Sea of Thieves

Season 15 has been one filled with balance. For all the monstrous maws of Ancient Megalodons, there were seagulls added to accompany your sway across the waves. As ferocious wild boars arrived to send many a pirate to the Ferry of the Damned, new fishing Voyages invited a relaxing session, assuming someone else didn’t fancy your fish. Then the Kraken must have felt a bit left out and unexpectedly started attacking every ship it saw (we calmed it down, don’t worry), so how about we try to have a civilised fashion contest to balance that?

Yep, you read the headline correctly (assuming you read the headline), #StyleOfThieves returns for its Season 15 sashay and it’s happening from May 12th–15th! Pirates of all walks are invited to embrace the swathes of cosmetics at their disposal for a spot of dress-up in the name of fun, fashion and, for 16 lucky winners, a new pair of gloves.

Maintaining the same course as its recent iterations, posts relating to this Season’s themes will appear on Sea of Thieves social media channels around 10am UTC on the dates specified below, signalling that the entry period for that day’s couture contest is open. Your task, as the highly fashionable filibusters you are, is to the show us your pirate dressed in a manner that responds to the day’s prompt, trying to stand out from the crowd in the process. How do you show us? Simple, just take screenshots displaying your full outfit and share them on your social media channel of choice (details below), stating the name of the theme with your screenshot to help with our team’s judging.

Each theme will be open to entries for 24 hours, after which time our team will scour the corners of the internet (well, the advertised avenues for entries on the internet) and pull together a shortlist of their favourite fits. These will then be hidden in a secret room within a shifting mansion that was recently left to us by an eccentric benefactor, with a member of the Art team tasked with solving the house’s secrets in order to locate the list. Assuming they manage this and don’t get stuck in a closet for the rest of eternity, they’ll choose their 16 overall winners for us to reveal on May 21st.

Before we get to the themes, we’d just like to reiterate a necessary reminder: even if you don’t win Style of Thieves, as with all our social media contests, we hope everyone who takes part simply has a good time exploring the fun of fashion within Sea of Thieves. Who knows, you may find the perfect fit for your pirate’s next adventure!

And now, without any more re-tweaked preamble, here are Season 15’s #StyleOfThieves themes:

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.

Hunter
Dress for the catch you want, not the catch you have! Unless the catch you have is a huge, ferocious monster, in which case you’re probably ready to pose for a screenshot already. Just clean your hands first, please.
Entry date: May 12th

Duvet Day
Even pirates need the occasional rest day, so pay homage to the amicable skive by donning the comfiest trousers and baggiest top you can find! Even if the closest available thing to a sofa is two wooden planks, you can still recline on it looking appropriately ready for nothing.
Entry date: May 13th

Regal
Magnificent. Dignified. Two words we’d find very hard to apply to the vast majority of pirates we meet on the Sea of Thieves, but very much the expectation for the entries in this theme, so… good luck!
Entry date: May 14th

Monstrous
If your outfit doesn’t naturally cause you to snarl and snap at passers-by, it probably needs a few more teeth, gnarly accessories, dark hues or a combination of all three.
Entry date: May 15th

Image credit: TippToppHansiI on X/Twitter

How to Enter
Now into the part of the article that’s the same every time, including the sentence you’re reading now (but with one new point!). We’re all over social media channels, in a friendly ‘enter however you feel comfortable’ kind of way, so you’re free to submit on a variety of channels. That said, each comes with its own quirks you need to adhere to 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. Same goes for Bluesky and Threads.
  
• 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, 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, and could hurt your chances of consideration.
  
• 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.
  
• Please try to keep your submissions to a 16:9 or 1:1 ratio, making sure your entire outfit is in shot, including your shoes/toes! 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! Please note that we will only shortlist one costume per user per theme.
  
• While we don’t dissuade pirates from posting multiple entries on a single theme, if we spot a user sharing an excessive number of entries, they will be at risk of being considered ineligible for that theme through this unsportsmanlike behaviour.
  
• 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: JoseteAlm on X/Twitter

And that’s another article in the bag. Not actually in a bag of course, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to read these words. In a more literal universe you’ll be looking at this webpage and all that will be here is an image of an inaccessible satchel, so be sure to have a think today about how lucky you are to be in this universe, able to enjoy such an unnecessary closing paragraph.

Yes, fashion, May 12th–15th, looking forward to seeing what you find. Ta-ra!

