Captain Flameheart has returned, but the real star of Season 13 is his fiery flagship, awaiting crews who have what it takes to claim it for themselves! For an overview of this new Season’s headline features, head to our dedicated Season 13 page.

The Burning Blade

• Ready your crew and take on the Burning Blade World Event! Easily spotted from afar with its telltale burning braziers and skyward beacon, this infernal ten-cannon warship will take a seasoned crew to take it on.
  
• Players who subdue the ship’s Obsidian Skeleton crew can choose to pledge service to the notorious Captain Flameheart and take control of the Burning Blade for themselves. Once in control, the crew will be assisted by Flameheart’s skeletal followers and have access to its weaponry, including Obsidian Ashen Winds Skulls to help repel boarders and the devastating Ashen Roar fired from the bow of the ship.
  
• Loyal Guardians can instead choose to completely sink the Burning Blade and claim its sizeable bounty from the wreckage. This includes the Blade of Souls, a fiery new melee weapon capable of setting foes ablaze!

Skeleton Camps

• Flameheart’s forces have constructed Skeleton Camps across the Sea of Thieves, built over the Ancient Temples hidden below the surface. Crews can discover these camps naturally on islands or dive straight to them from the Quest Table.
  
• Descending into an Ancient Temple, players must unravel the mysteries of the constellations by solving puzzles to unlock access to the Crypt Vault. There, those who oppose Flameheart can put a stop to the Ritual, snatch the Orb of Secrets and deliver it to the Trading Companies for a reward.
  
• Crews who have pledged service to Captain Flameheart and taken command of the Burning Blade, however, should complete the Rituals within the Ancient Temples to gather the lost knowledge that Flameheart seeks.
  
• As crews complete Rituals, Flameheart’s power grows, rewarding pledged pirates accordingly when they return the Burning Blade to him at The Reaper’s Hideout. Crews who instead destroy the Burning Blade and retrieve the Blade of Souls can sell it for a value depending on the Rituals performed before the ship was defeated!

Commendations and Rewards

• Crews choosing to side with the Pirate Lord and sink the Burning Blade will unlock access to items from the Obsidian Bone Crusher set, with ship parts, clothing items and weapons all available to earn.
  
• Those instead choosing to pledge to Flameheart and sail the devastating Burning Blade can unlock the Burning Blade Reborn ship set, and Servants of the Flame who have already drunk from Flameheart’s chalice can unlock new skeleton cosmetics and bone colours when crewing the Burning Blade as skeletons.
  
• Players taking the Orbs from the Temples can unlock the Cracked Orb Lantern, and those seeking to steal the Orbs from unsuspecting crews can earn the Reaper’s Bones Shattered Mask.
  
• Descending deep into the Ancient Temples below the Skeleton Camps to unravel their mysteries will unlock access to new tattoos for your troubles.

Another Season means 100 new levels to climb by raising your Renown, with racks full of rewards to snag along the way – and an optional Plunder Pass adding even more. Emissaries aren't forgotten either, with the latest Company-themed cosmetics for qualifying Ledger performances!

Season 13 Rewards and Plunder Pass

• Progressing through the 100 levels of Renown in Season 13 will reward players with Bloodstone Dragon cosmetics alongside other time-limited Seasonal specials. Head to the Seasons profile page to browse the new rewards and check your pirate’s progress!
  
• Pick up the latest Plunder Pass to gain access to a plethora of additional unlockable cosmetics from the Eclipse set, including a full ship set plus the Jacket, Hat and Gloves, all available to earn by raising your Renown. Purchase a Pass in-game through the Pirate Log or Pirate Emporium, via the Pirate Emporium webpage or the Steam Item Store.

Season 13 Emissary Ledger Rewards

• This Season, the Guild Emissary Ledgers offer the ‘Secrets of the Ancient Flame’ Painting, Dark Hand of Fate Ornament and Guild of Fiery Spirits Title to Guilds who represent them well and perform proudly in the Ledgers.
  
• The Trading Company Emissary Ledgers have been refreshed this month with the previously lost Pocket Watches. Players can therefore now earn the Tribute Peak, Relic of Darkness, Merchant Ambassador, Masked Renegade and Magpie’s Glory Pocket Watches when reaching the top tier of the Ledgers. Players who have previously unlocked all rewards within the Ledgers will find these new Pocket Watches already in their Equipment Chests!

Chest of Fortune

• The Chest of Fortune has now been locked away in the belly of the Burning Blade, challenging crews to sink this formidable ship to claim its prize.
  
• Crews who retrieve Chests of Fortune can now earn the next Grade of the Fortune’s Favour Commendation, unlocking access to the Fates of Fortune Fishing Rod, Shovel, Pocket Watch, Tankard and Speaking Trumpet.
  
• An additional reward has been retroactively added to Grade II of the Fortune’s Favour Commendation, which now contains the Fates of Fortune Gloves. Players who already earned Grade II prior to this update will be able to purchase the gloves from the Outpost clothing shops straight away.

Reaper’s Chests

• Crews chasing down the telltale beacon of the Reaper’s Chest or Reaper’s Bounty can earn the next Grade of the Reaper’s Riches Commendation, and start unlocking access to the Fates of Fortune Hurdy-Gurdy, Concertina and Scar.

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

New Items – Now in Stock!

• Radiant Comet Ship Collection
  
• Radiant Comet Weapon Bundle
  
• Radiant Comet Lantern
  
• Cloudburst, Treetop, Brightbill, Seaspray and Sugarspun Toucan pets
  
• Runway Emote Bundle
  
• Mayhem Ship Bundle
  
• Sting Tide Cutlass (free!)

New Outpost Stock!

• Outpost clothing shops have received a shipment of brand new items and now offer the Proud Plume clothing set, available for gold.
  
• The Cephalopod Courtly Jacket, Whalebone Tattoo and Tentacled Terror Tattoo are all available from the Outpost clothing shops for those with enough gold to spare.
  
• Outpost weapon shops now carry a range of armaments from the hand-carved Carpenter’s weapon set.
  
• Outpost weapon shops also stock a selection of heavy swords and rapiers from the Kraken, Inky Kraken and Venomous Kraken sets, locked behind their associated Commendations.

New Throwing Knives

• The Outpost weaponsmiths now stock a choice of new throwing knives, all locked behind lofty accomplishments.
  
• The Cartographer Throwing Knives are unlocked upon completion of the Triple Threat Thrower Commendation, the Guardians of Fortune Throwing Knives unlock at Allegiance level 50 with the Guardians of Fortune, and the Servants of the Flame Throwing Knives unlock at Allegiance level 50 with the Servants of the Flame.

Season Six Legacy Cosmetics

• Cosmetics previously available during Season Six have arrived in Outpost shops and can now be yours in exchange for Doubloons!
  
• Players can now purchase the Naval Commander clothing set, along with a range of unique one-off items that were available during this Season. Pirate Legends can also pick up Belle’s Hat and Stranger’s Cutlass.
  
• The time-limited Dark Relics items, however, remain exclusive to players who participated in Season Six.

Post-Defeat Ship Sinking

• Once a ship is destroyed, the time taken for it to sink and release its cargo has been reduced, allowing the sunk crew to interact with the mermaid and head to their new location more quickly.
  
• While each ship previously had a unique sinking time, this update brings them to consistently shorter post-defeat sinking times.

Bone Caller Skeleton Improvements

• Summoned Bone Caller Skeletons will no longer uncover players using a hide emote to hide in plain sight.
  
• Players being chased by Bone Caller Skeletons will now be able to hide if they are able to lose line of sight and complete the hide emote before being found.
  
• Players can now lure Bone Caller Skeletons to a location by firing a weapon and hiding again, causing the skeletons to patrol the location of the sound.

Gameplay

• When boarding a ship from the sea, players can no longer silence the boarding audio effects by grabbing the ladder while repeatedly holding out items, ensuring nearby players will always hear the signs that someone is boarding from the water.
  
• Players can once again summon text chat after rebinding it to either the C key on the keyboard or R3 button on PlayStation®5.
  
• Crews diving for an Hourglass battle as a Grade 1 Emissary, and earning enough following a win to skip straight to Grade 3, will now correctly progress Commendations that required Grade 2 status to unlock.
  
• Crews are no longer able to vote down an Emissary Flag in the short window after the sinking death knell is heard and before the ship is destroyed.
  
