Sea of Thieves

This 2.10.3 update lays the groundwork for the full Season 12 launch coming up on April 30th, while also introducing the first pirates on PlayStation®5 to the world of Sea of Thieves during an Early Access period. Be sure to extend a warm welcome if you meet them on the seas!

Fates of Fortune
Chest of Fortune

• The Chest of Fortune has been returned to the locked Vault of the formidable Fort of Fortune. Keep a keen eye on the horizon for the ominous red skull cloud in the sky when it becomes active.
  
• 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 Lantern, Spyglass, Compass and Bucket.

Reaper’s Chests

• Crews chasing down the tell-tale 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 Banjo and Drum.

Gameplay Improvements
Hit Registration Improvements

• Further improvements have been made to calculate the location of player shots more accurately across the client and server, providing a sizeable improvement to hit registration for ranged weapons across a range of combat scenarios.

Skeleton Ship and Megalodon Encounters

• The frequency of emergent Skeleton Ship and Megalodon encounters has been reduced to match the frequency of encounters prior to Season 11.

Animation Quality Settings

• Players now have improved control over the character animation quality within the Graphics Settings. This will provide a smoother experience; however, higher settings may impact CPU performance.

Outpost Cosmetics
New Outpost Stock!

• The Outpost shops have received a new shipment of items from the Seared Forsaken Ashes set, with the ship set and clothing now available to purchase with gold after unlocking the Warsmith of the Flame Commendation.
  
• The Outpost weapon shops now have the Forsaken Ashes Heavy Sword and Rapier available for Doubloons after unlocking the Devil’s Cartographer Commendation.

Legacy Event Cosmetics

• Previous rewards from the Wish You Were Here Event have now been added to the Outpost shops. The Cartographer Tattoo and the Refined Gold Cutlass, Spyglass and Speaking Trumpet are now available for Doubloons.

Season Five Legacy Cosmetics

• Cosmetics previously available during Season Five have arrived in Outpost shops and can now be yours in exchange for Doubloons!
  
• Players can purchase the Bell Brigade clothing set, along with a range of unique one-off items that were available during this Season. Pirate Legends can also pick up Merrick’s Tankard and Grimm’s Jacket.
  
• The time-limited Ancient Gold items, however, remain exclusive to players who participated in Season Five.

Updates
Report a Player

• The in-game Report a Player tool has now been extended, providing the ability to report players for Movement Exploits, Aiming Exploits and Toxic Behaviour.
  
• As with all player reports, these will be referred to the Sea of Thieves Support team for investigation and follow-up action.

Pirate Emporium Quick Menu

• The Pirate Emporium can now be accessed via the Quick Menu, allowing players to browse the Emporium at any time!

Pirate Emporium Local Currency Purchasing

• With shopping improvements in the works for the Pirate Emporium, this update removes a lesser-used feature that provided players with the ability to make purchases within the Pirate Emporium directly using their local currency.

Port Merrick Front End Menu

• The tavern location for the front end is now using the recently constructed Port Merrick tavern.

Fixed Issues
Gameplay

• Crews diving to an experience or Faction battle and surfacing alongside another ship should no longer encounter issues where items on board their ship become non-interactable.
  
• The frequency of sharks appearing when players set foot in the water has returned to normal levels.
  
• Resolved an issue experienced during high network traffic where players bailing from a ship would find that water would only be visually thrown from a bucket, and could then be thrown a second time.
  
• Console players can once again use a mouse and keyboard with full compatibility.
  
• Skeletons have been reminded that they need to repair damage to their ships during battle.
  
• Shipwrights should now consistently deliver purchased supplies to Captains.
  
• Players losing treasure during the Merchant Alliance or Order of Souls Tutorial Voyages will now find the Voyage cancelled.
  
• Players can no longer use a cannon to generate additional throwables.
  
• All Gold Hoarders Vault Voyages have been updated to prevent crews from predicting the location of the treasure.
  
• Players will no longer find treasure from a Siren Shrine reappears after leaving and returning to a cleared area.
  
• Selling Gold Hoarders artefacts at The Reaper's Hideout should no longer progress Gold Hoarders Commendations.
  
• Captains leaving a ship damaged at the end of a session should now consistently find the ship seaworthy in their next session, but will still need to restore it to fully repair it.
  
• The following Commendations will now progress when completing the required criteria: Righteous Victory, Athena’s Shield, Order of Ghouls, Hunt Them Down, Is That All You’ve Got?, Bones, Not Bonds.
  
• Crews failing to find an Hourglass battle after diving will no longer be unable to catch fire when returning to their original server.
  
• Resource Crates placed on a docked Rowboat should now still be visible and accessible after leaving the Tunnels of the Damned.

Performance and Stability

• Players should now find in-game voice chat works consistently when playing across platforms and regions.
  
• Improvements made to shop purchasing when under heavy load, reducing scenarios where players may become stuck ‘Counting Coins’.
  
• Players should no longer become stuck waiting while attempting to purchase a Trading Company promotion.
  
• Players returning through the Tunnels of the Damned following a Tall Tale should no longer experience a Hazelnutbeard error.
  
• Further improvements made to game stability to reduce scenarios where players experience an unexpected exit from the game or become disconnected from their session.

Anti-Cheat

• Players on Steam should no longer encounter the error that Easy Anti-Cheat is not installed when installing from the Steam Store.
  
• Improvements made to Anti-Cheat detection, reducing the frequency of players encountering a Hazelnutbeard error.
  
• Improvements made to Anti-Cheat detection to further protect from external access.

User Interface

• Players can now successfully send Guild Invites to players not on their Xbox friends list.
  
• Players on PC will now find their graphics settings are consistently saved across sessions.
  
• Crewmates attacked by an enemy will now show the appropriate Crew Status Tag on their nameplate.
  