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The sun is shining and the wildflowers are running amok, which can only mean we’ve ventured deep into spring! As always, we’re making time for a look back at all the excitements arising in April, neatly summarised in this handy round-up. Let’s find out what you might have missed…

Content Update
Marking the final instalment of Season 15, April’s monthly content update rolled out new Voyages for The Hunter’s Call, sending keen pirates in search of rampaging Megalodons and dangerous wild boars. Check out the release notes for the full rundown on the Hunters’ last update for now! This one arrived fairly late in the month on 24th, but that ensured there was plenty of time to slot in a quick hotfix beforehand to address a few quirks of the March update.

Just before April’s content drop, however, word started getting around that the bony inhabitants of the Skeleton Forts were up to no good, hiding vast quantities of Ashen treasure in some of their Vaults. Fortunately, plenty of pirates proved adept at liberating said fortunes during the Mega Stashes Event that ensued, and earned some lovely new facial hair along the way.

News and Features
Following the regular This Month article to tee up April’s calendar of events, we had some big announcements to unveil, starting with Sea of Thieves’ upcoming arrival on [URL='https://steamcommunity.com/linkfilter/?u=http%3A%2F%2FBattle.net%C2%AE']Battle.net®[/URL]! Our new friends won’t be joining us in full until Season 16 lands later in May, but be sure to give them all a warm welcome when they do. Second on the ballot was a series of substantial changes to our enforcement policy. This is the process by which we ensure that players adhere to our Code of Conduct and keep the seas safe – so the article is well worth checking out for an overview of how the new system works and where to check your own status.

Of course we couldn’t let the month go by without fulfilling a couple of regular features: our latest Community Spotlight featured #SoTShot success story and committed completionist GingerJefferson, while the maestros in Sea of Thieves’ music department seized the opportunity for another soundtrack addition, ‘The Great Meg Chase’! Who doesn’t want a dash of monster-hunting adrenaline in their morning playlist?

Videos and Streams
The Battle.net news came with its own essential announce video in April, while some familiar faces headed on over to the Tavern for the Season 15 edition of our in-house podcast, discussing the Season so far, our ongoing work around game health and a sneak peek at what’s to come later in the year.

And even though we’re all busily lining up a new Season launch in May, the Video team wouldn’t let you miss out on April’s staples: Daryl swung by with a new episode of Sea of Thieves News, as did Drew with the latest Developer Update, alongside all the usual suspects you’d expect from a monthly update including a release trailer and an Emporium overview. News also broke that applications for our Stream Team are once again open, so if you’re an up-and-coming streamer who doesn’t quite yet meet the requirements of becoming a Sea of Thieves Partner, the Stream Team might be the place for you!

Social Channels
We managed to pack two thrilling rounds of #SoTShot entries into April, zeroing in on Celebratory Scenes and Heart-Stopping Horizons, as well as a fresh set of fan creations in the Community Hub. The mayhem-inspiring Compass of Chaos also saw an update introducing a collection of new adventure prompts based on Season 15 features, while the latest set of Twitch Drops offered another incentive to watch streamers exploring the new monthly update.

As you might expect from a Season focused on wildlife, many of our community conversations this month were about animals – primarily what the new jellyfish like to be called and why we’ll follow Captain Porkers anywhere, regardless of his helmsman skills or lack thereof. Even the Kraken wanted to get in on the discussion! Needless to say, that went off the rails pretty quickly.

So as we head off to check that those excessive Krakenings have been brought under control, we’ll leave it there for another month! You can still find us in all of the social places you’d expect – Twitter/X, Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, the official Forums and Discord – but until next time, that’s us. There’s some serious fishing to do before the latest Event ends, after all…

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Previously in 2025:
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: March 2025
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: February 2025
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: January 2025

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“Piracy’s more of an art than a science,” some grizzled old salt probably once said. There’s no way to be completely sure, but do please give us the benefit of the doubt, or this is going to be a very awkward opening paragraph.

One thing we do know for certain is that creating a pirate paradise takes an awful lot of science and art. So much so that in 2018 we were able to release The Art of Sea of Thieves: an entire volume of concept sketches and aesthetic explorations charting the evolution of the game’s distinctively ‘wonky’ graphic style and the creation of its pirates, ships and islands.

So what’s left to show? Plenty, as it happens, as Sea of Thieves has continued to change and expand since launch and many more artistic endeavours have been undertaken. The fundamentals may have been nailed down, providing a platform for more focused creativity, but the game’s ongoing transformation has provided us with a wealth of fresh material to feast your eyes on.