• The Gold Hoarders Boots can now be found in the correct shop at Outposts.
  
• Players using a mermaid to leave a stormy area and return to their ship should no longer find themselves sometimes unfortunately struck by lightning when arriving back on their ship.
  
• Snakes caught inside crates will now attack players when held and stationary.

Performance and Stability

• Players should no longer experience scenarios where the sea becomes frozen or reduced to moving slowly, significantly affecting gameplay.
  
• Further improvements have been made to game stability to reduce scenarios where players unexpectedly exit the game or become disconnected from their session.

The War Chest

• The Twin Shot Target Commendation is now visible in the War Chest when progress has not yet been made.
  
• Bone Caller Skeletons roaming a ship now offer a short grace period before attacking players returning from the Ferry of the Damned.
  
• Throwing a knife at a blocking player will now display the correct visual effects.
  
• Players can now retrieve Deadlock Jailer Throwing Knives embedded in the environment without having throwing knives in their loadout.
  
• When a charged shot is fired from a Double Barrel Pistol, the animation no longer shows the hammer being primed before reloading, allowing the weapon to now reload more quickly.

Visual and Audio

• When a player boards a ship, the audio cue is now only heard around the vicinity of the ladder and not from further away.
  
• Battle music during Faction Battles will now continue to be heard after a player has died and returned from the Ferry of the Damned.
  
• Several wheels have been improved to prevent players’ hands from intersecting with the handles when turning.
  
• Pigs caught in a Pig Crate will now appear at the correct size.
  
• Transitioning from a Sleep or Sit Emote to any other emote now updates the camera zoom point correctly.
  
• When wielding a pocket watch, players will now flick the watch open.
  
• Improvements have been made to the blade textures of the Gold Leaf Cutlass.
  
• Performing the Scrappy Weapon Pose Emote no longer causes players' hands to intersect with throwing knives.
  
• When a player is observed using a spyglass, the item should no longer intersect with their head when looking towards the ground.
  
• The grog inside the Evening Tide Tankard now appears correctly.
  
• The Legendary Spirit Pistol should now fire in line with the pistol’s centre point when aiming.
  
• Larger pirates wearing the Paradise Garden Costume should now fit snugly without visible seams.
  
• The colour of the Frozen Horizon Frigid Hair tips is now maintained when a headband is equipped.
  
• Placing the Scrivener’s Writing Set on a ship now results in it sitting neatly in place.
  
• ‘The Lair of LeChuck’ – The skull that Guybrush finds in the catacombs now sits in his hands while animating.
  
• ‘The Quest for Guybrush’ – When unlocking the Summon the Beast shanty, the notification now shows the correct iconography.

Environment

• A visible hole in the Vault wall at Fetcher’s Rest has been filled.
  
• Improvements have been made to the shorelines at Plunder Valley and Sailors’ Bounty to ensure the waves crash smoothly onto the beaches.
  
• Treasure dropped near the Vault doors on Sailor’s Knot Stronghold will no longer fall beneath ground level.
  
• Pets will no longer be automatically removed from hangout spots within the Pirate Legend Hideout.
  
• Floating items in the Shrine of Ocean’s Fortune have been removed.
  
• Players can now smoothly pass through a gap under one of the platforms on the eastern side of Skull Keep without getting stuck.
  
• ‘The Legend of Monkey Island’ – Portrait Trinkets now only fit on certain hanging spots around the ships to prevent them from intersecting with other items.

User Interface

• When attempting to invite players to a Guild, the invite menu should now consistently show all available friends.
  
• After navigating from the Discover tab on the Quest Table, returning to the Discover tab will retain focus on the previously selected option.
  
• Players diving to an encounter and receiving an extended wait in the Tunnels of the Damned will once again be shown notifications that the search is still in progress.

Accessibility

• Players on PC using the ‘Toggle Radial Menus’ accessibility setting will no longer find that pressing the Q and E keys together causes the Game Options menu to become stuck on screen.

Text and Localisation

• Players using French localisation will now find that the Seaposts have reverted to their English names as used previously.
  
• ‘The Fate of the Morningstar’ – Improvements have been made to the Tall Tale Quest Books to resolve a range of text issues when playing in Japanese.

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: 6.62 GB

It feels like barely a moment since we were last here, summing up the events of May, and yet the calendar is dutifully telling us that it is, in fact, now July. Who’d have thought? Well, on the off-chance the calendar isn’t lying, we should get around to rounding up June, shouldn’t we?

First up on the content front was a call from the Pirate Emporium shopkeepers to take advantage of the Emporium Extravaganza Event. In addition to an accompanying Hidden Gems Sale (swiftly followed by a second June sale to celebrate the three-year anniversary of Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life), all players claiming the free Self High Five Emote were automatically entered into the Extravaganza Raffle, with the entire available content of the Emporium up for grabs as top prize.

With that enticing setup on the line, it was time to dive straight into Season 12 Community Weekend! Filled with free items and Voyages, streaming spoils, picture-perfect poses and, of course, the all-important race to uncover Pop-Up Plunder, the weekend was a blast and a celebration of everything that makes this community what it is. Yes, even the criminals who buried treasure in the spike pits. Especially them.

After that, we were back to our regularly scheduled programming and a monthly content update fresh from the developers’ desks. In addition to a bracing bounty of Emporium stock, June’s update saw the team tweaking and reworking a number of areas to better balance the player experience, including ship speeds, Double Barrel Pistol stats and a clutch of recent Commendations. Be sure to give the full release notes a read if you haven’t already to get all the details.


Even with a myriad of other celebrations taking place throughout the month, we weren’t about to forget that June heralded Pride Month. That meant it was time for an updated profile picture – or not, as the case may be – and a new stylish T-shirt to get your hands on! Our streaming soundtrack, meanwhile, was expanding with the inspirational ‘Blessing of Athena’s Fortune’.

As Season 12 Community Weekend rapidly approached, we spun up a dedicated article to lay out all the details of what players could expect. A while later, once the revelries had wrapped up, we returned to the scene for a detailed look back at what everyone had got up to during the Event and, as always, to question which chaos merchants among you are eating all these Burnt Grubs.

June’s community spirit also extended to another two Community Spotlights! First on the list was a buccaneer famed for his barnacle-based bearing, Fishhook Cook, who walked us through everything from his early start in gaming to a real-life pirate connection. Then, to close out Pride Month, we stopped by to chat with LGBTQIA+ advocate and brilliant Boatswain Div_And_Inc to learn about their work supporting diversity across the seas. And fire breathing. It was a far-reaching conversation.


There was a lot of gaming news going around in early June, as the Xbox Games Showcase revealed a range of upcoming titles and updates for the year ahead. With Flameheart’s long-awaited return just around the corner, our own Video team wasn’t about to let the opportunity go by without dropping in a little Season 13 trailer…

Closer to home, another instalment of Sea of Thieves News was due and that meant dragging Drew back in front of the camera to spill the beans about plans for ship speeds. Daryl wasn’t far away either, ready to fill everyone in on the promise of Season 12 Community Weekend plus the latest Emporium and Outpost additions.

Since Community Weekend relied on everyone getting those Sea of Thieves Twitch viewing hours in, the Community team hauled themselves into the Rare Tavern on a Saturday for a stream of their own. Dubbed The Trading Company Tour, it pitted four fabulously chaotic teams against each other in a timed race to earn Emissary value in whatever ways they saw fit. PvP battles? Sneaky trade deals? Desperate pleading for the Kraken to go away? Catch up on all of the above and more as the teams raked in millions for their chosen representatives.


Accompanying all the Event-based activity in June was a buzz of regular community content: the Community Hub saw two new refreshes, showcasing some incredible fan creations, while keen snappers delighted in two more themes for our trusty #SoTShot contest. For the first, promising pirates posed in tranquil scenes of Island Life, before we dispensed with the sense of serenity and got back to the usual pirate pastime of Grog Guzzling. Cheers!

Not everyone was to be lauded, of course, as we suffered a fishy betrayal, endured the continued trials of unhelpful crewmates and had our naming abilities questioned. Even the sweet comfort of someone else’s loot wasn’t enough to dull our sadness and we turned to collecting Gunpowder Barrels instead. Explosions heal all wounds, or something.