• The Ruby Stinger Cutlass shown in the Armoury preview now more closely matches the wielded weapon.
  
• The Flourishing Wild Rose items now display the correct iconography in the cosmetic chests.
  
• Viewing the Lantern Dance Emote within the Vanity Chest now displays the correct flame colour.
  
• The Noble Spartan Sails now display the correct iconography in the Ship Customisation Chest.
  
• Players attempting to close the virtual keyboard while typing in text chat will now find the menu is closed.

Visual and Audio

• Players should now consistently see their ship name adorning the Ship’s Crest when joining a session.
  
• While navigating around islands, players should no longer see leaves sometimes pop in and out.
  
• While observing shadows cast on board the ship, players should no longer see the shadows of ropes sometimes pop in and out while moving.
  
• Picking up a Captain's Key while on a Lost Shipment Voyage should now show it sitting correctly in the player’s hand.
  
• While on the Legend of the Sunken Kingdom Voyage, picking up the Gold Hoarders Medallion should no longer cause it to visually shrink in the player’s hand.
  
• Players traversing the world should no longer see large shadows pop in and out across islands or while out at sea.
  
• Players picking up the Vestige of Power or Ashes of Ruin will now find they use the correct animation when held.
  
• Players dodging repeatedly with a sword should continue to see their sword sway when returning to blocking.
  
• During cutlass battles with Skeletons and Phantoms, striking and blocking animations are now more accurately synchronised for both players and enemies.
  
• Players swimming quickly underwater will now see the correct bubble effects from both hands.
  
• ‘The Journey to Mêlée Island’ – The Clock Tower Key should now sit correctly in the player’s hand.
  
• ‘The Shroudbreaker’ – The Mysterious Stranger now animates smoothly during the initial cutscene.

Environment

• Crews exploring a sunken shipwreck should once again be able to easily retrieve Bounty Skulls from within the Captain’s quarters.
  
• Crews unlocking the Vault beneath the Fort of the Damned will now find the treasure placed neatly on the surfaces.

Text and Localisation

• Improvements made to Quest Books across The Legend of Monkey Island Tall Tales to reduce overlapping text in a range of languages.
  
• The Unbroken Bonds Sails now have an appropriate name when viewed in the Ship Customisation Chest.
  
• Tasha at Ancient Spire Outpost no longer has duplicated words in her dialogue.
  
• Ship names using the maximum character length will no longer overflow within the Captain’s Logbook.
  
• Text shown on the loading screen will now be displayed correctly when using an Ultrawide monitor.
  
• ‘A Pirate's Life’ – The Cursed Captain’s name should always be shown alongside the relevant subtitles in all languages.

Known Issues
Open Crew Matchmaking Temporarily Disabled

• Due to an issue discovered in this update, players will not currently have the option to select and join an Open Crew session from the front end menu. The team are working to resolve this issue and restore Open Crew matchmaking as part of our full Season 12 update on April 30th.

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 and Installation
Download Size:

• Steam: 8.3GB

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As I’m sure you can imagine, when it comes to Sea of Thieves my days are full of numbers. Development costs, active servers, days until the next update… Sometimes, though, a truly extraordinary number stands out – a number like 40 million, which I’m incredibly pleased to say is the number of pirates who’ve now set sail in Sea of Thieves!

40 million players across Xbox, Windows 10 and Steam is an amazing milestone to be able to talk about, and of course it wouldn’t have happened without you – our brilliant, positive and welcoming community, who continue to surprise and impress us with your creativity and antics out on the waves.

That said, I also want to take this opportunity to offer heartfelt thanks to the team, who’ve worked so hard to deliver over a hundred free updates since launch and have plenty more excitement and innovation on the horizon. Season 12 is almost here, and the new additions like throwing knives and the Bone Caller are going to transform our sandbox yet again.

I’m also excited about getting to expand our community even further, as we’re just days away from launching on PlayStation®5 and introducing a whole new plethora of pirates to our shared world. The positivity and excitement coming out of our Closed Beta was infectious, and I can’t wait for even more fresh faces to arrive starting next week.

Before then, though, there’s time to celebrate this 40 million milestone during our imminent Gold & Glory Weekend. If you’re still working through Season 11’s 100 levels, this will be the perfect time to rake in that boosted Renown – along with gold, reputation and everything else. So take part, join us in both celebration of all our players and anticipation of those who are about to undertake their Maiden Voyage on PS5®, and we’ll see you on the seas!

– Joe “Three Sheets” Neate

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Our From Concept to Cosmetic series has a somewhat storied history when it comes to talking about lanterns that capture the imagination of players. Indeed, the very first instalment covered the creation of the original lantern MVP: the mighty Orb. Since that first step into the world of cosmetic design, we’ve branched out into all kinds of wonders, from punk fashion and Plunder Pass picks to ship signage and pirates’ most loyal companions.

We had a fine old time hearing about how these other cosmetics came together, but in Season 11, the time has come once again to admit that we’ll never fully escape the simple joy of a funny lantern. So this time it’s the round, ribbiting Fog-Piercing Frog Lantern that has stolen our hearts and, presumably, hidden them in a swamp somewhere. It really is lanterns all the way down. Who’d have thought?

Looking at this round boy, we just had to find out where he came from, so we called upon some the folks involved and recorded their responses in this neat little article. Enjoy!

Concept
Unlike many of the other items on offer to players who earn enough Renown throughout Season 11, the Fog-Piercing Frog Lantern isn’t part of a wider cosmetic set. Without the need to conform to an overarching theme, standalone items often enable the design team to spread the wings of their imagination, as Senior Concept Artist Tom Mahon explains:

“In general, I think it’s much easier to come up with a single one-off item, as the theme or unique element of the design only has to fit that item. It can be tricky when we have cool ideas for a collection that then have to be applied to every item type we have, getting those to sit well together and feel cohesive.

