Mêlée Island has need of you once again! It’s time to return to Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island, an incredible crossover that kicked off in July, beginning a journey to reunite players with the legendary Guybrush Threepwood and defeat the villainous Captain LeChuck – all within the world of Sea of Thieves. Today sees the arrival of the second Tall Tale in the trilogy, promising a wave of new excitement and experiences…

Players were granted their first foray into this new playground last month in the opening Tall Tale, ‘The Journey to Mêlée Island’. In this initial adventure, taking place deep within the Sea of the Damned, players were introduced to a distorted reflection of the classic Mêlée Island.

With an ominous fog covering much of the island and Guybrush Threepwood installed in the unlikely position of Governor, it was up to players to get to the bottom of things. By working their way through puzzles, befriending locals with small acts of service and finding enough coins to pay their way when they couldn’t, the story gradually took shape.

Eventually, an audience was obtained with the esteemed Governor Guybrush, followed by a fierce battle with the ghost pirate minions of Captain LeChuck and – for pirates who emerged victorious – a final stop with Corina at the International House of Mojo.


Now the time has come to continue the adventure! Having received word that Corina has found a way to break the spell and free Guybrush from his delusion, Captain Kate is recruiting pirates to carry out the plan. To craft the cure, you’ll need to journey back to Mêlée Island in search of three symbols of true pirate courage. They can only be obtained by the fiercest and most cunning of pirates, so keep your wits about you as you uncover more of the island and its cast of inhabitants.

Packed with new places and faces, ‘The Quest for Guybrush’ offers a major expansion on everything you’ve seen before. This Tall Tale will ask you to master Insult Sword Fighting, confront The Beast, return to your treasure-seeking pirate roots and much more. Expect a host of fresh surprises for long-time and new fans of Monkey Island alike throughout this uproarious new chapter of the story.

As before, you’ll be able to work your way through the Tall Tale alone or in a crew, in an isolated map so you’re free to take your time without engaging with other crews. And with the full expanse of Mêlée Island at your feet, there’s plenty to explore!


Of course, an important part of any pirate’s adventure is being able to dress the part, which is where the Pirate Emporium’s accompanying wave of Monkey Island-inspired cosmetics come in.

With the Mad Monkey ship set, you’ll be able to model your vessel on an infamous Caribbean shipwreck. Fortunately, the design isn’t necessarily a sign that your ship will share the same fate – and to make sure of it, you can supplement your sidearms and guard your loot with the matching Mad Monkey weapons.

In the wardrobe department, the Guybrush Costume Set finally lets you dress up as your favourite mighty pirate, while the Elaine Costume Set offers a chance to emulate the celebrated former Governor. Alternatively, accomplished duellists might prefer the Carla Costume Set, paying tribute to the legendary Sword Master of Mêlée Island.

So, ready to take on the next Tall Tale? Guybrush has need of you, and Mêlée Island isn’t about to save itself. ‘The Quest for Guybrush’ Tall Tale is free for all Sea of Thieves players and available now, so make your preparations, pack your best insults and drop by Capsize Charters to get started...

© 2023 MICROSOFT. © & ™ LUCASFILM LTD.

The Legend of Monkey Island

Voyage deep into the Caribbean with Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island – an original story told across three Tall Tales and a hilarious, heartfelt love letter to the iconic Monkey Island game series. The first two instalments are available now!

‘The Quest for Guybrush’

• Guybrush has been imprisoned in a dream-world by his old nemesis, LeChuck, and now believes himself to be the mightiest pirate who ever cruised the Caribbean. The only way for crews to convince him otherwise is to undertake three Legendary Trials spread far and wide across Mêlée Island. If you don’t succeed, Guybrush may never be freed...
  
• New Commendations, achievements and rewards have been added with this update, marking your progress as you make your way through ‘The Quest for Guybrush’ Tall Tale.
  
• To find out much more, head to our dedicated page on The Legend of Monkey Island.

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

New Items – Now in Stock!

• Mad Monkey Ship Collection
  
• Mad Monkey Ship’s Crest
  
• Mad Monkey Weapon Bundle
  
• Mad Monkey Concertina
  
• Guybrush Costume Set
  
• Elaine Costume Set
  
• Carla Costume Set
  
• Spiffy Pet
  
• Paradise Garden Cutlass (free!)
  
• Sea of Sands Sailor Bundle (Steam Store)

New Outpost Stock

• The Outpost weaponsmiths and clothing shops have received a shipment of new items in the Ashen Dragon set. An expanded range of clothing items can now be purchased along with the Heavy Sword and Rapier, all available for gold.
  
• Pirates can also pick up the fetching Ponytail Hair and Silver Beaded Moustache from the clothing shops.
  
• Plucky pirates can also purchase the Lucky Hand Wheel, Pistol, Shovel and Fishing Rod from the appropriate shops!
  
• The ferocious Flaming Jackal set has also been expanded, with equipment and weapons now available from Outpost shops.

Season Two Legacy Cosmetics

• Cosmetics previously available during Season Two have now arrived in Outpost shops and can be yours in exchange for Doubloons!
  
• Pirates can purchase the Lucky Hand clothing set, along with a range of unique one-off items that were available during this Season. Pirate Legends can also purchase the Athena’s Might Cutlass and Shackled Phantom Hull.
  
• The time-limited Ocean Deep items, however, remain exclusive to players who participated in Season Two.

Refreshed Emissary Ledger Rewards

• Representing the Gold Hoarders in their Emissary Ledger can now earn players the Tribute Peak Spyglass and Bucket.
  