In better news, while we were busy digging through data to uncover everyone’s Community Weekend stats, we also happened to stumble across the pet name rosters. None of the top tens featured the word ‘Devil’, so clearly you’re all doing better than us. Once all the data crunching had worn us out, we had a quick hunt around for the best place to have a sit down, then ended the day with a jolly singalong. Worth it.


And so we reached the end of June! Big things are afoot across the waves and when we next stop by with a round-up, a new Season will have swept through the Sea of Thieves… Until then, however, we must bid you adieu! As always, you can find us in the usual places for regular updates: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, or via the official Forums and Discord. Now we really do have to leave you. We have rocks to sail into.

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Sea of Thieves Round-Up: May 2024
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: April 2024
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: March 2024
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: February 2024
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: January 2024

Whether it’s Season 12, launching on PlayStation®5, a recent Community Weekend, tweaks to ship speeds or the Emporium Extravaganza, it’s been an absolute onslaught of activities on the seas of late, but we still need to put a big tick in the Style of Thieves box before Season 13 rears its fiery beard on July 25th. So let’s get it in the diary now – how does July 8th-11th sound?

Well, it’s good for us, so we’re looking forward to the company of those who can join. While you’re more than welcome to select your clothes and snap your suits in advance, please note that only images submitted via social media within each theme’s 24-hour window will be accepted.

On each of the aforementioned days we will create a post across Sea of Thieves social channels declaring that a theme has begun. It’s then up to you to share your screenshots of surprising fashion, including the name of the theme you’re entering and any other relevant information (a couple of the themes this time need some additional details, so check before you share)! Scroll down and read the How to Enter section for a rundown of the full rules, as well as some helpful advice.


Once a theme’s 24-hour entry period has ended, our crew will scroll the digital catwalks and select the pirates they feel found the most fascinating fits. That list is then whispered into the ear of a passing parrot which is then trusted to deliver the information through squawked Morse code to the most approachable member of our Art team. As long as this bird-based message is communicated effectively, this far more artistically minded individual will have the final decision on the pirates who win this Season’s Style of Thieves prizes!

There will be three winners per category, meaning 12 entries total, and those lucky pirates will take home a pair of the elusive Fashionista’s Finery Gloves. The plan is to announce the winning pirates via social channels on July 18th, a week after the final theme takes place. And as always, a necessary reminder that even if you don’t win Style of Thieves, as with all of our social media contests, is intended to be about the fun first and foremost. More than anything, we hope you enjoy messing about with your pirate’s wardrobe.

And speaking of clothes containers, here are your points of inspiration we’re asking you to pick some fits for this time around:

Each theme will start at 10am UTC on the dates detailed below, with entries accepted via a variety of social media channels for a full 24 hours.

Superhero
Pick a costume and a name to match your pirate’s new justice-seeking persona! Make sure you state what your hero name would be when you share your entry.
Entry date: July 8th

Seven Deadly Sins
Gluttony, Anger, Envy, Lust, Pride, Sloth and Greed offer a range of twisted angles for pirates happy to embrace their darker side. Remember to state your outfit’s inspiration when you share your entry.
Entry date: July 9th

Monochrome
Find a focused fit designed around a single shade for this minimalist-minded theme.
Entry date: July 10th

Gaudy
From flashy rings to oversized pantaloons, push the idea of restraint from your mind and embrace your pirate’s most lavish looks, coherence be damned.
Entry date: July 11th

Image credit: SenshaPO on X/Twitter

Now into the part of the article that’s the same every time, including the sentence you just read. We’ve got eyes everywhere, in a nice ‘enter however you feel comfortable’ kind of way, so you’re free to submit on a variety of social channels. That said, each comes with its own quirks as follows:

• To enter on X/Twitter, make sure you include @SeaOfThieves and #StyleOfThieves in your post.
  
• For Instagram, you just need to post using #StyleOfThieves.
  
• Add your entry as a reply to that day’s theme post on Facebook.
  
• Post your entry with #StyleOfThieves in the #pirate-fashion channel of our official Discord server.

And regardless of where you’re sharing your entry, be sure to include the name of the theme you’re entering in your post, along with any extra info called for by the theme.

We’ve put together some handy hints and rules to make sure you capture your pirate’s best side and don’t accidentally enter an ineligible picture:

• No Costumes on the catwalk – we want to see your creativity and individuality in how you mix and match items, so no all-in-one Costumes.
  
• Complete cosmetic sets are not permitted. Our artists designed those items to go together and, again, we want to see stylish creativity. Ideally, an outfit should contain no more than four items from the same named set, but as long as creativity from multiple styles is evident then your outfit will be accepted.
  
• Unless a theme calls for it, all shots should be solo pirates and not 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 considered when judging the outfit.
  
• Lighting does help us appreciate your efforts, so find a well-lit spot to fully peacock your picks. Coloured or tactical lighting won’t be considered part of the outfit.
  
• Toggle off your HUD for a clean snap and avoid a name getting in the way! If you haven’t set it, the Toggle HUD command can be assigned to a button from the HUD category of the Keyboard and Mouse or Controller area of your Settings menu.
  
• Screenshots should be a reflection of the game – no external editing or filters should be applied.
  
• Keep your submissions to a 16:9 or 1:1 ratio, making sure your entire outfit is in shot, including your shoes! This will help us when framing winners, and ensures a degree of parity when comparing submissions.
  
• While you may use any emotes for your shot, any features added to the outfit via an emote (e.g. oars, weapons, sparklers) won’t be taken into consideration as part of an outfit 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!
  
• The unique prize means you can’t win more than once in Style of Thieves, but you’re more than welcome to continue entering for the fun of it!

Image credit: BaitCrate on X/Twitter

There we are, the details of the next Style of Thieves contest are now known in more places than one little spot in the Midlands, and we’ll see the fashion-minded freebooters among you between July 8th and 11th 2024. Find your frocks, ponder your pants, have fun and good luck!

Hello! It’s been a while since we’ve had one of these lookbacks, so just give us a second to dust off the inkwell and make sure we didn’t leave any pineapple and Pondie sandwiches lurking under the pile of unsolved bottle maps.

All clear. There’s still a bit of a smell but we can’t spot anything… oh well!

Right, Season 12 Community Weekend. From 11am UTC on June 15th to the same time on June 17th, we hosted the second Sea of Thieves Community Weekend of 2024, but the first to welcome in our pirates on PlayStation®5! How did you all find it? It’s no good talking, these are words typed a few days ago at least, they don’t have ears. Judging from the responses and numbers we’ve seen, though, we’d say a lot of you had a right lovely time of it.


In case you’re not sure what people were having a lovely time with, here’s a quick refresher so you can understand not to miss the next Community Weekend: pirates who set sail during the Event window earned the Season 12 Community Weekend Flag and Performing Pup Emote, while over the course of the first 15 hours (after a short hiccup getting started – apologies for that) the viewing hours of Sea of Thieves on Twitch increased the Community Emissary Grade and pushed in-game rewards of all flavours to the highest possible multiplier of all the Events we run, this then being active until the end of the Community Weekend.

Plus, Raid Voyages on Skeleton Forts were open for all, regardless of your reputation levels – and all pirates, Legend or not, got access to a single-use Legend of the Veil Voyage to let newer pirates have a taste of the legendary Voyages that await!

Another spot of seasoning we sprinkle on Community Weekends is the draw of Pop-Up Plunder, with Season 12 Community Weekend offering up 12 new maps shared via social media that led crews to random loot, leading to them brawling with nearby crews to claim a single, shared dig spot. This Event’s maps took pirates around some iconic locales, from the traps of Thieves’ Haven to the shores of the Coral Fortress, but it was the joy of seeing crews try to pry chests from the very middle of a spike trap on Sailors’ Bounty that proved to be our crew’s highlight. We’ve been doing this for a while, it wasn’t going to stay easy forever…

A final bit of flavour comes to these Events via the Picture Walls present at every Outpost, and crucially, as detailed in our livestream on the day, not at The Reaper’s Hideout, because it is not an Outpost (they’d probably deface it anyway). Crews took a myriad of photos throughout the Event. From solo snaps to huge group shots, silly poses to highlights of rare spoils, these commemorative moments never fail to give us a grin.