“Over time, of course, we’ve gotten better at it, so now when we’re pitching new themes, we have a good sense of which elements should be shared and which can be unique. With a music-inspired set, for example, we would try to incorporate different instruments into the designs rather than saying ‘let’s put drums on everything!’ – that would change the tone, and probably read a lot more like a war set (not a bad idea actually!)

“We try to carry materials and colours across a set as much as possible, but with motifs and symbols I think it’s good to have some restraint. We don’t want to be overly reliant on slapping a logo on everything to make it look cohesive. A set should feel tonally consistent, like the items were made by the same crew or craftsmen or coming from the same place. They need to be visually appealing and interesting by themselves, but still make sense in a larger context.”

Season 11 sees three standalone items included in the Renown rewards: the Musketeer Eye of Reach at level 51, everyone’s favourite frog at level 70, and the Banded Chaperon Hat at a lofty level 96. While we’d never pick favourites, and all three are rewarding in and of themselves, it’s safe to say that the Frog Lantern has captured players’ interest in a way almost unheard of for standalone cosmetics.

How, then, did this surprisingly simple yet endlessly entertaining little guy come to be? What is it about the lantern’s design that has made it so captivating? As Tom tells us:

“It was designed by an artist who no longer works with us (shout out to Artur Zima!), but as pirates in general have a connection with exploration and nature, drawing inspiration from animals is something we do often.

“This one was actually designed a few years ago during a cosmetic concept jam. That’s when our artists all get together and come up with fresh ideas for cosmetics with no set brief, we just brainstorm and throw ideas around. After we’re done, the work gets reviewed by our directors and producers and certain concepts are selected. Sometimes an item just works better as a single one-off cosmetic, while in other instances it can turn into a brief for an entire set.

“As for the Frog Lantern, every now and then we're asked to check out our previous jam work to see if anything pops out, and that one stood out as a fun one-off item. I don’t think any of us knew just how popular it would be!”

The lantern’s intense popularity also raises the question of how it should be obtained in-game. More popular or more elaborate cosmetics are typically tied to harder Commendations or are more expensive to buy, providing a suitably enticing reward for players who put in the work. Does this mean, then, that the Art team try to keep the end use in mind during the creation process, or does that decision come later? Tom tells us that reward allocation is often a different process entirely:

“Sometimes we know where something will be used. Work can come from concept jams with no set brief, so at that initial stage we just try to make something unique and appealing. Later on it’s decided where those concepts fit best, and sometimes we’ll go back to a concept and adapt it. However, we have a pretty regular cadence when it comes to releasing items, so the Concept team will receive briefs to design those. The brief for a Seasonal Renown cosmetic set would be tied to what’s going on during that Season, or as a reward for beating a specific Event.

“In the beginning of Sea of Thieves we had a fairly flat hierarchy in terms of designs, so usually the more shiny and golden something was, the ‘better’. But because the game is all about self-expression, we didn't want anyone to think less of themselves for rocking that Bilge Rat Shirt. We do give a sense of progression with some of our cosmetics though, so players feel like they have something to strive for, particularly when it comes to advancing with Trading Companies and becoming a Pirate Legend.

“As for our Emporium cosmetics, we like to think of them as belonging to pirates who have travelled far to the Sea of Thieves, so it’s okay if they’re a little out there, and most of our Emporium sets aren’t tied to in-game lore.”

Creation
In comparison to the intricate animations of Collector’s Pets or the many and varied models required to build a complete ship set, modelling and programming a lantern seems like it should be a relatively simple process. As Senior Level Artist Joachim Coppens tells us:

“A lantern is actually one of the more straightforward props to bring into the game. From a modelling point of view, we have our template models so we know exactly where the player’s hand will be and how large the lantern should be. We just have to make sure to stick to those guidelines and do a visual check that there’s no clipping of the player’s hand with the lantern, and that it works properly with our swinging animation shader.

“Once we bring it into the game, we manually set a specific point from which it will be casting its light (marked SPOTLIGHT__Socket in the image below).”

That’s not to say bringing a lantern to life is an easy task – by their nature as sources of light and vessels for the Flames of Fate, they can present a complex challenge when it comes to effects. Fortunately, with many years of lantern wrangling behind them, even a design as powerful as this frog wasn’t enough to throw the team off their game. Joachim explains:

“There have definitely been discussions about the Flames of Fate for various lanterns. Some designs that our Concept team come up with would be nice to do but wouldn’t play well with the way our lanterns work, because you need to be able to read their colour clearly.

“We always look at all our props on a case-by-case basis and try to find the coolest-looking, best-feeling compromise for gameplay and visuals. We do try to push it sometimes, by developing a new bit of technology for a specific lantern and carrying that forward to future designs. If I’m not misremembering, our very first lanterns didn’t tend to have open flames, that came later – and once we’d done one, it became easier to do more.”

And push the limits the team did with this lantern, designing a unique addition in the form of a little swarm of glowing insects that buzz around its face. A cute touch they might be, but as Technical Artist Emmett Green explains, it took a lot of careful work to get just right:

“The Frog Lantern definitely posed a fun challenge for the Tech Art team in terms of adding firefly effects! We aren’t able to add particles to sets or uniques due to performance constraints, so it’s been a personal challenge of mine recently to make them with billboard shaders instead.

“Luckily, I’d already created a similar effect for the Labyrinth Looter ship’s fake embers rising from flames, so I reused and improved the material to support our firefly flipbook animations. This included tilting them in the direction they’re moving, figuring out how bright they should be when the lantern is turned on or off, and adding the Flames of Fate colour shift. As for the internal effect, we reused a material previously made in Season Four for the Firefly Lantern.