• Players seeking out the secrets of the Order of Souls can earn the Relic of Darkness Spyglass and Bucket.
  
• The Merchant Alliance honour their high-performing Ledger representatives with the Merchant Ambassador Spyglass and Bucket.
  
• Flying the flag of The Reaper’s Bones and earning a high rank in their Ledger can earn players the Masked Renegade Spyglass and Bucket.
  
• Legendary pirates representing Athena’s Fortune in their Ledger can earn the Magpie’s Glory Spyglass and Bucket to show their allegiance to the Pirate Lord.

Aiming Accessibility Improvements

• Within the Audio settings, players now have access to a new setting to aid them in combat with subtle audio cues. This setting is off by default, but when enabled, players aiming their weapon at an opposing crew member or enemy threat will hear an audio cue to help guide their shots.

Zipline Accessibility

• Following the introduction of ziplines to help pirates navigate Mêlée Island, a new accessibility setting has been added to reduce camera sway while riding.

Gameplay

• Pirates jumping and grabbing a ladder at the top will now smoothly climb the last step and ascend more quickly.
  
• Players who join the game on a crew actively taking part in a Skeleton Fleet encounter may now find they initially appear on the Ferry of the Damned before arriving on their ship.
  
• The Legend of the Veil Quest Book can now be stashed within the Quest Radial.
  
• Pondies can no longer be caught around Port Merrick.

‘The Journey to Mêlée Island’

• Pirates are prevented from accessing off-limits areas of Mêlée Island while progressing through this Tall Tale.
  
• Pirates are prevented from inspecting the Citizen’s wares while handing in items to prevent overlapping dialogue.
  
• The Clock Tower is now set to the correct time when starting the Tall Tale from a checkpoint.
  
• When the objects blocking the mansion door are removed, they will now be visually removed for all crew members.
  
• Pirates will no longer become stuck in the ground at Lookout Point when attempting to jump into the mist.
  
• Pirates’ movement will no longer feel buffered when walking over rocks near the mansion.
  
• The liquid in Corina’s pot now moves as intended.
  
• The History Book has now been repositioned on its stand.

Captains of Adventure

• Placing a Storage Crate in front of a shipwright will no longer allow Captains to bypass the limit on how many provisions can be purchased.
  
• Pirates being harpooned away during a transaction with the shipwright will no longer enable the provision purchase limit to be bypassed.

Visual and Audio

• Players will no longer hear their own text chat messages audibly spoken by other players who are using Text to Speech.
  
• Hendrick’s appearance is now consistently correct during a Lost Shipments Voyage.
  
• When a fishing rod is equipped in the Tunnels of the Damned, the float and line no longer disappear.
  
• Snakes will no longer appear to turn away from the player when being charmed.

Environment

• Players can now easily speak to the Pirate Lord in the Pirate Legend Hideout.
  
• Further improvements have been made to remove areas where pirates can push through the environment into the sea within the Pirate Legend Hideout.
  
• Pirates can no longer intersect with palm trees at Port Merrick.
  
• Pirates should no longer encounter an invisible wall when walking around Ancient Spire Outpost.
  
• Pirates are no longer able to push themselves under the environment by swimming into rocks at Plunder Outpost.
  
• Pirates are no longer able to walk through a stone wall in the closed Rowboat dock at Mercy’s End Fortress.
  
• Ship Trinkets on the souvenir wall in the Pirate Legend Hideout no longer have the same sail pattern.

Text and Localisation

• Article Two of the Pirate Code hanging at the Outposts now consistently shows as “The Sea Unites Us as One Community” in all locations.
  
• Coral Artefacts now show the correct names on notifications when handed in to The Reaper’s Bones.

Performance and Stability

• Improvements made to initial loading times when launching the game.
  
• Ongoing improvements made to server stability to reduce instances where players are disconnected from their session.

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

Download Size:

• Steam: 7.93 GB

The time has come once again to dig through our cosmetics chests and see what secrets we can uncover. In the past we’ve delved into the mighty Orb, punk fashion and Plunder Pass assassins, while the previous instalment in this series grilled our teams on the thinking behind the keystone of all Captained vessels, Ship’s Crests.

Now we’re turning our attention to a somewhat livelier aspect of a pirate’s loadout: their pets! Specifically, we want to mark the recent release of the delectable Chocolatier’s Companion Alsatian and Parakeet by delving into the development process behind Collector’s Pets. These weird and wonderful variants on a pirate’s loyal pals have come to the Sea of Thieves in all shapes, sizes and colours, with a range of unique designs that put our artistic teams to the test.

So to find out much more, we’ve shuffled some key contributors into the usual interrogation room for questioning. Let’s go!

One of the most universally recognised symbols of a pirate is a colourful parrot companion, regardless of any naysayers decrying historical inaccuracies. Inevitably, then, in a sandbox game intended to allow players to live out their dreams of piracy, animal companions were going to be in high demand from the get-go.

In response, a variety of pets have been gradually arriving on the Sea of Thieves since monkeys and parrots first made their way through the Devil’s Shroud back in 2019. Several years later, the ranks have now grown to incorporate cats, dogs and foxes. For Esther Smisdom, Senior Concept Artist, the inclusion of animal companions was an inevitability:

“I think pets have always been in mind from the beginning. You can’t really think of that classic pirate archetype without a chatty parrot on their shoulder.”

In a world as magical as the Sea of Thieves, however, we weren’t about to be content with the limits imposed by our real-world furred and feathered friends. That’s where Collector’s Pets come in. These unique variations have included pets touched by the Gold Curse, frozen in ice and morphed into dark magic constructs, amongst a broad swathe of other diversities.