We mentioned a livestream just then and we’d definitely be remiss not to elaborate as, again, this was a fine community endeavour hosted in honour of the Event. Titled The Trading Company Tour, it tasked four groups of top-tier pirates with the job of earning as much gold as they could for a pre-selected Trading Company, with the aim for these crews to showcase the variety of activities and play styles that comprise the Sea of Thieves experience, and they truly did not disappoint with a range of tactics on display from sinking to loot trading. You can catch up on the Tour and connected ‘banter’ from members of our Community team right here.

But that’s enough about what we organised for the day, we’re far more interested in what you all got up to. The easiest way to work that out? Numbers! The biggest of which was 290,191,761,714, being the total amount of gold earned, HUGE! That’s enough to buy 207,279,829,795.7 Greggs sausage rolls, if we assume one gold is worth one UK quid. Or some Dark Adventurers gear! Maybe, like, three boots or something (which would be an inconvenient number if this wasn’t a pirate game).

But what else occurred while you were all making such stacks of coin? Some quickfire numbers for you: 52,997,680 cannonballs were fired, while 3,557,318 pirates were also loaded as cannon ammo. 9,091,054 bananas were cronched. 3,513,974 tankards of grog were quaffed. Aside from all that fun, plenty of you visited the Ferry for a number of reasons: 3,472,599 took a trip from a gunpowder explosion, 434,650 succumbed to volcanoes and somehow 1191 pirates got on the wrong end of a firework.


The new features of Season 12 seem to be making an impression too. 700,404 Bone Caller Skeletons were summoned to help in combat, pirates were sent flying by a Horn of Fair Winds on 819,395 different occasions and you collectively ran 279,421,500 metres along tightropes, which works out to roughly 62 trips from one coast of America to the other. Pirates also fell off tightropes 905,948 times. We’re hoping that wasn’t all the same scoundrel.

Also, 3702 Burnt Grubs were eaten. A new record! For some reason…

Speaking of your antics, we also awarded a bunch of Hats of Unfeasibly Glorious Fame across the Event for a multitude of marvellous reasons. Long-overdue bonnets were bestowed upon consistently brilliant buccaneers like Pipsuwu, InkyGhosts and Didichat. Community MVPs were highlighted and honoured with people such as D4ndano and Carrillo, and creative efforts like DatLlama’s jacket and LzySoren’s actual coin also saw them receive surprise head-warmers.


You all joined in with our own fun on social media channels too. From asking if the colours of the flag were one shade or another to encouraging us to stack an unnecessary number of Gunpowder Barrels on a ship, with an unfortunate conclusion, it’s always a joy to see the amount of fun had over a Community Weekend across all of our spaces, and not merely in-game.

And that, in give or take 1000 words, was Sea of Thieves Season 12 Community Weekend, huzzah! As always, these Events are what they are due to the efforts of so many, so we’d like to extend our thanks to the hard-working Community Managers, Moderators and Deckhands who support our social spaces, the team behind the scenes who help fix the things our Community team panic about going wrong, our Video team for engineering a genuinely foolproof (and now fool-tested) stream setup and everyone else who remains on call to ensure these brilliant weekends can happen.

And, of course, a huge thanks to all of you, the pirates who turn up with your fun, your antics and your infectious spirit for the seas we share. Cheers to you all, and we hope to see you next Community Weekend so we can do it all again!

Ship Speed Rebalancing

• The Sloop, Brigantine and Galleon have all received a set of speed changes, balancing each ship type and placing more emphasis on ship direction and sail management during naval encounters.
  
• In a straight tailwind scenario, the Galleon with its three sails angled to the wind will now gain the advantage, followed by the Brigantine, then Sloop.
  
• In a straight headwind, the Sloop will have less wind resistance from its single sail and will be at an advantage over the Brigantine, and then the slower Galleon.
  
• Sidewind and crosswind scenarios will also now favour the Galleon when all sails are catching the maximum amount of wind. However, Galleon crews who mismanage the wind will suffer the largest penalty.

Sailing into a Headwind

• Ships heading into a direct headwind will now be required to angle the sails to reduce the wind resistance and maintain their speed over longer distances. Sailing with sails flat into the wind will no longer be optimal.

Double Barrel Pistol Balancing

• The damage of standard and charged shots from the Double Barrel Pistol has been increased.
  
• A charged shot now takes less time to charge, allowing players to prepare this heavy-damage attack more quickly.
  
• Hip firing the Double Barrel Pistol is now slightly more accurate.
  
• Reload time has been reduced, allowing players to reload more quickly and get back into the action.

War Chest Commendation Balancing

• Following the launch of Season 12, the team has adjusted a number of Commendations from the War Chest, reducing the criteria needed to unlock the various Grades. Players with progress already above the newly rebalanced levels will be required to perform one more action to refresh the Commendation progress.
  
• When using the Double Barrel Pistol to defeat enemy threats, the Blown-Away Bones, Blam of the Damned and Double Deep Trouble Commendations will now progress more quickly.
  
• Utilising throwing knives to attack Gunpowder Skeletons will now progress the Keg Knife Kaboom Commendation more quickly.
  
• Players using scattershot against enemy threats will find the Holey Wood Holes, Scatter Bones, Spooky Spread and Peppered Meg Commendations have been made easier to obtain.
  
• Using the Bone Caller to attack Skeleton Ships will now progress the Skeleton Squared Commendation more quickly.
  
• Crews cashing in the Horn of Fair Winds will now find the amount needed for the Storm Sale Commendation has been reduced.
  
• Players using harpoon tightropes to transfer treasure to their ship will now progress the Carry On Lootin’ Commendation much more quickly.
  
• The Rib Roast and Title Fight Commendations requiring players to best Skeleton Lords in combat have now been switched to provide progress to the whole crew when defeated, rather than only rewarding a single player.

Hit Registration Improvements

• Recent improvements to hit registration for player encounters have now been brought to threats encountered within the world, providing an improved ranged combat experience against skeletons, Phantoms and Ocean Crawlers.

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 browse and buy the latest additions!

New Items – Now in Stock!

• Pet Protector Ship Collection
  
• Dire Dark Warsmith Ship Collection
  
• Dire Dark Warsmith Ship’s Crest
  
• Dire Dark Warsmith Weapon Bundle
  
• Dire Dark Warsmith Costume Set
  
• Paradise Garden Costume Set
  
• Paradise Garden Weapon Bundle
  
• Painted Cat Collector’s Pet
  
• Storm Strike Curse
  
• Stormfish Chaser Clothing Bundle (returning from Season Ten Plunder Pass)
  
• Baleful Bloom Costume Set (returning from Season Seven Plunder Pass)
  
• Tiny Tree Emote (free!)

New Outpost Stock!

• The Outpost weapon shops now stock a further range of Heavy Swords and Rapiers from the Ocean Crawler, Deep Ocean Crawler and Azure Ocean Crawler sets, locked behind their associated Commendations.
  
• The Crustacean Courtly Jacket is also available from the Outpost clothing shops for those with enough gold to spare.
  
• Players who have reached reputation level 65 with the Gold Hoarders will now unlock access to the Gold Hoarders Boots, currently found in the Outpost clothing shops but moving to the Gold Hoarders representatives in a future update.

Front End Pirate Log Access

• The Pirate Log is now conveniently accessible from the front end menu when launching Sea of Thieves! Players can now more easily check their Season and reputation progress before joining a session on the seas.

Player Reporting Improvements

• A QR code has been added to the Report a Player menu to provide easier access for console players wishing to submit a report via a mobile device.

Gameplay

• ‘The Lair of LeChuck’ – Players will no longer become stuck after the LeChuck fight or the wedding ceremony and can now once again consistently complete the Tall Tale.
  
• Crews purchasing Captain’s Supplies from the shipwright should now consistently find their supplies are delivered to their ship’s barrels.
  
• Players can no longer achieve full billow with the Horn of Fair Winds without it losing its charge when used.
  
• Players should no longer find themselves joining a session in an empty grey scene when attempting to rejoin a previous session.
  
• Attacking a Chest of Rage with a range of weapon types will now consistently enrage the chest.
  
• Players are no longer able to swap between platforms in rapid succession and gain access to exclusive cosmetics in their session.
  
• Selling Ashen Chests recovered from Ancient Vaults will now progress the correct Ship and Pirate Milestones.
  
• Players using inverted mouse controls will no longer find their input switched when diving or surfacing for a Faction battle.
  
• Food items will no longer appear in Cannonball Barrels at Skeleton Forts.
  