“Of course, this came with a new issue where the external fireflies were moving upwards with the lantern when raised, so I tried to carefully balance whether they were following the lantern or the player’s height to hide it as much as possible. I even made custom LOD stages to hold off deleting the poor fireflies when the player walks away, isolating them to prevent a jarring transition in the level of detail and stop them vanishing too soon.”

Fortunately, Emmett didn’t mind the challenge one bit: “All in all, it was a fantastic lantern to work on, and I’m glad it’s become as popular as its predecessor!”

Reception
Prior to the Fog-Piercing Frog Lantern’s reveal, its concept art had made the rounds within the studio, so the community-facing teams already had some idea of how popular it was likely to be. And upon its release with Season 11, players across the globe became instantly enamoured as they raised their Renown to claim a vibrant amphibian of their very own.

Twitter began to fill up with exclamations like “FRORB OBTAINED!” from spikee_j and PostOfSouls realising their dreams with the statement “I finally got the FRORB”. Underlining this community-wide desire to share the moment they joined the ranks of frog-flaunting freebooters, HeSlashThem simply proclaimed “Obligatory I have the FRORB lantern now post”. Nice.

This lantern’s instant appeal could also be measured beyond mere in-game excitement. Pieces of art from regular names like Hull Lariash and Zookie, real-world props from ChloeSauras, ColourMeFun and SwordLordStu, memes like this one from CheeckiBreecki and even proclamations of forming a cult dedicated to this adorable lighting device (starting with Nomezilla) meant that it was easy to see its impact at a glance.

So powerful was the Frorb that it ensnared our own Community team too. As anyone who follows official Sea of Thieves social media accounts will know, the release of Season 11 was accompanied by a slew of frog-based festivities. We even hosted a themed Community Hub update celebrating a multitude of amphibian artworks in all their froggy glory. There was also… this, but perhaps the less said about that, the better. Even if he did inspire some even wilder fan art.

And that, dear readers, is how the phenomenal Fog-Piercing Frog Lantern came to be: a little guy that captured imaginations in a way you probably wouldn’t expect from a roughly carved block of wood. Remember, if you want to get your hands on this fine froggy friend, all you have to do is reach Renown level 70 before Season 11 comes to an end. After that, who knows when we might see it again?

Well, fortunately, Producer Louise Roberts does know, and she was kind enough to tell us:

“The lantern will be returning after Season 11! We are cycling Seasonal progression track cosmetic items back in, currently with a gap of around seven Seasons. When it does come back, it will likely be priced in Doubloons.”

Which brings us to the end of another From Concept to Cosmetic article. Season 11 is packed with exciting rewards to get your hands on before it ends, including a whole host of Trading Company costumes for players dedicated enough to raise their reputation to new, loftier heights. If you want more of an idea of what’s up for grabs, check out the Season 11 Content Update video for all the highlights!

In the meantime, let us know what you think of our beloved Frorb (and perhaps the rest of Season 11 while you’re at it). Find us in all the usual places on social media – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitch and Tiktok, as well as on our official Forums and Discord server. If you’re hankering for more behind-the-scenes glimpses at how Sea of Thieves cosmetics come together, you can read some of the previous entries in this series in our News archive.

Now we really need to stop thinking about frogs for a while to preserve our sanity, so get sailing! Season 11’s rewards are only available for a couple more weeks, and that lantern’s not going to unlock itself…

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As April showers clamour to make themselves known, we’ve realised it’s probably time to tick the Round-Up off our monthly to-do list and catch you up on all the major happenings of the last month. And thus, here we are! Settle in, obtain a beverage of your choosing and let’s get to it.

Content Update
As always, a new month meant a new content update, complete with handy release notes containing all the details. This one was headlined by the arrival of the much-anticipated anti-cheat system, the ability for players with no live service subscription to still play solo on Safer Seas, and a waterfall of wondrous cosmetics – both in the Pirate Emporium (where they were joined by a cut-price Classics range) and at the Outpost shops. There was also a fresh makeover for an old friend, with a bit of help from one of Madame Olivia’s Pirate Appearance Potions!

March marked Sea of Thieves’ sixth anniversary too, and it wasn’t like we were about to let that pass without a celebratory Event. Enter the Legendary Message in a Bottle Voyages, offering tantalisingly valuable Athena’s Fortune treasure for any pirates willing to track them down. Completing one of these also granted players the glittering Seaglass Rapier to help them commemorate the momentous milestone. Really makes you wonder who keeps making all this glass, doesn’t it?

News and Features
The standout news of March was the arrival of Sea of Thieves pre-orders on PlayStation®5! Not only did this mean that players on the new platform could stake their claim well before launch, it revealed the three new editions of the game coming to all platforms for 2024, and the host of goodies accompanying each one.

New players weren’t the only thing to get excited about in the month of our sixth anniversary, and we dropped a recap article on the day itself to walk you through all this year’s tie-in activities. Handily, March also hosted Season 11’s round of Style of Thieves and ensured everyone was dressed to the nines for the occasion!

In community news, we had another Creator Spotlight to bring you as we introduced Pufferson, a seasoned Slooper and proud winner of Last Ship Standing. She was happy to share her journey from World of Warcraft to Sea of Thieves, and how studying UX design ultimately led her into content creation.

Outside the game, March also welcomed a new Sea of Thieves addition to the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Perks programme in the form of the Kraken Classic Bundle! Lore fans were treated to the third instalment of the Sea Dog’s Search comic series where Lesedi continued the desperate hunt for her brother’s soul, while music fans were able to savour the stirring ‘Treasury Ambush’, our latest streaming soundtrack addition.

Videos and Streams
With both anniversary and PS5® announcements in March, it only made sense to kick off the month with a new episode of Sea of Thieves News. As well as lining up bottles for the forthcoming Event, this instalment gave our Production Director and resident technical news-deliverer Drew a chance to reveal more details on the Easy Anti-Cheat system. And to plead for a little mercy on behalf of all the new players, but we’re not sure anyone listened to that bit.