New characters, ship liveries, weapons, pets, threats and destinations… hundreds of unique art pieces have been created for the game’s various updates and Seasons, ranging from on-team concept work bringing ideas to life through to promotional renders that showcase the results. That’s more than enough to fill a second book and chronicle Sea of Thieves’ seven-year journey so far, and that’s where The Art of Piracy comes in.

Due for release on May 20th – and currently available to pre-order from all good retailers, so get that gold pouch ready – Sea of Thieves: The Art of Piracy goes year by year to provide a rich visual history of piratical pursuits, from the carnivorous peril of our first major update The Hungering Deep to the resurrection of Captain Flameheart and beyond.

Want to learn more? Set a course for Titan Books’ website!

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Welcome to May, pirates! There’s a ton of fun planned for you over the next few weeks, so as is now customary, please enjoy this handy rundown of events and dates to look forward to. Grab a pen and your calendar before proceeding, because there’s plenty you won’t want to miss – including the start of a whole new Season…

Battle.net® Closed Beta – Friday, May 2nd – Monday, May 5th

For pirates preparing to set sail on Battle.net, the Sea of Thieves team are running a Closed Beta to help identify and iron out any issues before the global launch date of May 22nd. Players who’ve opted for the Sea of Thieves Deluxe or Premium Edition on Battle.net will be able to set sail on this platform for a long weekend – and, conveniently, will also get to enjoy the Festival of Fishing (see below) if they opt to play on High Seas.

Battle.net players over this period will be setting sail with players on all other platforms, so it’s a great opportunity to learn the ropes with some more experienced pirate pals!

Festival of Fishing Event – Friday, May 2nd – Monday, May 12th

The Festival of Fishing returns, bringing a brand new flavour to an old-school event. Building on the recent expansion of The Hunter’s Call, this Event tasks pirates with hauling in a variety of finned friends to complete an array of Event Goals. Two new Limited Voyages will also be on offer, along with double gold and reputation for fish handed in to The Hunter’s Call during the Event.

Players who participate in everything on offer can expect to bag the fantastic fish-themed Courageous Catch Fishing Rod, and the cracking Connoisseur of Culinary Craft Title.

Season 15 Style of Thieves Contest – Monday, May 12th – Thursday, May 15th

The latest Style of Thieves competition kicks off on May 12th, so keep your eyes trained on our official social media channels for information on the upcoming themes. The opportunity for some of our most well-dressed pirates to win a pair of Fashionista’s Finery Gloves is only a couple of weeks away!

Pirate Emporium Hidden Gems Sale – Thursday, May 15th – Tuesday, May 20th

May’s discount sale will spotlight a suite of items that haven’t been on sale for a while from the Emporium shopkeepers’ stock! Save some Ancient Coins on a range of stunning sets, with healthy discounts on the Checkmate, King’s Ransom and Ancestral Ship Collections. There’ll also be some cut-price Collector’s Pets, clothing, weapons and emotes – so make sure you browse the aisles and see if you can bag yourself a bargain while the sale is live.

Battle.net Early Access Begins – Friday, May 16th

For Battle.net Premium Edition purchasers, the six-day Early Access period will begin on May 16th! These players will be able to enjoy the final few days of Season 15 and earn some of this Season’s cosmetics by simply playing the game and raising their Renown. It’s also another chance to get familiar with the world ahead of Season 16’s launch, all while pocketing some extra gold to spend at the Outposts.

‘Reaper’s Requiem’ Release – Friday, May 16th

Our monthly musical release for May is ‘Reaper’s Requiem’, an anthemic ode to Flameheart’s Trading Company. Stream it straight to your ears via Spotify (or other streaming service of your choice) on May 16th, to get you all fired up for the Reaper-focused Season 16 landing later in the month.

The Art of Piracy Release – Tuesday, May 20th

May also sees the release of the long-awaited second Sea of Thieves art book: The Art of Piracy. Following 2018’s The Art of Sea of Thieves, this new instalment organises the game’s art into year-by-year selections that provide a rich visual history of its seven-year journey so far – featuring artwork for characters, ships, weapons, threats, pets and much more!

Although it releases worldwide on May 20th, the book is available to pre-order now from a number of retailers. Head over to publisher Titan Books’ website for more information.

Season 16 Launch – Thursday, May 22nd

As teased on Season 15’s recent podcast, Season 16 will be all about the Reapers, who are once more out to cause chaos on the Sea of Thieves. The majority of information on this upcoming Season is yet to be revealed, so expect more details in the weeks ahead regarding the Reapers’ aggressive ambitions.