• When starting an Ashen Emissary Voyage as an Athena’s Fortune Emissary, the island chosen for the map will no longer be situated outside The Devil’s Roar.
  
• The Ashen Chest found inside the Vault at emergent Skeleton Fort encounters will now be unlocked by default.
  
• ‘The Lair of LeChuck’ – Players will no longer be able to defeat LeChuck while inside the church before he has a chance to retaliate.
  
• ‘Shores of Gold’ – Diving to a Tall Tale checkpoint should no longer return the crew to a nearby Outpost.

Emporium Extravaganza Event

• The Ancient Coin Trinket erroneously granted to some players during this Event has now been removed from those inventories. Players who legitimately obtained the Trinket are unaffected and will retain their reward (please raise a ticket with our Support team if you encounter any issues with this).

Throwing Knives

• Players will now be able to jump freely if they stow their throwing knife while charging a heavy strike.
  
• Players will now be able to run if they stow their throwing knife while aiming.
  
• Throwing knives embedded in ships’ ladders will no longer prevent players from grabbing on to the ladders.
  
• Throwing knives at a Gunpowder Barrel held by a player will now consistently cause the keg to explode on impact.
  
• Players fighting the Ghost of Graymarrow with throwing knives will now deal the intended amount of damage.
  
• Players engaging in Raid Voyages with throwing knives will now deal the intended amount of damage to enemy threats.

Double Barrel Pistol

• Players holding aim and fire while reloading will now consistently see the weapon switch to an aimed state and begin to charge.
  
• Players holding aim and fire then releasing while reloading should no longer see the weapon briefly switch to an aimed state before returning to idle.
  
• Players are no longer able to skip the animation for pulling back the second hammer when firing.
  
• Players fighting the Ghost of Graymarrow with a Double Barrel Pistol will now deal the intended amount of damage.
  
• Players engaging in Raid Voyages with a Double Barrel Pistol will now deal the intended amount of damage to enemy threats.

Environment

• The cannons on the north side of Kraken Watchtower are now visible when they shoot at vessels.
  
• Crews diving to a Raid Voyage within the Treasury of the Secret Wilds will no longer discover gold piles which cannot be claimed.
  
• Players will now consistently be able to pick up and take items from Collector’s Chests inside the Shrine of Ocean’s Fortune.
  
• Removed a number of areas where players could fall out of the environment within the Pirate Legend Hideout.
  
• The Glorious Sea Dog Tavern no longer features invisible objects around the island.
  
• ‘The Legend of Monkey Island’ – A Vanity Chest has been added to the circus stage, enabling players to remove the Skeleton Curse if they have one equipped in order to put on the circus costume.

Visual and Audio

• Crews defeated in a Faction battle will now experience a smooth transition into and out of the Tunnels of the Damned.
  
• Players using the Skull of Siren Song will now animate smoothly between wielding and using the weapon.
  
• Sprinting onto a harpoon tightrope with a weapon equipped will no longer cause the weapon to be wielded, letting players move smoothly along the rope.
  
• Lesedi’s Spyglass will no longer change into another spyglass when the player dies or rejoins their session with the item equipped.
  
• The Barrel Bombardier and Checkmate Cannons now display correctly when viewed at all distances.
  
• The Deadlock Jailer Costume now better fits pirates of all body types.
  
• The Flaming Jackal Pocket Watch now displays the correct date.
  
• PC players using AMD GPUs and DirectX12 should now consistently see visual effects from fireworks when fired.
  
• ‘The Legend of Monkey Island’ – Items will now appear at the correct size when held by players during the Tall Tales.
  
• ‘Captains of the Damned’ – When voting on the Tall Tale, one dagger will now appear on the Tall Tale book to show the player selection.

User Interface

• Players should now be able to purchase the relevant promotions once they have reached the required Company reputation level.
  
• After purchasing a Ship Renaming Deed from the Emporium in the front end, players should be able to rename their ship without needing to restart the game.
  
• When purchasing a ship, having a ship name rejected will no longer temporarily cause the ship price to appear as free.
  
• All barrels around the Sea of Thieves will now have category item counters, as intended.
  
• Players will now see an infinity symbol on replayable Voyages in the Quest Table menu.
  
• Switching quickly through the What’s New articles should no longer display the incorrect imagery alongside a piece of news.
  
• The Guild Motto displayed in the Guild Branding screen now consistently matches the one that was selected during Guild creation.
  
• The pickup interaction for placed pets will now always be visible above the ground.
  
• Dismantling a ship no longer warns players of losing Captain’s Voyages.
  
• Playing in windowed mode on PC will now correctly display the front end session setup screen.

Text and Localisation

• The description of the Quite the Collection Commendation has been updated to include the requirement to be representing the Guardians of Fortune when handing in Reaper’s Bones Emissary Flags.
  
• Improvements made to Tall Tale Quest Books to resolve a range of text issues for those playing in Japanese.
  
• Improvements made to text sizes within Tall Tale Quest Books to resolve overlapping text across a range of non-English languages.
  
• ‘The Legend of Monkey Island’ – The localisation of the Sword Master has been updated to follow the correct terminology in the Korean language translation.

Performance and Stability

• Players leaving a crew during a session should no longer cause other crew members to be disconnected from the game and experience a Longbeard error.
  
• Further improvements made to game stability to reduce scenarios where players unexpectedly exit the game or become disconnected from their session.
  
• Improvements made to memory management to reduce scenarios where players may experience a sudden disconnection on lower-performance PC and console hardware.
  
• Sea of Thieves on Steam will no longer unexpectedly close if the game is started on an HDR screen then dragged to an SDR screen during startup.
  
• Improvements made to texture streaming on the front end for lower-performance PC hardware, reducing scenarios where players may experience textures failing to load and leaving them shown at poor quality.

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: 3.89 GB

We can scarcely believe that we’re already into the warm tides of June, but even as we turn our attention to the upcoming delights of the month ahead, we still have one more task to complete before we fully say farewell to May: the regular round-up. So please take a moment to join us in celebrating everything that happened last month in the world of Sea of Thieves…

After the major updates in April, it was a relatively quiet monthly update this time around. Following a small hotfix at the beginning of the month, May’s main update introduced numerous tweaks and improvements to recently implemented Season 12 features, as well as a range of new stock for Outpost and Emporium stores. As always, it’s all in the release notes for exploration!

Not that it stayed quiet for long, of course; halfway through May, Gilded Voyages made their triumphant return in a special week-long Event. Pirates flocked to The Ancient Isles in search of rich rewards, not least of which was the military-minded Seamark Tribute Tattoo awaiting anyone who got to the end of one of these glittering Voyages.

Pirates eager for even greater rewards didn’t have long to wait for another treat either, with a Gold & Glory Weekend right around the corner. Who knew that a sea full of thieves could be so generous?


Outside of gameplay, May saw the much-anticipated arrival of Sea of Thieves: The Cookbook! Packed with culinary delights – even by our punishingly high standards – these recipes demand pride of place on any kitchen bookshelf. Not convinced? Maybe Daryl’s own cooking adventures will be enough to sway your opinion…

Elsewhere, it was time for another round of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Perks, this time offering subscribed players a chance to get their hands on the Ebon Flintlock Pistol, Obsidian Flag and an Onyx Tankard that’s perfect for the Golden Smoothie we’d just learned how to make.

And as always, we couldn’t let a full month go by without taking some time to celebrate the wonderful members of our community, and this time around that meant a Community Spotlight catching up with KeepinitTwisted! From a careful selection of panda-based ship names to the admirable and exhausting climbing of fifty-three floors to raise money for charity, the interview is a whirlwind adventure worth checking out.


Since we, for once, weren’t poised to deliver a series of content trailers, May seemed like the perfect opportunity for the Video team to try out something different. Enter our Sea of Thieves Explained video series, answering new players’ vital questions such as what is Sea of Thieves, how is Sea of Thieves and even why is Sea of Thieves? Even the most weathered of sea dogs might find a few new tips and tricks tucked away in these whistle-stop tours of the pirate life, so they’re definitely worth a look no matter your experience level.

One tradition we weren’t about to weasel out of though was Sea of Thieves News, which arrived mid-month to bring everyone up to speed on recent and upcoming changes to the game and various surrounding activities. Please be sure to enjoy the implementation of some top-of-the-range scarf animation while you watch.