The Collector’s Pet trend kicked off with the Skeleton Marmoset and Cockatoo during late 2019’s Fort of the Damned update, and now there are over 30 to choose from (including a full set of Skeleton Pets, traditionally only available during spooky season) across more than 10 collections.


What might not be immediately apparent is that the distinction between regular pets and Collector’s Pets is down to more than just design; there are technical considerations too. As Esther tells us:

“We quickly realised the Collector’s Pets needed to be their own category because of how we handled pet outfits. By separating them, it gave us the freedom to really push the themes of these pets. Initially the Collector’s Pets were defined by the classic Sea of Thieves Curses (Skeleton, Gold etc.) but as time went on, anything that added new meshes, unique animations or new species would be considered a Collector’s Pet.”

Among the latest additions to this menagerie are, of course, the Chocolatier’s Companion Parakeet and Alsatian. Bringing together Ancient-inspired artisan work and some of the finest confectionery available, these two pets arrived on the scene as part of the June 2023 update. Nailing down their final design took a few iterations, as Senior Concept Artist Tom Mahon explains:

“The original spark came from wanting to explore an Easter tie-in. We went down the rabbit hole (pun intended) of the traditional Easter bunny ears and bow ties, but they just didn’t feel very Sea of Thieves, so after that we looked at a pet fully made from chocolate. Originally they looked pretty smooth, like modern chocolate moulds. There was even a concept with a bite taken out of the pet... maybe that went a bit too far.

“In order to push the design to be more embedded within Sea of Thieves lore, we finally settled on an approach that brought in design motifs from the Ancients in the game – with the idea being that the Ancients love chocolate, so they’ve crafted these chocolate effigies brought to life with magic.”

Of course, designing these pets is only half the battle; with such distinctive shapes and exclusive styles, actually making each Collector’s Pet presents its own unique challenges.


Due to the sheer variety of designs involved in Collector’s Pets, it’s fair to say that there’s no single way of approaching their creation. Each has a unique shape and design, introducing its own challenges and points of interest. For Esther, the most fun to develop was the Reaper’s Heart set:

“Funnily enough, they were originally meant to be Valentine-themed, as is apparent from the wings and heart motif. But we ended up using the parrot as a companion for the Servant of the Flame, so we had to rework them a bit to fit the lore and vibe of The Reaper’s Bones.”

Tom, in contrast, called out the earliest Collector’s Pets to arrive in Sea of Thieves as a personal highlight:

“For me, I think designing the Skelly Pets was the most fun. It was a challenge trying to bring different skeleton anatomies into our style. Just like our enemy skeletons in-game, there’s a level of simplification and stylisation that we implement. Skeletons are such a staple of the pirate fantasy, it's always satisfying when we can tap into that core idea of a pirate world.”

It hasn’t all been plain sailing, however. According to Principal Character Artist Lorenzo Melizza, some Collector’s Pets have been harder to wrangle than others:

“The Chocolatier’s Companion Pets and the Gold Curse Pets proved to be difficult due to the shared animation between pet types. Having pets with a ‘hard skin’ is always a challenge, since the animations can show how soft those hard shells really are.

“Your brain has to go the extra mile to interpret those surfaces as gold or chocolate, but I think the design of these pets, in conjunction with the work done by our partners, really allowed us to keep the problem to a minimum.”


Fortunately, the team could put all their accumulated knowledge to work in ironing out such challenges when the Chocolatier’s Companion Pets arrived on the scene. Lorenzo elaborates:

“The Reaper’s Heart Pets and Gold Curse Pets were a huge help on these, due to their common base feature, solid shapes, not being heavily detailed with fur and so on. It meant they had to work more as puppets than standard animals. This, of course, drove the texture work as well to reflect the connection between the limbs and the other sections.”

With the designs and models for the Chocolatier’s Companion Pets completed and looking duly delicious, it was time to get them into the Pirate Emporium.

Pets certainly made a splash when they first arrived all the way back in 2019, filling the Sea of Thieves with colourful sidekicks to accompany pirates on all their adventures. Collector’s Pets have only added to the ways in which players are able to customise their personal experiences, and they’ve really enabled our teams to express their creativity in unique ways.

They inspire creativity in our players too, as Social Media Lead James Bowden points out:

“One of the best things about Collector’s Pets is the clear naming angles they offer up, which we often see appearing on social channels with great delight. A Lodestar Cat named Luna, Rattles the Skeleton Cockatoo and a Diabolical Dog called aPAWcalypse? Just a few of the thousands of beloved pets out there accompanying pirates on their adventures. And we definitely take as much joy in seeing their thematic (and often pun-tastic) names as our community members clearly have in applying them.

“Collector’s Pets are often the subject of fan art too, with the more unique designs lending themselves well to interpretation, while remaining quintessentially Sea of Thieves.”


It’s no wonder, then, that players have really taken to Collector’s Pets as a concept. Of course, as with all Sea of Thieves cosmetics, some enduring favourites have emerged. Taking a covert look at the Pirate Emporium’s books, Associate Producer Olivia Arnell revealed:

“The Ashen Curse Pets have definitely been the most popular group of Collector’s Pets to date, the Ashen Curse Ragamuffin most of all!”