Season 16 will begin on May 22nd, alongside Sea of Thieves’ full launch on Battle.net – so if you haven’t yet raised your Renown all the way to level 100 in Season 15 and earned all the unlockable rewards along the way, that’s your challenge before the big day…

Twitch Drops for Everyone – Friday, May 23rd – Monday, May 26th

With a new Season launch comes a fresh batch of Twitch Drops! Watch any participating channel between these dates to score an assortment of free items over Season 16’s first weekend. Our approach to Twitch Drops is evolving to offer a wider variety of goodies moving forward, so expect to hear more about the items included soon.

Twitch Drops are available by linking your accounts and watching any participating Sea of Thieves streamer on Twitch. Anyone can offer this set of Drops by streaming in the Sea of Thieves category and ensuring they have Drops enabled. If you’re just watching, go ahead and tune in to your favourite participating streamer or check our Partner Directory to see who’s online when these Drops go live!

While Season 15 will be saying its final farewells this month, there’s still plenty to keep you busy on the seas – so plot a course taking in everything that’s piqued your interest, and circle back here next month for a look at what June has in store.

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Wild Seas
Wild Seas Commendation Balancing

• Commendations tasking crews with the delivery of Pristine Tusks, Scales and Teeth have been rebalanced to require fewer items to unlock. While Grades 1-3 remain unchanged, Grade 4 now requires 15 (down from 25) and Grade 5 requires 20 (down from 50).
  
• The following Commendations have been rebalanced: Master Hunter of the Savage Boar, Master Hunter of the Pristine Maw and Master Hunter of Pristine Megalodon Spoils.
  
• Players with partial progress may need to hand in a further Pristine item in order for their correct Grade progress to be shown.

Kraken Encounter Balancing

• While Kraken encounters will retain the ability to occur on a server alongside other World Events, the frequency of these Kraken encounters has now been significantly reduced.

Fixed Issues
Gameplay

• Resource Barrels released from a sunken vessel will once again float to the surface and the resources can be consistently retrieved.
  
• Crews beginning a Faction battle will be unable to receive aid from other crew members who join after the battle has begun. Additional crew members will now be held on the Ferry of the Damned until the battle is complete.

Performance and Stability

• Further improvements have been made to game stability to reduce scenarios where players unexpectedly exit the game or become disconnected from their session.

Megalodon Hunting Voyage

• Players with a high-resolution display should no longer find that using the Shrouded Glass creates a picture-in-picture effect.

Hunting Spear

• Players can no longer use various methods to duplicate their stock of hunting spears.

Pirate Emporium

• The King’s Ransom Grapple Gun is no longer shown as ‘On Sale’ and has returned to its correct price of 249 Ancient Coins.

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.

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

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Since Sea of Thieves launched, we’ve taken thousands of enforcement actions against those who’ve acted against our Pirate Code when sailing the seas. When our enforcement system was first designed, we had a lot less experience in the live service arena – and while we were as informed as we could’ve been back then, we didn’t necessarily understand what the impact of this would be years down the line.

Over the last six months or so, we’ve been taking the time to review and analyse our enforcement strategies with a view to evolving how we move forward. While we’ve shared our plans for this in a previous Developer Update (from 7:15 in the video below), today our new policy goes live – so we wanted to take this opportunity to talk a little more about the how and why.

From today, we will be giving players more information on why we’re taking action against their accounts and an opportunity to change their ways. While, unfortunately, there are a few bad eggs in this world who do want to cause harm and distress to others, we’re conscious that some folks might just be having a bad day and immediately regret their actions – and we want to give these players room to learn from their mistakes.

Our Previous System
Our previous enforcement system was a three-strikes-and-out policy – which has worked for us, but has also had some limitations and made it hard to take nuanced action. For example, if a player had received their third strike for a relatively minor offence, under the old system they would have received a lifetime ban – which, after a long and lengthy review on our side, felt perhaps a little too inflexible.

For someone on the end of this enforcement action, under our old policy they would have simply received a Redbeard error message upon their next attempted login, rather than any specific information on what happened and why, resulting in a lack of clarity around our decision-making. In this scenario, a user may have ended up banned without necessarily understanding why, or perhaps even thinking that we’d overreacted to a report about a smaller infraction.