Speaking of new players, the reveal of PS5 pre-orders marked a new chapter for our little pirate paradise and we wanted our branding to reflect that. To that end, we didn’t just release a new trailer for said pre-orders but also a freshly updated #BeMorePirate trailer for the game itself, reflecting on a full six years of updates, expansions and refinements. Here’s to many more to come!

And, as we look to the future of Sea of Thieves, it made sense to complete our anniversary celebrations with an inside look at what’s going to be arriving in the upcoming year. That meant rounding up Sea of Thieves team members to spill the beans on Seasons 12, 13 and 14, then compressing all their answers into a 20-minute Preview Event! What future update are you most excited about? It’s owls, isn’t it? It’s always owls.

Social Channels
After all the excitements of February, we wanted to at least try to start March in a calmer mood. That meant digging into Sea of Thieves’ sound effects and coming up with the most soothing ASMR we could find amidst all the burning ships and flag revelations. Of course, the peace and quiet could never last for long, especially when a certain member of the team decided to go undercover and staunchly refused to come back.

Fortunately, the lure of a new #SoTShot round was enough to bring the whole team back together, and we collectively delighted in everyone’s take on Radical Rowboats. Not to be left out, the Community Hub was also due for an update as we celebrated more amazing art, crafts and creations produced by players.

From there, the anniversary celebrations had us reminiscing on some of our earliest days at sea, and admiring how much we’ve all changed since then – as well as looking forward to where we’re going next. After that, all that was left was to keep an eye out for suspicious boarders, imagine a strange new world for Megalodons, and uncover the greatest treasure of all. Who could resist that face?

And so we came to the end of March! It’s a very exciting time for Sea of Thieves right now, hopping from an anniversary to the imminent prospect of a new platform launch and a new Season, so thank you for being here with us for all of it. As always, if you’ve got any feedback or burning questions you want to hurl our way, find us on the usual channels: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, and the official Forums and Discord. Otherwise, there’s much more to come throughout April, so stick with us! We’ll see you again soon…

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Six years! Who’d have thought it? It was on this day in 2018 that Sea of Thieves came crashing into the world and we’re still here cooking up new features, you’re still here playing them and we love you for that, and the seas are about to get busier than ever when PlayStation®5 players join in with our ungovernable shenanigans next month.

So how are we marking the anniversary this year? Mainly by letting you in on a whole treasure trove of secrets. We’ve got plenty planned for the next few Seasons and thought you might enjoy a taster of what’s on the horizon, which you can get simply by tuning in to the special 2024 Preview Event video on our YouTube or Twitch channels as of today.

Press play now to learn about new features on the way to spice up the Sea of Thieves sandbox in 2024! Exciting new weapons? Check. Inventive new tools? Yep. The return of Flameheart and the Burning Blade? Oh, don’t let us spoil it, just watch it:

Of course, there has to be an in-game sixth anniversary celebration too. This year it comes in the form of the Sixth Anniversary Celebration, an Event name that took weeks to pull together. Running from March 20th-25th, this sees Legendary Messages in a Bottle washing up on shorelines and settling into shipwrecks all across the Sea of Thieves, rich with promise and ready for the taking. In each one is a Voyage leading to Athena’s Fortune treasure, and you won’t even need to be a Pirate Legend to go get it.

Cosmetic rewards? Naturally: just setting sail while this Event is active will award you the anniversary gift of a Golden Sailor Capstan, while pirates who complete enough Voyages sourced from these Legendary bottles can tool up with the thematically appropriate Seaglass Rapier.

Did we mention Gold & Glory? That’s right, you can also earn double gold, reputation, Seasonal Renown, Allegiance and Guild Reputation via Gold & Glory boosts while this Event is live from March 20th-25th. Get involved!

Can we interest you in Pirate Emporium bargains to accompany your other earnings? We can? Nice, as there’s an Anniversary Sale kicking off today. This one runs from March 20th-28th, with discounts on fabulous cosmetics from Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island and the ever-popular Dark Warsmith collection. The elusive Reaper’s Mark Sails are briefly back in stock too, while the Conductor Emote can be freely claimed by all visitors to the Pirate Emporium for the duration of the sale.

We always say there’s no slowing down for Sea of Thieves, but we really have sailed into 2024 ready to battle hard on behalf of players, set on sustaining this world as a place for you to seek adventure and make memories with your crew. Putting in the work at the end of last year to secure Season 11’s January launch was a statement of intent; the 2024 Preview Event, along with our ongoing focus to keep improving in areas such as hit registration and anti-cheat, show that we’re still in this for the long haul. We’d love it if you were there too, to find out exactly what else is coming over the horizon.

Sea of Thieves Season 12 and all its knife-throwing, ziplining, double-barrelling action will launch on April 30th. Until then, we hope you enjoy the Preview Event, the Sixth Anniversary Celebration and the time remaining to ramp up your Renown and unlock all Season 11’s rewards! Frorb forever.

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As Season 11 bobs along, occasionally dipping below the waves so it can crash back above them in dramatic fashion, we’re slowly ticking off the usual Seasonal activities. But if there’s one thing that players keep asking about in our social replies that’s yet to make its debut, it’s Anti-Cheat. Good news you lot, that’s just arrived in the March update!

If there’s another thing we see the odd mention of (not so many it’s annoying, but just enough that it causes a little irritation right on the small of the back where you just can’t scratch no matter how well you contort, or how fancy your hook) it’s people wondering when the next Style of Thieves contest will be. Well get ready, because we’re about to write it… any second now…

Sea of Thieves Season 11’s Style of Thieves contest will take place from March 25th-28th!

Phew, there we go. Definitely the biggest secret we’ve had to hold on to for quite some time. Usual advice applies – while you’re more than welcome to try on some threads and take your pictures in advance, those four days, March 25th-28th, will open the 24-hour windows in which to enter this Season’s four themes via social media channels.

