Reduced Server Performance

• Players may experience scenarios where they encounter ping spikes at random while playing, resulting in rubberbanding or client stutters. While improvements were most recently released in update 2.5.3, the team continue to work on further improvements for future updates.

Ranged and Melee Weapon Hit Detection

• In areas of intense action, players may find themselves firing shots or landing strikes that do not cause damage to their targets. While small improvements continue to be delivered during our regular updates, we are continuing to investigate and identify further improvements to the player combat experience.

To learn more about known issues in Sea of Thieves currently being tracked and their status, head over to our Known Issues support site article.

Download size:

• Steam: 4.6 GB

Firstly, I’d like to say a huge thank you from the entire team for all the positivity toward Season Eight and for the feedback you have raised around it. It’s been a huge release for the team with many hidden complexities and we’re very happy it’s been received well by our players.

We have heard the feedback from the Sea of Thieves community that the matchmaking queue times to get into the Battle for the Sea of Thieves can be long. We appreciate that people are eager to make progress in each Faction and earn the two unique Curses that Season Eight offers. This is an area we knew we’d need to monitor and improve even ahead of launching the content update.

Since the release of Season Eight, we’ve been working behind the scenes to improve our matchmaking queue times. We want to take some time to discuss how these queue times work, and what the team are doing to improve them going forward.

First, I’d like to explain why queue times can sometimes be long for players:

1. Imbalance of players between Factions

Over the launch period, the data has shown us that different regions often have significantly more players in one Faction than the other. This imbalance will also swing to the other Faction at different times of the day. Whenever this imbalance exists, it’s always going to result in longer matchmaking times for the Faction that has more players in it.

Simply put, imagine there are 10 players matchmaking in the underwater tunnels:

• Nine for the Guardians of Fortune
  
• One for the Servants of the Flame

As soon as the first players are paired up against one another, we now have:

• Eight Guardians of Fortune
  
• Zero Servants of the Flame

This means the Guardians of Fortune players will have to wait until a new Servants of the Flame player enters the queue before they can be matched for a battle.

Even if we have millions of players all diving into battle, an imbalance in the number of players siding with each Faction means that one Faction will experience longer wait times than the other.



2. Players on different stamps

To enable Sea of Thieves to support the largest possible number of players, we separate our servers and services into smaller units that are easier to manage. These units are called ‘stamps’. This helps us to scale our game and ensure the gameplay experience is great for all players.

The downside to arranging our servers in this way is that it can mean our players are separated between different stamps. Currently, Sea of Thieves does not allow players to migrate between these stamps, which means that even if crews of the opposing Faction are ready to fight you, it may not be possible to actually matchmake you all together. This will in turn result in longer queue times as you wait for an opponent who is also on the same stamp as you.

3. Low population regions

Certain regions, such as Japan and Australia, have a lower population of players. This will also result in longer matchmaking times.

4. Xbox Controller Only preference

Xbox players can select a specific option to only be matched with other players using a controller. The pool of players that select ‘Prefer Controller Only’ makes up a significant minority of our player base, and as such there is a smaller section of players to choose from. The data here suggests that it doesn’t cause a massive difference in matchmaking times, but you will likely see an improvement if you are comfortable with broadening your options to encounter players using all control schemes.

Before moving onto the solutions, I’d like to clear up some misconceptions around how skill-based matchmaking could be creating long queue times and how our estimated matchmaking times work on the Hourglass of Fate.



Skill-Based Matchmaking

We have investigated the data and are very confident that skill-based matchmaking is not contributing to long matchmaking times. Our skill-based matchmaking system is based on a variant of the Elo system – we take into account the win/loss ratio of the crew combined, not any session's streak, and this informs who you're matched against when you opt into a battle.

However, if there aren't any perfect matches waiting for your crew when you opt into your next battle, we broaden the net of players you could face over time to ensure you’ll always find a match. This means SBMM isn’t restrictive on matchmaking times because we quite quickly move to getting you the next best opponent instead of the perfect opponent for your skill.