With that in mind, we’ve been developing a new enforcement system that allows us to more accurately capture the nuance of offences committed, and enables us to communicate exactly why action has been taken against someone’s account. Our system is an evolution of the Xbox points system, and we’ve spent a lot of time collaborating and consulting to ensure that the new system addresses our concerns with our previous enforcement policy, while also making sure that punishment of more serious offences carries the right weight.

Newly Introduced Changes
Under our recently introduced policy, every new player begins their journey on the Sea of Thieves with zero points, and can accrue a total of 12 points before receiving a permanent ban on their account. If a report is submitted against them, points will be administered to their account – with clear communication to the offending player(s) as to why. Varying points will be accrued for certain types of offence; the below classifications aren’t an exhaustive list, but we wanted to provide some clear examples.

• Toxic communication over text/voice chat that isn’t of a discriminatory nature (i.e. doesn’t use racist, homophobic, misogynistic or ableist terms) will – depending on the strength of the offence – earn a player from 1-3 points and a corresponding suspension of 1-3 days for each instance of this behaviour.
  
• Discriminatory toxic communication that uses slurs/prejudiced language over text or voice chat will earn players 7 points and a seven-day suspension. This means that previously, under our three-strike system, players had to offend three times to be banned – whereas with these types of offence, it’s now reduced to just two (within a given time period).
  
• Cheaters will receive 12 points immediately, plus a permanent ban.

Key Changes Beyond the Points System
The important thing with these offences is that the offending player is told that why they’ve received a suspension and points on their account. They won’t just log in to find a Yellowbeard or Redbeard with minimal context, but will be contacted directly with the reasoning behind the action taken.

Another thing we’re introducing with this policy is that, if a player with points has a ‘good’ month – i.e. they do not receive any more reports of poor behaviour – their total points tally will decay by 1. This means that if you receive 2 points for toxic communication, but behave yourself over the following couple of months, you’ll go back down to a total tally of 0. Our hope and intention is to communicate with these players why they received their initial enforcement action, and give them space to reflect and improve upon their conduct.

If that sounds like something it might be hard to keep track of, don’t worry – we’re bringing players’ enforcement status to their https://www.seaofthieves.com/account, so everyone knows exactly where they stand. This will also include when their access to Sea of Thieves will be restored, if they’re currently serving a temporary suspension for an offence.

Previous Offences
For players who have recently offended and received enforcement action on any scale: we’ve had our points system up and running in the background for a little while now, so when this change comes into effect, you’ll see your score reflected when you log in to the website. We’re not wiping the slate clean on previous poor behaviour, but there will be a net benefit in that our approach to further offences will have a better-suited and more nuanced outcome.

For players who’ve experienced poor behaviour, the reporting process will remain largely the same. However, we’ll continue to work on improving the ways you can get reports and information over to us for review. To submit a report about something you’ve encountered on the seas, please head to https://support.seaofthieves.com/ to provide evidence and a summary of what you’ve experienced – or initiate a report via the in-game menu.

An Evolving Process
Although we’ve been monitoring recent enforcement activity in the background through this new lens, we’ll continue to keep an eye on scores and behavioural changes as it comes into effect. We know that there are still a few things we’ll have to refine or work on to ensure fairness across the board, but change has to start somewhere – so we hope you’ll understand and appreciate our move to a much more transparent and flexible system that looks to forgive players who can recognise they’ve made mistakes, while punishing folks who want to undermine the integrity of the Sea of Thieves experience.

While we can appreciate this is quite a significant change in how we approach enforcement, the ultimate goal is to provide transparency on why we take action, and allow players to grow with that feedback instead of rebel against it. We hope – and believe – that this will lead to a better player experience for all pirates.

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Wild Seas
Heed the call in Season 15, which brings a wealth of new incentives to The Hunter’s Call while introducing new wildlife both harmless and hostile. For an overview of the fierce features rolled out over the course of this Season, head to our dedicated Season 15 page!

Megalodon Hunting Voyage

• Crews can now take on a Voyage to track an enraged Megalodon that has been wreaking havoc across the seas, leaving vessels destroyed in its wake. This Voyage can be started from the Quest Table upon reaching rank 20 with The Hunter’s Call.
  
• While hunters will need a keen eye to track the Megalodon by the debris left behind, they'll also be provided with a handy tool: the Shrouded Glass. This enchanted spyglass is capable of showing the trail left by the enraged beast to aid in pursuit.

Wild Boars

• Wild boars now inhabit some islands across the seas. Found in small packs on islands, boars will flee when approached, leaving a trail of hoofprints and fruit. Be warned: while they may appear skittish, they will charge when provoked and can restore health by eating nearby fruit.
  