Once a theme opens for entry (you’ll know because we’ll make a post announcing it), it’s up to you to share your stylish screenshots, including the name of the theme you’re entering and any other relevant information. Scroll down and read the How to Enter section for a rundown of the full rules and advice.

Once a theme has closed, our crew will pore over every entry to select the sailors they feel found the most fascinating fits (by their questionable taste, at least). That list is then chiselled into stone and dropped onto the desk of the nearest member of our Art team, with potentially destructive results. Regardless of whether their desk survives, they’ll have the final decision on up to 21 winning pirates.

Three winners per category, meaning 12 entries total, will take home a pair of the Fashionista’s Finery Gloves – and for the first time in a main Style of Thieves contest, one of our categories is open to groups of three and four pirates! The plan is then to announce the winning pirates via social channels on April 4th. And remember – even if you don’t win, it’s all a bit of fun, and we hope you enjoy exploring some fresh looks for your pirate.

Right, let’s talk about what we want you to dress up like this time…

The Themes
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.

Red Carpet
Embrace the glamorous side of the whole pirating business and dress to impress with an outfit designed for striking a pose every five seconds.
Entry date: March 25th

Castaway
from torn sleeves to scraggly beards, reject hygiene and tell us a tale of survival through slovenly style.
Entry date: March 26th

Pop Band
Gather a group of three or four pirates and select complementary clothing that would pop on a poster and have your fans fawning. The outfits simply need to give the impression of a musical group, and don’t need to be based on a real act. Please remember to name the other pirates you’re posing with.
Entry date: March 27th

Artist
From passionate painters to tortured souls, don some duds that express your pirates’ capacity for expression to the world.
Entry date: March 28th

Image credit: @destmorr on Twitter/X

How to Enter
Now into the part of the article that’s the same every time. 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 Twitter/X, 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.

Rules of the Runway
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, like the Pop Band theme in this Season, all shots should be solo pirates and not crews. Only the pirate(s) 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 helps, 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. 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 the 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: @Ankerwisp on Twitter/X

Right, done. That should be everything you need to know to enter the next round of Style of Thieves between March 25th and 28th, 2024. Time once more to find your frocks and ponder your pants, and we wish you good luck. Have fun!

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Game Improvements
Easy Anti-Cheat

• Sea of Thieves is now protected by Easy Anti-Cheat, the industry-leading anti-cheat solution designed by Epic Games to identify and address instances of hacking and cheating in multiplayer games.
  
• This anti-cheat solution will be updated outside of Sea of Thieves’ regular update schedule to keep in sync with cheat developers.

Updates
Virtual Keyboard Support

• Players summoning the Virtual Keyboard inside the game will now find that a range of new languages are supported: Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Korean and Russian.

Message of the Day

• Players will now experience a Message of the Day when arriving in the front end menu, highlighting current Season features, upcoming content and other exciting news within the world of Sea of Thieves.

Adventures Tab

• The Adventures tab has been hidden from the Quick Menu for a more streamlined navigation experience.

Report a Player

• The in-game Report a Player tool has now been extended, providing players with easy access to a web-based route for making a more detailed report through the Sea of Thieves Support site.

Pirate Emporium
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 find out more!

New Items – Now in Stock!

• Stone Islehopper Outlaw Ship Collection
  
• Stone Islehopper Outlaw Weapon Bundle
  
• Stone Islehopper Outlaw Costume
  
• Stone Islehopper Outlaw Banjo
  
• Roaring Grog Emote Bundle
  
• Gold Curse Whippet
  
• Spartan Ship Collection (returning from time-limited promotion)
  
• Ravenwood Costume Set (returning from Season Eight Plunder Pass)
  
• Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life Big Bundles
  
• Blow Bubbles Emote (free!)

Introducing the Classics Range

• A range of older ship collections are moving into a Classics range within the Emporium, and will be permanently reduced in price. Further sets will be added to the range in future after being available in the game for a number of years.
  
• The Classics range currently includes 15 fan-favourite ship sets including the Cutthroat, Sea of Sands and Bear & Bird collections.

Outpost Cosmetics
New Outpost Stock!

• The Outpost shipwrights have received a new shipment of items from the Maestro set. Players are now able to purchase Maestro ship parts after unlocking The Artistic Souls Commendation.
  
• The Outpost shops now offer items from the Flourishing Wild Rose set, with ship parts along with the Heavy Sword and Rapier available after unlocking the Always Yours Commendation.
  
• For those wishing to collect further items from the Wild Rose and Thriving Wild Rose sets, the Heavy Swords and Rapiers are now available after unlocking the Always Yours Commendation.
  
• The Outpost clothing shops also offer a range of new beards and hairstyles, with the Wild Rose Waxed Hair, Floral Hair and Beard along with the windswept Sweeping Hair.

Fixed Issues
Gameplay

• Crews diving to an experience or Faction battle and surfacing alongside another ship should no longer encounter issues where items on board their ship become non-interactable.
  
• After losing a battle with an emergent Skeleton Ship or Megalodon, players will now receive a longer rest period before being attacked again.
  
• The frequency of sharks appearing when players set foot in the water has now returned to normal levels.
  
• Improved directional stick input detection on controllers and returned dead zone and response curve controls.
  
• Console players can once again use a mouse and keyboard with full compatibility.
  
• Sailor’s Knot Stronghold becoming a Skeleton Fort or Fort of Fortune encounter will now consistently be defended by skeletons.
  
• Buried treasure will no longer migrate with the crew across servers.
  
• Players will no longer find treasure from a Sea Fort or Siren Shrine reappears after leaving and returning to a cleared area.
  
• Diving to an Athena’s Fortune Ashen Lord encounter will now consistently reward players with Athena’s Fortune treasure.
  