Good kitty. This trend of creative and unique twists on traditional pet designs has shown no signs of stopping, but with only two animals available so far in the recent Chocolatier’s Companion set, it begs the question: are we likely to see more chocolate creatures roaming the seas any time soon? In fact, do we start each set of Collector’s Pets with a plan to include one of each species eventually? According to Olivia, it depends:

“We usually like to start off with a few options to gauge players’ reactions to the Collector’s Pets before we decide whether expanding a certain style out to other animals would be worth the time and work that goes into them. Personally, I would love to see a chocolate cat or an icy fox in the future!”

Of course, pets don’t necessarily have to be limited to the animals currently available in Sea of Thieves. We revealed during our fifth anniversary celebrations that owls would be making an appearance in future, but are there any other animals or species on the horizon for piratical pet lovers? Tom hopes so:

“We worked on different dogs for a while, which was an exciting challenge as a dog enthusiast myself! However, there was one that got away. Metaphorically, of course. I had designed a Bulldog so cute you wouldn’t believe it. But because of how pets are set up, they have to share an animation rig and with the Bulldog being so different in size and structure, we didn’t proceed past the concept phase. We have plenty more pet species that we want to look at in the future, so maybe the Bulldog will return someday.”

Esther agrees: “I feel like our most popular pet has yet to arrive, referring to the long-awaited owls! There was a lot of hype around foxes as well. It was great seeing players spot them when we snuck them into the Season Seven main menu.

“We are always trying to push what we introduce with pets. Even though we concepted them early on, we always assumed that foxes and owls might be pushing the limits of our templates too far, making it all the more exciting when we did find ways to make them work. So regarding new species, it’s not so much if we will, but more if we can.”


One of the most notable absences from the current Collector’s Pet selection are our vulpine friends, the foxes. The latest additions to Sea of Thieves pets, foxes weren’t introduced until 2022 and thus haven’t had the same time to develop and expand as the other animals. As a result, we’re still waiting on our very first Collector’s Pet fox.

When pressed on whether or not we can expect that to change, Esther was tight-lipped with a simple: “That’s classified…”

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And that brings us to the end of our latest cosmetic deep dive! Since their release, pets have become a hugely exciting part of a pirate’s loadout, and Collector’s Pets really open the door to some unique styles. If you’re interested in seeing the full selection on offer, or if you’ve got your heart set on one design in particular, head on over to the in-game Pirate Emporium to admire the menagerie. You can also check out the most recent additions in any given month on our Pirate Emporium webpage!

Do you have a favourite Collector’s Pet? Are there any variants you’d really like to see? You can let us know – and keep up to date with everything going on in Sea of Thieves – via social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitch and TikTok, or by dropping in on our official Forums or Discord server. Or if you’re itching for more of these development insights, check out previous entries in the From Concept to Cosmetic series in our News section. For now, it’s probably past time we let our artists get back to business – until the next instalment!

After a month of exciting updates and summer fun, we had to leave July behind – but we’re here now to rekindle that spark with a round-up of things you might have missed. While we may never quite be able to cover every little thing (or at least not without keeping you there, yes there, in that exact seat, where you are right now, for several hours), here are some of the most notable July highlights for your reading pleasure…

Our big content news of July was, of course, the arrival of Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island! The first of the three Tall Tales comprising this celebratory crossover launched on July 20th, as ‘The Journey to Mêlée Island’ gave all players the chance to get acquainted with this classic location and encounter its cast of colourful characters.

With new content came new Pirate Emporium cosmetics, and most notable in July’s fine stock was the opportunity to kit out pirates, ships and weapons with a nod to the villainous LeChuck, thanks to the LeChuck Costume Set and LeChuck’s Legacy ship set and weapons. Other pirates noted an increased rate of comedy weapon malfunction brought on by the Close Call Weapon Pose Emote, while others made the questionable decision to befriend local wildlife with the Pocket Seagull Emote.

Such a momentous update, of course, necessitated a fresh round of release notes – now in a newly streamlined format! Give them a good look over if you want to delve into the details of the big July update.


Before we got to The Legend of Monkey Island, we had another announcement: the winner of The Hoarder’s Hunt! With all the clues unravelled, Pythagorwalrus was declared the fastest finder and winner of the grand golden skull. The Hunt’s conclusion also meant that some of our puzzle planners could finally discuss their work, offering a tantalising sneak peek into how the Mystery got made.

As one chapter closed, another one opened and the time came to dive into our brand new Tall Tale. To help get players ready and set them up with a brief primer on what to expect from the crossover, we took a moment to walk you through some of the update’s highlights – spoiler-free, of course.

As always, we weren’t going to let a month go by without celebrating members of the community. This time, we started with a Community Spotlight on Captain Butterfinger, famed cataloguer of sails and devoted spreader of cheer, then turned our attention to a Creator Spotlight with TheGeeNee, king of chaotic content. And if you think you might have skipped any Spotlights in the preceding months, Spotlight Showcase #6 was on hand to help.

Meanwhile, the second pack of Perks for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate players ran throughout July, our newest Sea of Thieves soundtrack addition was the soothing ‘Shores of Plenty’ and there were even more Eastern Winds Ruby goodies available to acquire through Twitch Drops…


With so many moving parts to keep track of in July, it made sense to kick off our video schedule with episode #12 of the official podcast. Over the course of an hour, the team dipped into topics ranging from fan events and Flameheart to cheating and their collective knowledge of Sea of Thieves trivia. There was even a surprise dog for all you animal lovers. Alternatively, if you’re in search of a more concise summary, the latest Sea of Thieves News was just itching to get you caught up in five minutes or less.

