Mar 17, 2023

Season Nine Arrives as Sea of Thieves Celebrates Five Years at Sea

Sea of Thieves: 2025 Edition - a-faddison

Season Nine of Sea of Thieves has arrived, packed to bursting with fresh features, prized plunder and many quality of life improvements to make the pirate life more approachable and enjoyable for all.
As players have come to expect, a new Season also brings 100 levels of progression to be climbed by living the pirate life and raising Renown, picking up a steady stream of rewards while rising through the ranks – while Season Nine’s optional Plunder Pass adds exclusive extra content to that treasure pile. Find out more about how Seasons work in our Seasons Explained and Plunder Pass Explained articles!

Fortune Favours the Bold

Valuable Chests of Fortune have begun to surface across the Sea of Thieves, and will require strategy and skill to acquire, as a single Chest can only found within a conquered Fort of Fortune. Acquiring them can be quite the accomplishment, especially when other crews arrive to ‘help’ you empty the Vault’s contents...

But the effort is well worth it, as players who hand in Chests of Fortune will gradually earn the right to possess cosmetics from the prestigious Fates of Fortune set. This new range is ready to expand in future updates, and showing it off will let everyone know the kind of truly tenacious treasure hunter you really are.

Never ones to be outdone, The Reaper’s Bones have acquired their own Fates of Fortune pieces and are reserving these for pirates who bring them large numbers of Reaper’s Chests and Reaper’s Bounties. Since these blighted boxes now cast a shining beacon into the sky at all times, not just until they’re handled, this may prove easier said than done.

Smoother Sailing

Pirate Legends, meanwhile, can embark on several useful new Voyages guaranteed to uncover helpful, hard-to-find treasures. One of these is the new Skull of Destiny, a Ritual Skull filled with the flames necessary to instigate a Fort of the Damned Event – with no trips to the afterlife required.

Elsewhere, crews aboard Captained ships will find that their Captain’s Logbooks now contain a blow-by-blow account of their most recent exploits, detailing everything from islands visited and ships sighted to frenzied battles against aggravated sea monsters. If you have spoils from those encounters, the Sovereigns have struck up an agreement with The Hunter’s Call and will deliver fish and cooked meat on your behalf – although the Seaposts’ residents now offer more gold for a fresh, direct delivery.

It’s not just Captains and fearless Fort enthusiasts who’ll benefit from Season Nine, of course, thanks to a raft of improvements and enhancements across the game. Check out the release notes for more information on everything that’s been given a spit and polish.

Now We Are Five

All these additions and changes keep the game evolving and improving as Sea of Thieves approaches its fifth anniversary, and we’ve got an extravagant birthday bash all planned out. Naturally, you’re all invited, so be sure to check out the rundown of what’s in the diary and how you can join in the celebratory shenanigans. We look forward to seeing you on the seas!

If you’ve yet to dive into Sea of Thieves’ inviting waters but you’re keen to be part of the anniversary revelry, the newly released Deluxe Edition gives you another option to get involved. Containing all the permanent content added to the game since launch, it also includes a wide-ranging assortment of bonus content – cosmetics, emotes and Ancient Coins to spend in the Pirate Emporium – that ensures you’ll sail in style from the very start. If you’re a Steam gamer, there’s more good news as Sea of Thieves is now Steam Deck Verified too!

Emporium Endeavours

The tireless traders of the Pirate Emporium have prepared a wealth of new stock ready for the launch of Season Nine. Inspiration for their wares this month has been taken from the many creatures that can be found lurking below the waves. Purchase a Plunder Pass, build your Seasonal Renown, and you’ll be able to inspire some jellyfish jealousy with the Sting Tide ship set and evolving costume, the latter of which comes with three fluorescent flavours to unlock and a Blowing Bubbles Emote.

Alternatively, you may find the ferocity of the Emporium’s Sea Serpent ship and weapon sets suits your pirate to a tee, or you might prefer to preserve your sense of mystery entirely and make use of the Enigmatic Emote Bundle. Additionally, owners of Captained ships can spruce up their Ship’s Crest with the Lodestar variant, ensuring there’s always a star to sail by. And why sail alone when you could bring a Gold Curse Barbary along for the ride? Just remember not to try and sell it.

Find Out More

For more information on the Sea of Thieves Season Nine update, including full release notes, visit the Sea of Thieves website. The update is available for free to all Sea of Thieves players on Steam. Simply download and install the latest Sea of Thieves update to get access.

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