• The correct treasure will now be dropped from ships on Skeleton Fleet Voyages and after defeating an Athena’s Fortune Ashen Lord.
  
• Players can no longer use a Storage Crate to generate additional resources from their ship barrels.
  
• Players should now consistently have access to their earned Guild cosmetics.
  
• The Gold Hoarders Vault Voyage has been updated to prevent players from predicting the location of the treasure.
  
• All Raid Voyage Commendations now unlock consistently for the relevant Trading Companies on completion.
  
• The Pirate Lord will now be present at the end of the Order of Souls Trading Company tutorial.
  
• The first session tutorial will now show for all new players, but will be stopped once a player has interacted with the Quest Table or proposed a Voyage.
  
• Players are now able to interact with the shipwright when docked at the Sovereigns’ tent on Sanctuary Outpost.
  
• Quest notes will now be removed from a player’s inventory at the correct time after completing a Coral Message in a Bottle Voyage.
  
• Ammo Pouches left on board a sinking Skeleton Ship will now sink with the ship.
  
• Selling Dark Relics will now progress the Treasures Sold to the Order of Souls Captaincy Milestone.
  
• The Shrouded Ghost Figurehead will now be unlocked consistently when players have completed the Hunter of the Shrouded Ghost Commendation.
  
• Phantoms should now be able to hit stationary players with their lunging attack.
  
• Using the harpoon to bring treasure aboard during the Gold Hoarders tutorial will now continue to progress the Voyage.
  
• Two players performing the Make Friends Emote together will now summon the Add Friends menu as intended.

Environment

• Players will no longer find themselves being transported back to their ship when navigating around The Reaper’s Lair.
  
• Players will no longer find themselves becoming stuck in the rocks beneath the Glorious Sea Dog Tavern.
  
• Players will no longer find themselves falling through the environment when swimming near the pier at the Fort of the Damned.
  
• Environment textures are now displayed correctly at Devil’s Ridge.
  
• Players will no longer be able to swim in areas that do not contain water inside the Shrine of Ocean’s Fortune.
  
• ‘Captains of the Damned’ – Players will now consistently reappear in the correct place aboard the Silver Blade after returning from the Ferry of the Damned.
  
• ‘Captains of the Damned’ – Tree foliage is no longer visible in the sky within the bayou.
  
• ‘A Pirate’s Life’ – Plants will no longer appear distorted when viewed from a distance.

User Interface

• The notification for a ship taking damage will no longer remain on screen after players have repaired the ship.
  
• A new tutorial notification has been added, prompting players to go to their Quest Table to access newly unlocked Voyages after claiming a relevant Trading Company promotion.
  
• Players are now consistently able to rename their ship without seeing an error message.
  
• When players unlock The Mysteries of the Sunken Kingdom Commendation, the notification now shows the correct place to purchase the quest from in future.
  
• Completing the Merchant Alliance tutorial no longer displays a banner about a lost Chicken Coop.
  
• Players can now left-click on the Discover panel to access the corresponding menu location.
  
• Promotion certificates have received a visual upgrade, fixing some text size and overlap issues and including glowing animations.
  
• All Commendation notification backgrounds are now themed to the appropriate Trading Company.
  
• When a Tall Tale is proposed on the Quest Table, the info card has been given an improved layout and now shows checkpoint status. This UI is also shown when interacting with a Tall Tale Quest Book in the world.
  
• Players diving to a Siren Shrine on behalf of the Order of Souls or Merchant Alliance will no longer see Gold Hoarder-themed imagery when taking gold from Collector’s Chests.
  
• The Quest Table will now update to show Liked Voyages after being liked.
  
• The prompt to use the Quest Table is no longer visible when a Voyage is active.

Visual and Audio

• Players should now consistently see their ship name adorning their Ship’s Crest when joining a session.
  
• Lost Shipment Voyage maps will no longer appear with black squares over island icons.
  
• Phantoms performing their teleport attack will now be visible as they prepare to attack.
  
• Phantoms performing their lunge attack will now appear to travel smoothly towards the player.
  
• Skeletons should always flinch when successfully hit by a sword.
  
• Continuously heavy striking a Skeleton Captain will now cause it to visually stumble backwards each time without sliding.
  
• Players who have migrated across servers should no longer appear on fire to other players on occasion.
  
• Flags on Sea Forts have now returned to their original colours.
  
• The lighting effect for objects viewed underwater will now appear correctly when these objects are positioned between the player and the shimmering effect of a Shrine.
  
• The Quest Table on rival ships will now appear correctly during an Hourglass battle.
  
• The Pirate Lord will now appear correctly when walking in on the outro cutscenes in Trading Company tutorials.
  
• Players of all different sizes will now sit comfortably on the back of a Sloop without floating.
  
• Pirates’ fingers will no longer appear to merge into the strings of the Reaper’s Heart Banjo.
  
• Repeatedly aiming down sights on certain Eye of Reach models will no longer cause the top of the screen to flicker.
  
• The Reaper’s Heart Tankard contents will no longer appear to drain before players have finished drinking.
  
• Skulls, Vault Keys and Collector’s Chests buried in the caves of Smugglers’ Bay will now be correctly marked on treasure maps.
  
• The art on the splash screens has now been updated to the Season 11 artwork.
  
• The Ragamuffin Outfit of the Wailing Barnacle no longer causes the cat’s chin to merge into its body when held by a player.
  
• Pirates with larger body types will no longer appear to merge into the environment when using outdoor sitting spots.
  
• The flag used to show a Fort is active will now be displayed at a greater distance.
  
• The Crab Ocean Crawler now turns at the correct speed and animates more smoothly as a result.
  
• Messages in a Bottle now appear with the correct glint effect when viewed from a distance.
  
• The Capsize Charters tent is now present on buried treasure maps.
  