Later, we prepared for ‘The Journey To Mêlée Island’ with a series of sneak peeks at what was to come. We started with a glimpse at the many delights of the jewel of the Tri-Island Area in our Guided Tour of Mêlée Island, helping you get to know the sights, sounds and scoundrels awaiting you there. The next day we followed up with the first part of a Deep Dive into The Legend of Monkey Island as a whole, letting some core crew members share their affection for the classic adventure games and reveal how these Tall Tales came to be. Then it was finally time to launch, and you know we weren’t about to do that without a snazzy launch trailer made for the occasion.

The last week of the month brought some difficult news – an update on Season Ten and its delay to October – but to explain further, some of the team got together for a discussion video that also ran through some things you can get excited about in the meantime.


With community-driven summer events like Fest of Legends and SoTFest inspiring immense creativity, it seemed only fitting to have not one, not two, but three updates to the Community Hub in July to capture as much of it as possible. Couple that with some outstanding entries in The Devil’s Roar #SoTShot challenge and some secret mission suggestions, and it was a creative month all round.

We continued the screenshot theme with a Twitter request for everyone’s latest snaps, but had to duck for cover when rudely interrupted by an avian attacker. From there, we were forced to confront our place within the crew, argue over the most desirable housing locations and pine for the fabulous ship set that we all deserve, no matter what the Pirate Emporium tells us or how much a TikTok filter does us dirty.

As July came to a close, we carved out a few quiet moments to appreciate the beauty of Mêlée Island and dipped into some #TuesdayTrivia tasters of our latest update’s lore. Finally, we wanted to leave you with a little bit of educational material, so we threw together a little ditty to share our favourite nutritious meal recipe: pirate dinner.


And on that note, we came blazing into August! But that’s a round-up for another month. Next month? Well, yes. And to be the first to hear what we’ve got planned throughout the rest of summer and beyond, give us a follow on your preferred social media platform, be that Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube or Twitch, or the official Forums or Discord. That’s also where you can send us any feedback you want to share! Until then, however, run along – we’ve got more of that potassium-packed pirate dinner to prepare. Can’t beat it.

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Sea of Thieves Round-Up: June 2023
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: May 2023
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: April 2023
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: March 2023
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: February 2023
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: January 2023

‘The Journey to Mêlée Island’

• Players will no longer receive Emissary Grade progression when placing Red Herrings on board their ship.

Battle for the Sea of Thieves

• Players will now see their previously earned Allegiance at the correct level. This issue was purely visual, and no Allegiance earned has been lost.

Text and Localisation

• Improvements have been made to localisation for those playing through Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island in languages other than English.

Performance and Stability

• Improved client stability for lower-spec hardware across general gameplay to reduce scenarios where players may exit the game unexpectedly.

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.

These release notes cover a hotfix. For full details on recently added game features, see the release notes on our latest content update.

Download Size:

• Steam: 5.19 GB

Hello, pirates. As some of you may have seen, we released a video today detailing some of the changes we’ve had to make to our upcoming release roadmap. Unfortunately, this includes the difficult decision to push back the launch of Season Ten to Thursday, 19th October 2023.

It’s not a decision we’ve taken lightly, and we share your disappointment that it’s something we’ve needed to do. However, after careful consideration, we firmly believe that it’s the best thing to do for the quality of the release, the sustainability of our development process and the wellbeing of our team.


Those of you who caught the recent episode of our podcast will have heard us discussing the challenges of implementing new systems into a game like Sea of Thieves. These types of foundational releases are challenging to make, as we have to ensure they interact with all the existing systems in the game.

One such challenge has been the Season Ten headline feature, which we’ve already talked about as something that we’ve found tougher than anticipated to pull together – especially to the quality bar we’re striving to meet.


We recognise that it’s not just the delay of new content that’s frustrating, but the impact on Season Nine’s length too. It was never our intention to have it last this long, and we understand that many of our players will have already hit Renown level 100 and feel like they’ve explored everything there is to see and do with the features introduced in Season Nine.

We know you’ve come to expect a consistent rhythm of how and when we deliver new gameplay experiences, and Season Ten’s delay means that we’ll be asking you to wait a little while longer to get your hands on a big, brand new feature. However, there’s still a whole lot happening outside the Seasonal rhythm – so we’re hopeful that even without a new Season next month, you’ll still have lots to do.

For those of you who missed the news, a trio of Tall Tales for Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island will be released over the course of July, August and September – with the first of these new Tales, ‘The Journey to Mêlée Island’, available to dive into right now.

August and September also have a solid line-up of shenanigans, with a Gold & Glory Weekend kicking things off from August 4th-7th. Legends Week will then be returning after its inaugural event last year, with new things to do and earn for both Legends and Legends-to-be. A special Community Weekend with an exciting new flavour is scheduled for September too. We’ll be sharing more about these events in the coming weeks, so please stay tuned for details on what they all entail.


Even though moving Season Ten back wasn’t something we were eager to do, the shuffle has opened up an opportunity: it’s meant that we’ve been able to take what was originally targeted as the next Season’s headline content and make it part of Season Ten. The current plan is for this to launch in the second month of Season Ten, which would mean players getting two headliner features in as many months.

So we’re hopeful that while things may feel a little slow at the moment, we’ll be barrelling into the last few months of the year with lots of momentum, giving players the sense of a world re-energised by a packed Season Ten schedule including multiple feature releases, events and experiences.

It’s important for us to stress that we listen to everything you say, and we really do value your feedback. We’re always listening to what our players want, and even if we can’t act on things immediately – game development does take time – there are some really exciting elements to our upcoming roadmap that hit on things that you’ve all been asking for, in some cases for a long while.