Not to be outdone, the team over in Audio wanted to share some more of their own creations and released the ‘Warriors of the Waves’ track for all you music lovers. Buckle up, buccaneers, we’ve got battles to fight.


Back at the beginning of May, we were still delighting over the recent addition of owls and desperately wanted to hear what everyone had called their new feathered friends. Of course, owls weren’t the only thing added with Season 12 and we continued to explore the new features throughout May, such as experimenting with running speeds and finding out where all these windy horns keep coming from.

As always, there were several rounds of prizes to be dished out. Over in the world of screenshots, we took some time to reflect on the beauty of nature with a Stunning Sunsets round of #SoTShot. Fans of the colour orange were having a particularly excellent time. We were enjoying everyone’s pictures so much, in fact, that we threw a new round of Community Hub picks into the mix as well.

The community’s collective creativity was as inspiring as ever, and our social team decided to carry it on with a little creativity of their own – with… mixed results. Recognising that our artistic powers were simply too strong, we moved along to admiring the knife skills of dextrous pirates and musing on avian crimes. In between that and peering into the near future, we didn’t even have time for a quick nap. Maybe if our crew would give us a hand it wouldn’t be so bad…


And that was May! A mid-Season month so a little quieter than what went before, but still plenty to be getting on with, wouldn’t you agree? Let us know! You can, as ever, find us in all of the usual social places: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, or via the official Forums and Discord. Otherwise, it’s time we were getting back to work. After all, we’ve got places to be! No time to hang around…

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Sea of Thieves Round-Up: April 2024
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: March 2024
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: February 2024
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: January 2024

It’s been just over a month since Sea of Thieves launched globally on PlayStation®5 – and wow, what a rollercoaster it’s been. We’ve been inspired, entertained and truly heartwarmed by the way our community has embraced the new, blue pirates who’ve set sail on our waters of late. Thank you to everyone who’s been a part of Sea of Thieves’ journey since Season 12 kicked off – it’s been such a special time here in the studio, and we can’t wait to continue this wild ride with such a spirited and united community on board.

And unite, you all did – we can’t quite believe how many of you have come together to indulge in the camaraderie of crossplay. Since we launched on PS5®, a whopping 1,797,963 crossplay crew sessions have taken place, adding up to an outrageous amount of seafaring shenanigans – with 7,283,307 hours of playtime covered in these sessions. That’s the equivalent of 831 years – you could only just finish all of Grey’s Anatomy in that time!


If you like numbers, don’t worry, we have more for you: an incredible 49.8% of all PlayStation 5 pirates have played with someone on a different platform, with so many old salts being wonderful enough to show their new pals the ropes. It’s been a beautiful thing to watch old players and new come together like this. And if you want stats on how many of our lovely new players have been sunk? We couldn’t possibly comment, but if there were any, then we’re sure they’ve learned their lesson.

We have no doubt that with the expertise of our storied and seasoned sailors, many of our brand new swabbies will make it to Pirate Legend in no time. We know that 39,431 PlayStation-based corsairs have already hit Legend status, and we’re looking forward to seeing many more join the fabled ranks of Athena’s Fortune. Of course, you know what’d help everyone grasp their goals a little more quickly, right? A big ol’ Community Weekend, with absolute stonks on offer? Well, on that note, have we got news for you. Drum roll please!

For those of you new here, Community Weekend is something we take super-seriously on Sea of Thieves. It’s a once-a-Season extravaganza of all things community, where we take a full 48 hours to reward and celebrate you all for being the kindest, quirkiest set of pirates to sail the gaming seas. We do this with generous multipliers, a smorgasbord of freebies, time-limited Pop-Up Plunder and tons more – all of which you can expect between 11am UTC on Saturday, June 15th and 11am UTC on Monday, June 17th.

So without any further ado, let’s get into exactly what you can expect during this 48-hour frenzy of fun…


To raise the Community Emissary Grade, players will once again be tasked with tuning in to Twitch to level up the generosity of our active multiplier, with the total watch time powering Grade progress. It’s simple: all you need to do to help raise the Emissary Grade – and thus increase in-game rewards – is watch any of your favourite content creators within the Sea of Thieves category between 11am UTC on Saturday, June 15th and 11am UTC on Monday, June 17th. We’ll also be hosting a very special stream on our own Sea of Thieves Twitch channel – but more on that soon…

Every time the Community Emissary Grade levels up, so does the boost to gold, reputation, Seasonal Renown, Allegiance and Guild Reputation for everyone – with the top Grade offering two-and-a-half times the rewards for your work. These multipliers affect High Seas sailors only, so make sure you plan accordingly (and keep an eye on the horizon during your Community Weekend sessions for fellow pirates looking to steal your fortune).

Of course, we also have a range of Twitch Drops for folks tuning in, with the Stormy Sea Dog Concertina, Eastern Winds Sapphire Silken Gloves, Sage Sea Dog Bucket and Eastern Winds Sapphire Padded Belt all on offer to those who spend a chunk of time watching Sea of Thieves creators over the weekend. The special Drop that will be unlocked after the magic goal of 100,000 Voyages dived to and completed will be the Obsidian Captain’s Bed – another brand new Obsidian item debuting with this special Event.


More goodies await you when you play for the first time during Community Weekend: during the Event period, pirates logging in to Sea of Thieves will swipe a blue-and-green Community Weekend Flag (matching the Picture Walls present at every Outpost!) and the impossibly cute Performing Pup Emote. We can heartily recommend pairing your brand new flag with your New Dawn Sails – a commemorative set of sails available to all who play during Season 12, with a very complementary colour palette.

We’re also bringing a new dynamic to Community Weekend, letting newer players taste the freedom of diving to more World Events! While many of these are usually locked behind Trading Company progression, for this window only we’re letting all players, of any standing, dive to Skeleton Forts for all core Trading Companies. And even better: during the course of the weekend, players will be able to undertake these as many times as they want. For Pirate Legends of any level, Skeleton Forts for Athena’s Fortune will be unlocked and repeatable too. Result.


Everyone regardless of Pirate Legend status will also be given the option to undertake a single Legend of the Veil Voyage, so newer players can get a taste of the daring and high-value Voyages that await those who cross the threshold (legitimately) into the Pirate Legend Hideout. So, not only is there lots more gold on offer this weekend, there are also a lot more ways to go about making it!

Our time-limited, social media-based loot roulette shenanigans are back for Season 12 Community Weekend! Stay tuned to our social channels for clues on where we’ve tucked away some tantalising treasures on every single High Seas server. Each dig spot will be live for one hour only, so you’ll be racing against time and other crews to make sure you’re first to the loot location.

Good luck, pirates – may your compasses point true and your spades strike our stashes swiftly.

As is customary with Community Weekend, we love taking the time to bestow both love and rewards upon the unsung heroes and MVPs of our community. The way we do this is to honour a selection of fine folks with the Hat of Unfeasibly Glorious Fame – a rare, funny hat worn by the cream of our pirate crop.

Whether you’ve performed an astonishing feat on the seas and would like us to tip the Hat in your direction, or you’d like to shout out a crewmate or friend who embodies the Be More Pirate mantra for less specific but no less worthy reasons, we’ll take nominations all the way up to, and during, the weekend. So, if there’s something or someone you’d like to draw our attention to, tell us about it on Sea of Thieves social channels such as Twitter/X, Facebook and Instagram (the more info the better) with the #BeMorePirate tag. We’ll be watching!

We’re so excited to be throwing this Event for new players and old, whatever their choice of platform. Our PlayStation pirates are yet to experience the always-welcoming, sometimes-chaotic wholesome good vibes that come with our Community Weekends, and we hope every single sailor is anticipating what an adventure this first true multi-platform Event will prove to be. It’s set to be a very special event – one where you can reconnect with old friends, make new ones and then maybe sink them if you’re feeling spicy.

Either way, we hope to see you all on the seas – and if you do, please be kind to us. We’re friendly!

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

New Items – Now in Stock!

• Deadlock Jailer Ship Collection
  
• Deadlock Jailer Costume
  
• Deadlock Jailer Weapon Bundle
  
• Deadlock Jailer Double Barrel Pistol and Throwing Knives
  
• Deadlock Jailer Trinket
  
• Crimson Crypt, Lodestar and Dark Warsmith Double Barrel Pistols
  
• Shark’s Bane Ship’s Crest
  
• Captain’s Head Ship’s Crest
  
• Stormfish Chaser Weapon Bundle
  
• Stormfish Chaser Ship Collection (returning from Season Ten Plunder Pass)
  
• Forest’s Blessing Costume Set (returning from Season Six Plunder Pass)
  
• Creeping Cold Costume Set (returning from Season Five Plunder Pass)
  
• Presentation Emote Bundle
  
• In for the Kill Emote (free!)