• Players can hunt wild boars in addition to the larger Grand Boar of the pack. While hunting, all boars reward the crew with meat, while the tougher Grand Boar leaves behind the Boar Tusk – a new treasure item that can be sold to The Hunter’s Call.
  
• Crews looking for loot can sneakily follow boars to their wallows, where treasure they’ve gathered can be retrieved.

Boar Hunting Voyage

• Crews can also be tasked with hunting a fierce Grand Boar in A Pirate’s Boar Hunt, a new on-demand Voyage from The Hunter’s Call available upon reaching rank 15.

Hunting Spear Balancing

• Hunting spears are now considered a resource when brought aboard the ship, and will remain when diving to a Voyage or Faction battle, or when travelling through the Tunnels of the Damned.
  
• A thrown hunting spear now deals increased damage to players, resulting in a one-hit kill on a player at full health.
  
• Hunting spears thrown or fired at creatures now deal additional damage to their target. When used to strike Megalodons or Ancient Megalodons, they now deal even more damage.
  
• Hunting spears fired into a ship’s hull now let in an increased water flow while they remain stuck in place.
  
• Hunting spears lodged in a ship’s hull now require more effort to remove, increasing the time taken to dislodge them.

Kraken and Megalodon Encounter Rewards

• Emergent encounters with Kraken and Megalodon now reward crews with additional treasure items when defeated, including a greater chance of items for The Hunter’s Call.

Megalodon Encounter Balancing

• Encounters with an emergent Megalodon will now pose a greater challenge, with Megalodons acting more aggressively towards nearby vessels.

Kraken Encounter Balancing

• Kraken encounters can now occur on a server alongside some other World Events such as Skeleton Forts. While the frequency of Kraken encounters will remain the same following this change, it allows other World Events to cycle more frequently.

Wild Seas Commendations and Rewards

• With the introduction of wild boars and new Hunting Voyages, new Commendations have been added within the Reputation tab to challenge aspiring hunters.
  
• Players can unlock the Jagged Jaws Throwing Knives after completing all hunting spear Commendations, and unlock the Wild Seas Curse upon completing all Wild Seas Commendations.

Gameplay Improvements
Addressing Movement Exploits

• Players finding ways for their pirate to become stuck inside moving parts of the ship or island lifts will no longer find that they are ejected through the air at abnormal speed. They will still be bumped out of the pinch point, but should no longer be able to gain a tactical advantage from this scenario.

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 browse and buy the latest additions!

New Items – Now in Stock!

• Skin Scriber Ship Collection and Ship’s Crest
  
• Skin Scriber Costume Bundle
  
• Skin Scriber Weapon Bundle
  
• Skin Scriber Compass
  
• Waltzing Worm Emote Bundle
  
• Relaxed Sit Emote (free!)

Outpost Cosmetics
New Outpost Stock!

• The Outpost shipwrights now have the Blue Resolute Hull, Sails and Flag available for purchase.

Updates
Enforcement Status

• Sea of Thieves has introduced a new enforcement policy, giving players more information when we take action against their account and providing an opportunity to change their ways. For more on why we’ve introduced this new policy, see this article: Sea of Thieves Enforcement Policy Update.
  
• Players who are currently suspended or banned from Sea of Thieves will now be shown their account status when attempting to log in to the game. This shows any current enforcement, time remaining for players temporarily suspended and a QR code directing players to the Sea of Thieves website where they can view further information.
  
• Players navigating to the Sea of Thieves website will now also see their account status, along with the number of points currently on their account.

Disrupting Stream Sniping

• Improvements have been made behind the scenes to further protect our players, including creators, well-known community members and anyone who is vulnerable, by disrupting techniques used by people with malicious intent to search for specific players on the seas.

Detection Improvements for Ban Evasion

• Further detection improvements continue to roll out behind the scenes targeting players who evade game bans to regain access to Sea of Thieves. These improvements will continue to be deployed in phases to systematically crack down on banned players and prevent them from returning to the seas.

Fixed Issues
Gameplay

• An issue causing all tutorial notifications to be reshown to players has now been resolved. Players who have previously completed the criteria for clearing a tutorial will no longer be shown these in future sessions.
  
• Players using the blowpipe should now only be shown the dart switch tutorial until the action is performed, or until the tutorial is shown three times which will hide it for future sessions.
  