When it comes to feedback on hot topics like cheating, hit registration and combat, we also want to reassure you that we’re working hard behind the scenes in those areas. When we have more info to share on these, we will – but we currently have teams dedicated to revisiting and improving these core experiences for our players. Insiders will have recently seen and experienced some of the planned changes, and we continue to take on board their valuable feedback to make these updates the best they can be.

Even when we can sense the frustration from various pockets of players, we know that Sea of Thieves’ community remains the best in gaming. Your enthusiasm, passion and commitment to our game makes us strive for the best – not just in delivering things you’re asking for, but by pushing us to think about ways we can continuously surprise and excite you.

Looking back at the highlights of 2023 so far, we’ve loved celebrating our fifth anniversary with you all, setting live more new Adventures, sending you off on The Hoarder’s Hunt and most recently releasing the first Legend of Monkey Island Tall Tale. Moving back the release of Season Ten is not exactly how we wanted to proceed with the year, but it does give us an opportunity to reinforce the Season with more content than originally planned – and we can’t wait to share more with you on what’s in store when the time’s right.

We look forward to carrying plenty of momentum into 2024 with plans that are ambitious and bold, including some important designs on refreshing the Sea of Thieves sandbox. Thank you for sticking with us – we appreciate you endlessly, and we’re committed to rewarding your patience with a bolstered, blockbuster final few months of 2023.

The wait is over and your journey deep in the Caribbean can begin! An exciting new expedition delivered across three of Sea of Thieves’ tried and tested Tall Tales, The Legend of Monkey Island was unveiled at last month’s Xbox Games Showcase and welcomes you to a whole new world on July 20th.

‘The Journey to Mêlée Island’ is the first Tall Tale to arrive, but before we dive into more detail, let’s step back for a brief primer on The Legend of Monkey Island itself…

Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island is a collaboration between Rare and Lucasfilm Games that brings together two beloved casts of pirate characters to tell an original story. It’s designed to appeal to fresh-faced explorers and lifelong fans alike, immersing you in the world of Monkey Island in a hilarious and heartfelt love letter to the iconic adventure game series.

Across three new narrative-driven and voice-acted Tall Tales, released monthly, you’ll set sail in search of Guybrush Threepwood, go head-to-head with the ghost pirate Captain LeChuck and break a devious curse that has ensnared Mêlée Island.

Whether you’re solving puzzles, mastering Insult Sword Fighting or navigating through lava-filled catacombs with Guybrush as your guide, this is an opportunity to experience the world of Monkey Island like never before…


It all begins this month in the first new Tall Tale, ‘The Journey to Mêlée Island’. After you've stopped by Capsize Charters at your starting Outpost, you’ll be ready to start the search for Guybrush Threepwood, who’s gone missing while on his way to the Sea of Thieves.

Once you reach Mêlée Island, you’ll explore iconic locations and meet familiar faces as you discover that things are not as they should be. Why does everyone believe Guybrush to be the greatest pirate who ever lived – and why has nobody seen him in so long?

Explore the riches recently revealed on Sea of Thieves’ YouTube channel to learn more about the puzzles and perils wrapped up in ‘The Journey to Mêlée Island’, then get ready to sail some very different seas. Secrets, side-quests and new rewards await you…


As the first instalment of Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island arrives, so too does a fresh batch of Pirate Emporium stock. Ready to strike terror into the hearts of your foes? Take inspiration from the ghost pirate Captain LeChuck and outfit your vessel with the LeChuck’s Legacy ship set. Captains can add the finishing touch with a matching Ship’s Crest!

Or take on a more personal veneer of villainy by dressing like Guybrush’s arch-nemesis with the LeChuck Costume Set. Including three variants and a Swordpoint Stance Emote, it ensures even mighty pirates will regret crossing your path – especially if you come wielding the LeChuck’s Legacy weapons.

A Piranha Poodle pet and new artistic ship Trinkets round out The Legend of Monkey Island celebrations this month. All available alongside this new update from July 20th!


So set out on ‘The Journey to Mêlée Island’ today, and discover what’s in store for you, Guybrush and an array of colourful characters found deep in the Caribbean as The Legend of Monkey Island unfolds this summer. We’ll see you in the Scumm Bar…

© 2023 MICROSOFT. © & ™ LUCASFILM LTD.

Voyage deep into the Caribbean with Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island – an original story told across three Tall Tales, and a hilarious, heartfelt love letter to the iconic Monkey Island game series. The first of these Tall Tales is available to play now!

‘The Journey to Mêlée Island’

• An ambitious new arrival at the Outposts is seeking help to hunt down Guybrush Threepwood, who disappeared while sailing to the Sea of Thieves. Via the Sea of the Damned, you’ll journey to the fabled Mêlée Island, where Guybrush is now revered as a legendary pirate of unparalleled talents. Clearly, something is very wrong…
  
• New Commendations, achievements and rewards have been added with this update, marking your progress as you make your way through ‘The Journey to Mêlée Island’ Tall Tale.
  
• To find out much more, head to our dedicated page on The Legend of Monkey Island.

Show off your personal style with purchases from the Pirate Emporium! Pick up cosmetics such as ship liveries, costumes, weapons, pets and emotes using your Ancient Coins, purchasable with real money. Head to the Pirate Emporium page to find out more about the latest arrivals.

New Items – Now in Stock!