Estimated Matchmaking Times on the Hourglass of Fate

Our estimated matchmaking times shown by the Hourglass of Fate are based on the recent history of matchmaking times for that Faction on the stamp you’re playing on. This helps provide an estimate of how long you may be matchmaking for, but it is purely an estimate and not a guaranteed time.

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As mentioned above, the team have been working hard to try to improve our matchmaking queue times. Below is a summary of what we’re currently focusing on.

Upcoming Improvements to Matchmaking Times

Enabling Same Faction Battles:

When a crew dives into the underwater tunnels to seek out a battle, we currently only allow them to match against a rival Faction. We will still prioritise this way of play and always try to find a rival Faction for you to fight first.

However, after a period of time where a match has not been found against a rival Faction, we will open up the search to include battles against a crew in the same Faction as you. Think of these battles as skirmishes within your Faction: the Guardians of Fortune duelling for honour within their ranks, or the Servants of the Flame clashing for dominance among themselves.

Allowing battles within the same Faction as a fallback will help reduce long wait times in instances where an otherwise appropriate match cannot be found quickly.

These battles will play out in the exact same way as a traditional battle from a gameplay point of view, the only difference being that you are battling a crew of the same Faction. Allegiance, Hourglass Value and Streaks can still be earned just as they would in battle against the rival Faction.

Most Commendations and Captaincy stats will also count as normal, omitting only a few that specifically involve battling the opposing Faction.



Cross-Stamp Migration:

As mentioned in the section on stamps above, Sea of Thieves does not currently support cross-stamp migration, which can result in long matchmaking times.

We are actively working on this functionality to ensure that players can eventually be matchmade against an opponent on a different stamp, which in turn will mean there are more potential opponents to be matched against, reducing the queue times.

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With the additions described above, we feel our matchmaking times will see definite improvements and greater overall consistency. The team are actively working on these updates, and we hope to deliver them to players in early 2023.

In the short term, before these two improvements make it into the game, you can find battles more quickly by using the Hourglass of Fate to see which Faction currently has shorter matchmaking times and aligning yourself with that Faction. But if you only want to increase your Allegiance with a specific Faction, and their matchmaking times are longer, these upcoming improvements will soon be in place to help ensure you don’t have to wait as long.

The team are actively working on getting these improvements to you as quickly as we can. As always, we appreciate your patience and we’ll see you on the seas!

Thanks,
Andrew ‘Grandee’ Preston
Lead Designer

That’s right friends, November is already over! With so much going on, we’ve barely had time to notice the days passing and yet here we are in December with so many things to catch you up on. From a fresh Adventure to an entire Season update, November positively overflowed with content. So grab a mug of your beverage of choice, brace yourself and let’s dive right in.
We wasted no time in getting into it at the start of the month by jumping into the ‘Return of the Damned’ Adventure. As Captain Flameheart threatened to return and Pendragon laid his freedom on the line, players spent two weeks battling it out to capture Sea Forts and raise Flags for their chosen side. With almost 400,000 Soulflame Captains returned to the Veil in that time, you’ve almost got to feel sorry for the ghosts.

It was a hard-fought struggle, but ultimately the mighty Reapers could not be stopped. Pendragon was banished back into a painting – leading to a truly tragic image of his trapped soul – and we jumped straight from Flameheart’s victorious cackle to the announcement of Season Eight. Surprise! It turns out that ‘Return of the Damned’ was only the start of the battle to come. A few days after Pendragon’s defeat, the new Season launched and players were urged to wage war for their chosen Faction, with ghostly and bony cosmetic Curses among the rewards for doing so.