• ‘The Legend of Monkey Island’ – Players should no longer be able to leave their Sloop or Brigantine and return to the islands in these Tall Tales while travelling through the Tunnels of the Damned.
  
• The Lightbearer Pistol has had its aiming improved to ensure shots now align with the tip of the iron sights.
  
• Seagulls appearing alongside vessels sailing the seas will now consistently follow the ship for a short while before moving on.

Performance and Stability

• Players on PC should no longer find their DirectX Shader Cache becomes stuck in size, leading to client performance issues.
  
• Further improvements have been made to game stability to reduce scenarios where players unexpectedly exit the game or become disconnected from their session.

Sea of Thieves: Premium Edition

• Players who purchased the Premium Edition of the game should now find the intended Dire Dark Warsmith items in their various Customisation Chests.

The Hunter’s Call

• Hunter’s Call resources can now be picked up later if they were bought in a previous session and not collected.
  
• The Merchant Alliance no longer sell or buy Bait Crates and have passed responsibility to The Hunter’s Call, preventing players from purchasing and then reselling crates on the same island.
  
• The Hunter’s Call Voyage tab now displays icons for all related Voyages.
  
• The Hunter’s Call motto has been updated on the Quest Table.

Hunting Spear

• Players can no longer interact with a ship’s ladder while throwing to duplicate their stock of hunting spears.
  
• Aiming the hunting spear while sprinting will now apply the intended movement slowdown.
  
• Hunting spears fired into damaged areas of a ship will consistently display the correct water effects and sounds.
  
• Spears fired from island cannons should no longer become stuck in the surrounding environment.
  
• Attempting to pick up items from a Collector’s Chest while holding a hunting spear will no longer cause the item to disappear.
  
• Hunting Spears can now be sold to The Reaper’s Bones.
  
• Spears dropped on the ship no longer trigger the ‘Treasure Aboard Ship’ notification.
  
• The audio effects for removing a spear from a ship’s hull now loops as intended when cancelling and quickly restarting the action.
  
• Releasing or cancelling a spear throw when entering the water now consistently shows the intended throw animations.
  
• Pirates aiming a spear and jumping into deep water will now continue to appear aiming.
  
• Hunting spears now produce a splash visual effect when thrown into the water.

Fishing Voyages

• If a player dies while holding a caught fish, Treasured Fish now drop on the ground, while regular fish are added to the player’s inventory if space is available.
  
• Fish still on a fishing rod no longer disappear should the player die.
  
• Frenzy fishing spots should no longer be seen inside the ship when anchoring nearby.

Ancient Megalodons

• Crews engaging an Ancient Megalodon will now consistently hear the appropriate encounter music.
  
• Crews will now progress the Helm of Sea Beast Battles Commendation when defeating Ancient Megalodons.

Environment

• Chests placed on the lifts at Skeleton Camps will now rest properly and not appear to be floating.
  
• ‘The Lair of LeChuck’ – Players should no longer be able to get underneath the island at various locations.
  
• ‘Captains of the Damned’ – Players are now prevented from using a Grapple Gun to reach unintended areas of the environment.

Visual and Audio

• The Regal Duke Flag now displays correctly when equipped on a Brigantine.
  
• Pigs wearing outfits now appear correctly when viewed at all distances.
  
• During the Maiden Voyage, the Pirate Lord now appears at the intended brightness when arriving on the player’s ship.
  
• Players equipping the Weighty Lower Body parts of the Skeleton Curse should now appear correctly when performing emotes.
  
• Defeating any island animal will now consistently show the appropriate death animation.
  
• The ship’s lantern near the wheel continues to emit light when moving to various locations around the stern.
  
• Firing the Radiant Comet Blunderbuss no longer allows players to see through the stock during the weapon’s recoil.
  
• The Magpie’s Glory Pocket Watch thumbnail now displays the dial in the correct orientation.
  
• Players’ hands no longer intersect with the Beachcomber’s Bounty Wheel when sailing.
  
• Players performing the Cut the Cake Emote can no longer push the camera inside the barrel.
  
• The Fates of Fortune Eye of Reach scope now appears correctly while reloading.
  
• Pirates of all body sizes now grip the Lucky Hand Double Barrel Pistol correctly.

Text and Localisation

• Improvements have been made to the Fishing Voyage Map to address overlapping text across a range of languages.
  
• The Sovereigns’ tutorial now provides accurate information about the value of selling food at Seaposts.
  
• ‘The Journey to Mêlée Island’ – French text in the Quest Book for this Tall Tale now displays correctly without overlapping.
  