• LeChuck’s Legacy Ship Collection
  
• LeChuck’s Legacy Ship’s Crest
  
• LeChuck’s Legacy Weapon Bundle
  
• LeChuck Costume Set
  
• Piranha Poodle Pet
  
• Mêlée Island Painting Bundle
  
• Pocket Seagull Emote
  
• Close Call Weapon Pose Emote
  
• Spin and Shoot Emote (free!)
  
• Brooding Buccaneer Bundle (Steam Store)

New Weaponsmith Stock

• The Outpost weaponsmiths now stock a range of new swords. Pirates can pick up the Wailing Barnacle Heavy Sword, Wailing Barnacle Rapier, Silent Barnacle Heavy Sword and Silent Barnacle Rapier, all available to purchase with gold.

Narration Playback Speed

• Players using ‘Let Games Read to Me’ now have additional control within the Settings menu to adjust the playback speed of the narration to whatever is most convenient and comfortable for them.

Riddle Map Narration

• Players using ‘Let Games Read to Me’ will find that when raising a Riddle Map, the text found on the parchment will now be narrated.

Gameplay

• Crews sinking a rival ship will now find that any resource barrels and treasure items left floating in the water are brought along with them after migrating servers.
  
• Pirates are once again able to place recovered Captain’s Logbooks into a Collector’s Chest.

Battle for the Sea of Thieves

• Crews are now consistently able to purchase Resource Crates and Captain’s Supplies upon arrival at the Outpost after losing a battle.
  
• The ship’s wheel will no longer be affected by storm conditions when diving below the waves or resurfacing for a battle.

Captains of Adventure

• Players who were eligible to receive the Gilded Sovereign Captain’s Table by reaching Class 50 in any Pirate Milestone prior to Captain’s Week will now find the item has been distributed to their accounts.
  
• Trinkets that are knocked out of place prior to migrating servers can once again be interacted with upon arrival.

Visual and Audio

• Pirates’ hands no longer intersect with the stock of the Beachcomber's Bounty Eye of Reach or Blunderbuss.
  
• The lanterns on the Dark Warsmith Ship’s Crest are now attached correctly and move with the ship.
  
• Equipping any regular pirate cosmetics while wearing the Skeleton Curse will no longer cause those items to be displayed together.
  
• Taking to a water slide should now show the correct visual splashes while descending.
  
• The Party Boat Cutlass now displays visual trails when swung.
  
• Watching a video from the What’s New section should no longer overlay button images on the video.

Text and Localisation

• Clues recovered during a Lost Shipment Voyage are no longer cut off at the edge of the parchment.

Performance and Stability

• Players will no longer experience instability when switching between video content in the What’s New section of the front end.
  
• Players on Steam Deck will no longer experience instability when attempting to play the intro video or browse the What’s New section on the front end.
  
• Ongoing improvements to server stability to reduce instances where players are disconnected from their session.

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

Download Size:

• Steam: 14.64 GB

With the warm winds of June in our sails, the time has once again come to look back on the pirates who’ve recently stepped into our Spotlight to share their experiences on the Sea of Thieves. Since we last caught up with you in March, the brave souls below have faced our questions with nary a quiver, including noted cosplayers, gifted artists and community staples. Let’s find out what they all had to say…


First up was the costume connoisseur TizzyTam! In this Creator Spotlight, the cosplaying corsair regaled us with tales of her history with Crash Bandicoot, her experiences at SoTFest ’22 (including hosting) and how important it is to be yourself and not cave in to pressure from others. But do you think Sir Arthur Pendragon and Jar Jar Binks are synonymous? We have our doubts.


Later in March we lined up another Creator Spotlight, this time checking in with one of the community’s favourite yarn-spinners, Cliff the Story Guy. Taking a break from his usual schedule of sharing stories and guides on YouTube, Cliff delved into what brought him to video production in the first place and how his experiences shape his approach to content creation.


Next on our list, we returned to the world of streaming with the help of a recent inductee into the Sea of Thieves Partner Programme, LadyHaradaNiwa! Another pillar of the cosplay community and a big Belle fan, she discussed her journey to also becoming a Twitch Partner, how she got her channel name and what advice she’d offer to other upcoming content creators.


For our first Community Spotlight in this batch, we took the time to check in with artist and ten-time #SoTShot winner zNiinjaa to find out just what his secret is. Alongside reminiscing over The Arena, he discussed some of his favourite pieces of art and achievements in Sea of Thieves, as well as an unusual tattoo subject. Do you have any pirate-themed body mods?


As we moved into May, the Creator Spotlight highlighted event organiser and Nightmare mode hopeful LDSylvr. The conversation ranged from events like The Boomer Games and Captains of the Sylvr’d Waters to surviving tornadoes. If you’ve ever wondered why someone would undertake the mammoth task of trying to reach Pirate Legend without dying, give it a read…


May’s Community Spotlight saw us featuring our avian friend Owlet! Unsurprisingly, we did end up touching on the topic of his famous daily owl requests and appearance in the Voyage of a Lifetime documentary, but we also heard about his work in musical theatre and how he briefly became Emperor of Tamriel. Not a bad promotion for a weekend’s worth of work.


Forging ahead into June, we kept the Community Spotlights coming with a Wh1zzrr_ encounter, chatting to her just ahead of her entry into the Partner Programme ranks. As a TikTok-based pirate tipster and trainer, Wh1zzrr_ told us the tale of how she carved out this niche for herself before going on to mention her other interests in writing, museum-hopping and more.