Skeleton suits and apparition fashion weren’t the only new looks to appear in November. Over in the Emporium, Plunder Pass holders got to embrace their sinister side with the corvid-inspired Ravenwood set. The King’s Ransom ship set offered flashier pirates a chance to show off all that gold they’ve been digging up, with shining sails and a gilded hull that manages to float against all the natural laws of buoyancy. And just in case the several metric tonnes of precious metal weren’t enough of a clue, picking up a matching Crown would ensure everyone knows who’s boss.


As the first half of November was set to be spanned by an Adventure, we kicked off the month by catching you up on Flameheart and Pendragon’s bitter history in another instalment of Adventures Ahead. Once that initial skirmish was concluded and the outcome unveiled in a special stream teed up by another handy article, the seas broke into all-out warfare as Season Eight blasted onto the scene.

To make sure you were fully armed with info on all this new content – and so that you wouldn’t be taken aback by an enemy Faction ship popping out of the depths right in front of you – we put together a Season Eight launch article to walk you through it. So if you have any lingering questions about the new Season, that’s the place to find answers and enter the Battle for the Sea of Thieves!

Fortunately, despite all this conflict, pirates still found time to put aside their differences and spread some positivity as showcased with regular updates to the Community Hub! And we kept the power flowing to the player spotlights with two new Community Spotlights, one on plant prospector Solarlunar34 and the other on creative cartographer Jerem. If you think you know the islands of the Sea of Thieves, why not test your knowledge against SoTGuessr?

November also brought an extensive Black Friday Sale in the Pirate Emporium, and for those looking for something a little more, you know, real than the spooky and skeletal rewards offered by Season Eight’s new Factions, there was some timely news of Faction-inspired clothing designs too!



The big question on everyone’s lips at the start of the month was which side would win the latest decision point Adventure: Flameheart’s loyal Reapers or the Pirate Lord’s allies? With the future of the Sea of Thieves hanging in the balance, we brought members of the dev team together with guest streamers for a two-hour livestream where the results were dramatically revealed, and the victory of the villainous Flameheart confirmed.

With the Reapers victorious and Pendragon in turn banished, we wasted no time in unveiling what was next for Sea of Thieves with the Season Eight trailer. Then, after giving everyone a few days to recover from all the excitement, we were back with a Deep Dive video to answer any lingering questions you might have had about the new content update.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that we wouldn’t have had time for anything else, but we weren’t about to deprive you of the latest instalment of Sea of Thieves News, were we – or further helpings of Twitch Drops, for that matter? And just in case all that wasn’t quite enough to satiate your video needs, we also threw in our long-awaited panel discussion from this year’s EGX. You know. As a treat.


Despite all appearances, it wasn’t all battles to the death this month! Among other things, we considered a topical hatpin, pondered skeletal personality types and unveiled a new strategy for naming your ship, only to discover that the overwhelming popularity of gamertags beginning with the letter ‘S’ meant that the sea was about to be overrun with sausages. Perhaps not entirely what we intended, but a pirate’s life is never predictable.

Moving swiftly on, we invited pirates to capture the natural beauty of the Sea of Thieves for the latest #SoTShot theme, Sunset Scenes, then escaped the sun entirely on #SundayVibes excursions into Athena’s Fortune and The Reaper’s Lair. And while we offered snippets of handy info on new Season Eight features like Allegiance and the expanded hideouts, our #TriviaTuesday hashtag was nurturing lore seeds on subjects ranging from Sea Forts to Flameheart’s head.

And finally, just in case all of this wasn’t quite enough content to keep you going, we whipped up an asset pack for anyone who wants to show off their Season Eight allegiance on stream…



So that was November! Have you had a chance to play Season Eight yet? More importantly, are you more excited about looking slightly dead via the Skeleton Curse or the Ghostly Curse? Either way, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube or Twitch, or join the official Forums or Discord to get all the latest Sea of Thieves news as it happens. For now, sail forth! Win glory for your Faction!

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Sea of Thieves Round-Up: October 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: September 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: August 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: July 2022Sea of Thieves Round-Up: June 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: May 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: April 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: March 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: February 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: January 2022