Emporium Post-Purchase Recommendations

• Players purchasing items from the Pirate Emporium will now be shown a recommendation, suggesting similar items they may enjoy and allowing them to fast-track to the suggested offer.

New Outpost Stock!

• The Outpost weapon shops now stock a further range of Heavy Swords and Rapiers from the Seared Forsaken Ashes, Scorched Forsaken Ashes, Parrot, Sunshine Parrot and Nightshine Parrot sets, locked behind their associated Commendations.
  
• The Avian Courtly Jacket is also available from the Outpost clothing shops for gold.

Gameplay

• Players joining a crew in progress near a World Event will no longer find themselves appearing on the Ferry of the Damned, and should now arrive as intended at their crew’s ship.
  
• Players are no longer able to use a fishing rod while travelling through the air to modify their trajectory.
  
• Crews retrieving treasure from on board Skeleton Ships within a Fleet encounter will no longer find those items reappear when a ship resurfaces.
  
• Crews clearing out a Siren Shrine or Treasury will now find the rewards are randomised when the location refreshes, preventing players from farming specific items.
  
• Players rolling a 20 with the Roll a D20 Emote will now unlock the Critical Roll Commendation.
  
• Burying a depleted Ashen Winds Skull will no longer replenish its power when uncovered.
  
• Crews defeated in an Hourglass battle will no longer see a low-quality scene before being sent to the Tunnels of the Damned.
  
• Captains should no longer be able to place multiple Scourge of the Sea Trinkets aboard their ship.
  
• The Captain's Logbook will now consistently appear in the wreckage of a ship defeated in an Hourglass battle.
  
• Crews raiding the Treasury Vault of an emergent Sea Fort will no longer find a suite of Order of Souls treasure, and will instead find a more balanced mix.
  
• The Eye of Reach now deals the intended amount of damage to Ocean Crawlers in vulnerable or shielded states.
  
• Players who have purchased the Parakeet Sea Dog Outfit for their parrot will now see it present in the Pet Chest.
  
• ‘The Legend of Monkey Island’ – Time spent playing the Monkey Island Shanty will now be counted in Milestone statistics.

The War Chest

• Crew members will now unlock progress towards the Title Fight Commendation when a Skeleton Lord is defeated by another member of the crew.
  
• Crew members will now unlock progress towards the Rib Roast Commendation when an Ashen Lord is defeated by another member of the crew.

Throwing Knives

• Throwing knives hitting a capstan, Ammo Box or Armoury will now disappear and not block player interaction with the object.
  
• After throwing a knife, players should now consistently be able to sprint freely without being impeded.
  
• Players aiming a throwing knife should no longer feel a stutter when moving.
  
• Players will no longer be able to perform a heavy attack and then throw a knife in quick succession when using the throwing knives.
  
• Players stowing their throwing knives while charging a heavy attack will no longer retain the charged state when equipping the weapon again.
  
• Throwing knives now deal the intended amount of damage to Kraken tentacles.
  
• Throwing knives will now behave correctly when dropped off a ship into the water.
  
• Throwing a knife and quickly switching weapons should no longer display a knife attached to the player’s hand.
  
• Throwing a knife into water now displays the full splash visual effect.
  
• Throwing knives lodged in the environment will now glint smoothly when observed while moving around.
  
• Throwing knives stuck in the environment will now fade out smoothly when they expire.

Bone Caller

• Bone Caller Skeletons will no longer appear on a sinking ship, and as a ship sinks any remaining skeletons will be destroyed.
  
• During a Kraken encounter, Bone Caller Skeletons will now wait patiently for a threat they can reach.
  
• While inside a Siren Treasury, any skeletons remaining when the water level rises will now be destroyed.
  
• Bone Caller Skeletons can no longer be summoned in the Pirate Legend Hideout.
  
• Bone Caller Skeletons summoned in the Sunken Kingdom will now attack threats on sight and will not wait to be attacked first.

Double Barrel Pistol

• Players are now able to queue up a charged shot while reloading, so that once the reload is finished the shot begins charging.
  
• Players can now consistently reload from Ammo Crates/Pouches after using the Double Barrel Pistol.
  
• The Aim Down Sights camera speed is no longer retained after firing a charged shot.
  
• Players who are killed while charging a shot will no longer fire the shot upon death.
  
• Switching equipment after firing an aimed shot with the Double Barrel Pistol will no longer cause the item to appear in its secondary use state.
  
• The Double Barrel Pistol now deals the intended amount of damage to Kraken tentacles and Gold Hoarder Skeletons.
  
• The Double Barrel Pistol now deals the intended amount of damage to Ocean Crawlers in vulnerable or shielded states.
  
• Firing a charged shot while inside a ship will now play the full firing visual effect.

Horn of Fair Winds

• The Horn of Fair Winds can now be sold to all Trading Companies for the correct price even when fully depleted.
  
• Players standing at the front of a Rowboat can now be pushed back by the Horn of Fair Winds.
  
• Burying a depleted Horn of Fair Winds will no longer replenish its power when uncovered.
  
• Crews should no longer be able to obtain additional Horns of Fair Winds from the same Sunken Kingdom location in short periods of time.

Pirate Emporium

• The Toe Reach Emote has now had its price corrected from 249 to 149 Ancient Coins. Players who purchased the emote at the incorrect price will be reimbursed 100 Ancient Coins.
  
• The Cutler Beckett Costume Set has now had its price corrected from 599 to 999 Ancient Coins.

Environment

• Players should no longer be able to see into the environment within The Reaper’s Lair.
  
• Volcano eruptions on Devil’s Roar islands should no longer create visual effect issues on the ground.
  
• Skeletons will no longer become trapped under the stairs at Keel Haul Fort.
  
• Coral Skeletons will no longer become trapped in the scenery in the Shrine of Ancient Tears.
  
• Players should no longer find pockets of water missing within the Shrine of the Coral Tomb.

User Interface

• After transitioning a Guild to a new owner, the Guild leader will now be able to begin making changes and not be required to restart the game.
  
• Renown level notifications now display the appropriate Season 12 iconography.
  
• The summary details shown in the Reputation tab for each Trading Company now correctly display the number of Titles unlocked.
  
• Navigating the Report a Player menus with a mouse and keyboard or controller is now a consistent experience.
  
• Tall Tale rewards now correctly fit within their frames when browsing the Quest Table.
  
• ‘The Legend of Monkey Island’ – Dialogue options shown during Insult Sword Fighting are now much more responsive.
  
• Map markers for completed Tall Tales will now correctly display as unlocked on the ship’s map once completed.

Visual and Audio

• Players swimming down into the Sunken Kingdom after diving for a Voyage or Hourglass battle will now see the correct atmospheric conditions on their descent.
  
• Shooting a ship’s harpoon no longer displays a white hit marker.
  
• Looking up at a nearby ship while underwater no longer displays a moving shadow effect on the water’s surface.
  
• Several keys have been reduced in size to be consistent and fit properly in players’ hands.
  
• When wielding the Stormfish Chaser Blunderbuss, players’ hands will now rest correctly on the weapon.

Text and Localisation

• Small increase made to text sizes to improve accessibility within the My Ships flow on the front end.
  
• Improvements to text sizes within the Tall Tales section of the Quest Table to resolve overlapping text in non-English languages.
  
• The Infinite Depths Weapon Pose Emote now fits neatly within the Emote Radial.

Performance and Stability

• PC players adjusting resolution scaling will now see a warning that game performance will be affected.
  
• Reduced scenarios where players may receive a Hazelnutbeard error following migration to a new server.
  
• Further improvements made to game stability to reduce scenarios where players experience an unexpected exit from the game or become disconnected from their session.

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

Download Size:

• Steam: 4.4 GB

Well, it’s been a while since we last sat down to put together a Spotlight Showcase! Worry not though, we haven’t forgotten anyone during the intervening months, and now we’re here to bring you a bumper crop of all the Spotlights you might have missed since we last checked in. Let’s go!