In our final Spotlight for this catch-up batch, we hopped on deck with the fightin’ pirate AweCoop to hear about his adventures from well over a decade of creating content. Trusted friendships, time management, tennis and maintaining a healthy balance of trash-talking vs. wholesome encounters were other subjects we criss-crossed over the course of the conversation.

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And thus, with a full four months’ worth of recent Spotlights under our belts, we call an end to the sixth Spotlight Showcase! As always, the full interviews can be found by clicking through to the Sea of Thieves website, all packed with interesting insights and fun facts about some of the community’s favourite faces. If you’re hungry for even more, you can read up on all our previous Community, Creator and Legend Spotlights via our News page, or catch the highlights in our previous Showcases.

We’ll be back with even more Spotlight fun in the next few weeks, so keep an eye on all the usual channels. Until then, farewell and may the wind be in your sails!

We always say it was a busy month, but June really was a busy month, wasn’t it? With a Mystery, an Event, a Showcase and an Adventure, there was hardly a moment to catch your breath, but fear not: the latest round-up is here to fill you in on anything you missed. All you need to do is sit back, pour yourself a responsible drink and join us on the latest little trip down memory lane.

We entered June with the community scrambling to uncover clues to solve the final stage of The Hoarder’s Hunt. The devilish schemes of ‘H’ had those hunters baffled for days, with the tempting promise of a golden skull only making the end goal more enticing. It took some time – and more code decryption than you’d usually expect to perform in your day-to-day life – but the Mystery was eventually cracked and the final chest opened! Of ‘H’ himself there was no sign, only one last letter left behind in farewell.

Elsewhere on the Outposts, the Sovereigns were a bit put out by all the attention the Gold Hoarders were getting, so they were only too happy to align themselves with a new Event. Captain’s Week offered opportunities for Captains across the waves to reap boosted rewards from their treasure and purchase ships at a discount – but even better, handing in those treasures to the Sovereigns allowed pirates to add the glistening Captain’s Rapier and Captain’s Heavy Sword to their armoury.

It was a good thing too, as they’d soon be called upon to take up arms again. With the launch of our latest time-limited Adventure, a summons by a powerful figure sent players out across the waves in search of a stolen artefact. After some reluctant help from the Order of Souls, the Adventure concluded with the discovery of a hidden vault and the realisation that not everything was as it seemed...


If you checked in to the Xbox Games Showcase early in June, you’ll already know our biggest news of the month: The Legend of Monkey Island is coming to Sea of Thieves! With the first of these new Tall Tales due to land later this month, our announcement article give some hints at what’s to come, along with all the details you’ll need to make sure you don’t miss a thing.

Meanwhile, as Captain’s Week swept in with a gaggle of new ship owners, it seemed only reasonable to help speed them along with a handy-dandy guide to all the perks their new Captaincy status afforded them. Have you been making the best use of your ship-owning benefits?

There was also another selection of Spotlights to enjoy: this month we were joined by famed community builder and guide Wh1zzrr_ and competitive pro AweCoop to hear about their journey on the seas and any advice they were willing to share. And finally, rounding out the month, the Sea of Thieves Security Team stopped by to share some of their latest work in ensuring the seas stay safe and fair for all in our first Fair Play Update column.


With various reveals and announcements happening, you might expect that our video roster for June was filled with trailers – and it was! – but first, we took some time for a little introspection. Since ‘We Shall Sail Together’ reached 10 million streams on Spotify at the tail end of May, we started the month by speaking to one of the musical maestros behind the shanty. Did you know the opening lyrics of ‘Who Shall Not Be Returning’ were originally written for ‘We Shall Sail Together’? Now you do!

Oh, and if that wasn’t enough music news for you, June also saw ‘Return of the Damned’ added to the streaming platform of your choice for assistance in making all those big life decisions. Does it really help? Probably not, but making them will feel a lot more epic with this playing in the background.

With those inspiring shanties fresh in our minds, it was then time to reveal our latest crossover and what better way to do so than with a snazzy announcement trailer? Premiered at the Xbox Games Showcase, this video offered everyone their first glimpse into the wonderful world of Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island. Not long now…


In what should come as a surprise to no-one, Captain’s Week had us musing on eternal questions like how we’d choose whose ship to sail on, or what’s the best name for a ship, or even which Trinkets are better than all the rest. Needless to say, we came to no conclusions, but we did get to enjoy some surprisingly in-depth art critiques of everyone’s paintings.

Steering us into safer, if no less competitive waters, we closed out the Mysterious Moments #SoTShot competition early in the month with a series of spooky scenes. Later, everything got a lot more colourful as entries poured in for the Pirate Pride category and a new round of exceptional photographers earned their Golden Hour Sails. We even had a few extra sails to give away this month to anyone who could come up with an outstanding suggestion for future #SoTShot themes.

That wasn’t the only giveaway either, as one lucky Twitter user won themselves a copy of the newly compiled Sea of Thieves: Origins – Champion of Souls graphic novel! Alongside the latest round of Twitch Drops and a host of new Community Hub winners, June was clearly a good time to pick up some prizes.



And that, finally, brings us to the end of June! Was there anything we missed? What was your favourite part? What would you do if you were a fish? So many questions to consider. While you mull over these conundrums for the ages, feel free to head on over to our social channels on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube or Twitch, or join the official Forums or Discord. That way you’ll be able to keep up with all our latest news revelations and Subjects of Discourse as they arise, and ping over any feedback you want to share. Otherwise, we’ll be back in a month with all the joys of July – see you then!

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Sea of Thieves Round-Up: May 2023
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: April 2023
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: March 2023
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: February 2023
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: January 2023