• The Maestro Banjo icon has been resized so that the item is no longer cut off at the top.
  
• Chest keys will no longer appear to sink into players’ hands.
  
• The Reaper’s Heart Equipment Bundle now appears with the correct artwork.
  
• Jumping while holding a fishing rod will no longer cause the player to appear incorrectly when viewed by others.

Text and Localisation

• Notifications shown when attempting to sell an item to the wrong character will now always direct them to the right character.
  
• Larinna’s dialogue no longer refers to buying Voyages from Trading Company representatives.
  
• Merchant Crates all now have consistent naming.
  
• ‘A Pirate’s Life’ – The Cursed Captain’s name is now shown in the subtitles when speaking during chess game interactions.
  
• ‘Wild Rose’ – Madame Olive’s subtitles are now showing fully during the Tale.
  
• ‘The Legendary Storyteller’ – Instances of overlapping text in the Tall Tale Quest Book have been addressed in non-English languages.
  
• ‘The Legendary Storyteller’ – German localisation within the Quest Book is now shown correctly.

Performance and Stability

• Improved game stability to reduce scenarios where players experience an unexpected exit from the game or become disconnected from their session.
  
• Ongoing improvements made to client and server performance, reducing the frequency of high ping spikes, desync and rubberbanding while playing.
  
• Improved Steam client stability when playing on Custom Servers.

Known Issues
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 and Installation
Download Size:

• Steam: 3.86 GB

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Spring is just starting to bloom here at Rare HQ, which means it’s time we got around to the brisk business of rounding up February’s developments! It was a briskly busy month that boasted some extremely exciting announcements, so let’s jump right into the recap…

Content Update
As always, we had a monthly update ready to go, this time integrating Sea of Thieves with the latest Xbox Game Development Kit, making some visual and technical tweaks to various systems – and, most importantly, introducing the first Collector’s Pet fox as the Reaper’s Heart set expanded again in the month of love. For a full rundown of all February’s changes and additions, or just to find out what on earth GDK integration actually means, stop by the relevant release notes and have a read.

With the update behind us, we found ourselves squaring up to another Season’s Community Weekend! That meant encouraging all you fine folks to take to Twitch and watch Sea of Thieves streams, getting that shared Community Emissary Grade up before setting sail and reaping all those increased rewards. At the same time, new Pop-Up Plunder maps had pirates racing to uncover valuable treasures across the seas! All you had to do was find it…

News and Features
One specific piece of Sea of Thieves news somewhat eclipsed the rest this month, but before that, we had to make sure everyone was fully prepared for Season 11 Community Weekend! Early in the month, our Head of Comms Christina stopped by with all the details and a peek at the goodies on offer for anyone who took part.

Then it was time for the big reveal: Sea of Thieves is coming to PlayStation®5 this April, bringing countless more players in to join the crowds merrily playing on our current platforms! This momentous news obviously raised a lot of questions – namely when we can expect this flood of fresh-faced sailors to arrive – so we made sure there was a full article with all the info ready to unleash following the announcement.

Even with all this going on, our regularly scheduled programming continued with fresh Spotlight features: a Creator Spotlight with Jon Bardcore, digging into his journey from a two-year-old with a NES to a fully-fledged content creator, and a Community Spotlight on Captain McGuffin, Head of Forensics at Ancient Isles University and contributor to the Sea of Thieves Portugal community. Give them a read!

Videos and Streams
Getting into the business of the regular content update and Seasonal Community Weekend early in the month, the video team fired off February’s instalment of Sea of Thieves News to get everyone up to speed. Not long after that, the update made its debut and we got to delight in some of the new cosmetics arriving on the seas.

Bringing Sea of Thieves to a whole new platform is extremely exciting news for all of us, so of course we were going to have a little fun with the announcement videos. That meant finally responding to some historic player-submitted messages, before bringing various team members together to share their thoughts on this new chapter for our favourite pirate playground.

With that news out in the world, it was time for our Season 11 Community Weekend, and with it a Community team Twitch stream! As well as offering another option for watching and contributing to the Community Emissary Grade, the stream also let us support our friends over at SpecialEffect and raise money for the wonderful GameBlast24. Thank you to everyone who joined us and for all the amazing donations, helping us to raise over £40,000 for a fantastic charity!

Social Channels
Picture-loving pirates had another two rounds of #SoTShot to enjoy in February: firstly sharing some love for their favourite stories outside the Sea of Thieves with creative costuming for the Cosplay Corsairs theme, then, after the Trading Companies complained about being left out, competing to represent their favourite Company in increasingly elaborate ways. Not to be outdone, the Community Hub also featured a fresh line-up, celebrating everything from a perfect loot steal to the friends we really did make along the way.

Player creations weren’t the only things earning some appreciation: we kicked off February by asking everyone to spend a couple of minutes enjoying the majesty of Season 11’s title screen music (while expanding the repertoire of our official soundtrack on all the usual streaming platforms), before getting sidetracked by that same screen’s troublesome bowsprit. At least nobody had time to get too upset about that before being further derailed by discussions of which Shipmate Trinket is the best Shipmate Trinket (the answer is that they’re all the best Shipmate Trinket, don’t listen to that tweet).

All that debate was exhausting, but it didn’t take long to get into another conversation about which island is the best island to run around. Fortunately, by that point Community Weekend was imminent and Picture Wall selfies were providing ample distraction. So much so, in fact, that we got a little too excited when trying to take our own… no matter. The end of the month was fast approaching, so we capped things off with a few tasty jellybeans.

And that was February! Shortest month of the year it may be, but we all managed to get plenty done, don’t you think? Remember, if you want to share your thoughts or keep up with the news as it happens, check in with us on all the usual social channels: Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, and the official Forums and Discord. Otherwise, we’ll be over here trying to find a better word than ‘sink’. Bye!

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Previously:
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: January 2024

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