First on our list from back in the mists of July is a Community Spotlight with renowned sail scrapbooker Captain Butterfinger! Alongside his efforts to catalogue the wonderful and varied sails of the Sea of Thieves, he took the opportunity to tell us about his favourite moments from playing the game and his excursions into a certain series of simian-themed ’90s point-and-click adventures.


For our first Creator Spotlight of this batch, we decided it was our turn to dig into the details with notorious nitpicker and quirky content creator, TheGeeNee. He ran us through some of his crazier stories in trademark chaotic style, from pig heists to hidden images, interspersed with some genuine advice and notes on the importance of criticism. Also doonaggles, whatever they are.


In August we followed up with another Creator Spotlight, this time with lore aficionado AShinyRay! Known in the community for his story musings and unwavering love of Captain Flameheart, he guided us through his journey from playing Spyro the Dragon on the PlayStation to producing Gears 5 content, all the way to becoming a quality-focused player in the Sea of Thieves community.


For our next Community Spotlight, we chatted with renowned pirate Sally the Swishing Slasher – or, more accurately, the shoutcaster behind Sally, Woodrow Jenkins! It was great to hear more about his history of Rare gaming, his Hide and Seek adventures and his tremendous passion for music. We didn’t even have to bribe him with extra shark content to talk to us. How lucky we are!


Next on the list was a coveted Legend Spotlight as we checked back in with the subject of our first ever Community Spotlight: IOnEI_Falcon! As one of the first people to play Sea of Thieves, he had lots of stories to share about his time on the waves and how he grew into the role of a trusted Deckhand for players worldwide. Not to mention those apparently stellar Guitar Hero skills…


Our next participant as we continued through September also landed a Legend Spotlight, as we caught up with crafty connoisseur Lizalaroo. One of the driving forces behind the ever-popular SoTFest convention, Liz recounted tales of her journey to Pirate Legend, her joyful discovery that the Legendary set matched her colour scheme and, of course, some of her phenomenal creations!


October beckoned and by this point it had been a little while since we hosted a Creator Spotlight, so we raced to catch up with famed speedster YooKay to fill the gap. A record holder for the fastest race to Pirate Legend – under five hours! – and creator of an array of video guides, he was kind enough to take a break from dispensing helpful hints and tackle some of our questions instead.


For our final Community Spotlight on this list, we wanted to go out in style, so who better to talk to than competitive legend PeiRei? Surprisingly for a winner in both the Notorious Arena League and Sea of Champions, he maintained that his fondest Sea of Thieves memory was buying the deeds to Mermaid’s Hideaway and Imperial Crown Fortress. Our estate agent isn’t quite so sure.


Our penultimate entry of this catch-up batch is the Creator Spotlight for real-life fisherman and PvP veteran, CJShiz! From starting out in the Closed Beta by sinking everyone else he came across, to catching some real-life Treacherous Plunder, his Spotlight walked us through his journey to becoming a Sea of Thieves Partner and offered tips for anyone thinking of following in his footsteps.


Taking us into December and the final Spotlight of 2023 was a Creator Spotlight on one of our newer Partners: Toxie Sinclaire. A meme queen and menace on the seas, she explained her approach to the ‘wild ride’ of content creation and the importance of being inventive, but our biggest question remained unanswered: what on earth is going on in that picture with Pendragon?

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And we’ll leave it there for now! We hadn’t meant to leave you hanging for quite so long, and the eagle-eyed amongst you may notice that there are a few more recent Spotlights not on this list. Never fear, we haven’t forgotten anyone: the next Showcase will include all the remaining interviews as well as a few yet to come. No one will be left behind!

In the meantime, why not pick some of the interviews above and click through for a complete read? Or, if you’ve already made it through the whole lot, you can check out all our historic Community, Creator and Legend Spotlights via the News page, or of course the previous Showcase round-up. There are always more sides to see of the incredible Sea of Thieves community – delve in and find out!

As spring progresses ever onward outside the windows, things haven’t slowed down for a moment inside Rare HQ! April was absolutely jam-packed with news and updates, including a PlayStation®5 launch for the very first time in our studio history, so let’s not waste time with any more preamble. From the top, here’s everything you might have missed last month!

Our main update wasn’t due until the very end of April, so we aimed to tide everyone over in the meantime with a Gold & Glory Weekend. What better way to make sure you all had a chance to get your hands on those last Season 11 rewards?

After that, it was just a hop, skip and jump into the launch of PlayStation 5 Early Access! We’d welcomed in a few players on this new platform towards the beginning of April with our Closed Beta, with a whole host of questions answered in an accompanying PS5® FAQ, but Early Access marked the first time that these players could take to the seas alongside everyone else. It was a fine sight to see so many crews rolling out a suitable welcome by flying the New Dawn Sails.

With the floodgates open, it was finally time for everyone to take the plunge into Season 12. Bringing new weapons, mechanics and the all-important owls to the seas for the first time, this update marked a major refresh for Sea of Thieves’ sandbox. Have you had a chance to dive in yet? How many times have you been sent to the brig for using the Horn of Fair Winds on your crewmates? Don’t worry, they’ll probably forgive you soon.


There was another milestone awaiting Sea of Thieves in April: the announcement that the game has now welcomed 40 million players since launch! In the six years since our shared pirate haven opened its doors, the team has delivered over 100 free updates to bring you the best experience possible – and it’s been a delight to watch so many pirates find their sea legs, make connections and chase that horizon. Thank you all so much for joining us, whether you’ve been here from the beginning or you’re just setting out on your Maiden Voyage.

Back in the here and now, as the team cooked up a storm of new features for Season 12, it seemed like a good time to share something else that was in the works: the Sea of Thieves cookbook! After giving everyone a little while to properly salivate over all the delightful dishes they’d be able to make, we came back with our latest From Concept to Cosmetic investigative article – this time dedicated to the mighty Frorb – offering everyone a little extra encouragement to complete Season 11 while they still could.

Around then, we realised it was about time for another Community Spotlight. This month, that meant catching up with lauded loot artist Cap’n Axe and finding out how he grew from streaming his pirate-themed Animal Crossing island into a renowned digital artist within the Sea of Thieves community. Give it a read!


As always, we couldn’t let the month go by without a fresh instalment of Sea of Thieves News, this time unveiling what players could expect from Season 12, the reintroduction of six-ship servers and, perhaps most notably of all, Daryl’s new haircut. Production Director Drew also stopped by for another quick chat about game health, which he followed up on later with an expanded State of Play Forum post to answer any lingering questions.

After that, it was full speed ahead into the release of Season 12 and, of course, the accompanying trailers. First, we had the Content Update trailer to lay out all the core features coming with the update, before the more condensed launch trailer landed to make sure even players who didn’t have a full minute to spare could get the highlights. And, for the fashionistas with an eye on the Emporium, we couldn’t forget our usual catwalk of new cosmetics to peruse.

And, in case that wasn’t quite enough trailer content to be getting on with, our PlayStation 5 launch felt like the perfect opportunity for a new overall trailer to show a new generation of players what they were about to get themselves into. Delightful sea-based chaos, mainly.


We really did try to start the month off calmly, but a rare fish sighting and the reveal of the latest Style of Thieves winners put a rapid end to that. We tried to claw it back with some lovely Fairy Tale vibes in the first monthly round of #SoTShot, and even the calm Fancy Fishing screenshots we explored with the next, but the chaos simply could not be stopped. Even the swabbies were getting in on it.

Some questionable parking aside, we did manage to get things back on track eventually with two Community Hub updates to celebrate some fabulous community creations. We even threw in two rounds of Twitch Drops help you earn a few extra goodies through the month, before said questionable parking forced us to make a quick PSA lest we completely drain the Outpost budget.

As you might have expected, we also spent a lot of April getting excited for the imminent arrival of owl sidekicks and how eager we were to pet them, but that wasn’t all we got up to. Our neverending hunt for loot started poorly and didn’t improve much from there, so we resorted to elaborate thievery instead. You’d think we’d have learned in six years. Maybe it’s all the lionfish’s fault…


And that was April! It’s been a really momentous time for Sea of Thieves lately and we’re endlessly thankful to have you experiencing it with us. Here’s to many more years together. For now, though, remember that you can always find us on the usual channels: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, and the official Forums and Discord. For now, it’s about time we returned to the seas…

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Sea of Thieves Round-Up: March 2024
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: February 2024
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: January 2024