• ‘The Journey to Mêlée Island’ – Overlapping text issues in Stan’s Sales Ledger have been resolved.
  
• ‘The Quest for Guybrush’ – Text within the Quest Book has been improved to address overlapping text in Japanese, Russian and Polish.
  
• ‘The Lair of LeChuck’ – Text within the Quest Book has been improved to address overlapping text for Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Thai, French and Italian languages.

Known Issues
Ship Resources

• Resource Barrels released from a sunken vessel will no longer float to the surface and will currently remain underwater. However, the resources can still be retrieved from these barrels while underwater.

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: 2.2 GB

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March has always been a big month for Sea of Thieves due to it being the time of our anniversary. It was all the way back in March 2018 when our pirate playground first opened its doors to players, and every year since, we’ve tried to make the moment feel special. So read on, dear Steam user, to find out all about how we chose to mark this momentous occasion…

Content Update
There was no shortage of things to do throughout the anniversary period this year, from a Seventh Anniversary Celebration in-game Event offering rewards of cosmetics, gold and even Ancient Coins, to three new 2025 Editions of the game and of course a full-blown Season 15 Community Weekend! We even had a crossover moment with Microsoft Casual Games – bet you didn’t see that one coming.

It wasn’t all anniversary delights either. No matter what else was going on, we weren’t about to zip through March without a monthly game update continuing the delivery of Season 15 content. This update added the hunting spear – a new throwable weapon perfect for tackling the aggressive wildlife (and aggressive pirates) of the Sea of Thieves – and an eruption of ambient fauna including ship-following seagulls, lizards, bats and jellyfish. How many have you managed to find out there on the waves?

News and Features
After a cheeky BAFTA nomination to start the month, our This Month in SoT article arrived to announce the calendar of anniversary festivities, and was followed by our very own Head of Community and Comms spilling the beans on what to expect from Season 15 Community Weekend. The community focus also had us in the mood for some more Spotlight goodness, two of which appeared in March: a Community Spotlight on face cataloguer Hans Sprungfild and a Creator Spotlight on VTuber and Stream Team member Róisín!

Once Community Weekend was done and dusted, it was full speed ahead into March’s content update and a new State of Play post from Production Director Drew to fill you in on priorities moving forwards. But until the month was over, the anniversary shenanigans were not officially done, and we closed things out with some Xbox collaborations including anniversary merch in the Xbox Gear Shop, a new Perk for Game Pass Ultimate players and a Sweepstakes competition for a very special controller! Get your entries in now (but please mind the teeth).

Videos and Streams
It’ll come as no surprise that our Video team spent a busy March delivering Sea of Thieves News, a content update trailer, a showcase of our latest – fatefully familiar – Pirate Emporium offerings, and all the other things that accompany a monthly update. Drew also stopped by to film his latest Developer Update, which took particular note of some important changes to our enforcement policies.

There were, of course, anniversary-specific things to enjoy too. The official soundtrack got a thematic addition in the form of ‘Happy Birthday’, while a handy explainer video filled in all the details about the new 2025 Editions of the game. And naturally, we couldn’t let such a momentous Community Weekend pass without a Community team livestream, which is well worth a watch if you want to know what kind of unhinged mischief the team gets into when they’re left unattended in the office on a Saturday…

Social Channels
Celebrations always put us in a giving mood, so it’s little wonder that March rolled out a Community Hub update, a round of Mighty Megalodon #SoTShot winners, some high-spirited Event rewards and even the mysterious Title that everyone was talking about. Don’t ask us, we just work here. Community Weekend alone was packed with little delights (and Twitch Drops including Obsidian beauties unlocked by smashing the cumulative community goal).

With it being anniversary time, many of our monthly musing threads encouraged you to look back on the last seven years. But it wasn’t all about distant memories, as the wild delights of Season 15 were plentiful and invited some burning questions – it was impossible to deny there were some hot Megs and an electric atmosphere out there. After that, introducing a crewmate or two and sharing a cronchy banana seemed like a good way to round things off as we awaited the adventures April would bring.

March was a month filled with celebrations and community goodness, and it was a pleasure to have you all along for the ride – here's to you! Time for us to get back to rolling out April’s updates and adventures, but until we see you back here next time, you can always find us in the usual places: Twitter/X, Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, the official Forums and Discord. Otherwise, that’s it from us and we’ll leave you in Steve’s capable hands. Good luck!

---

Previously in 2025:
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: February 2025
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: January 2025

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As we sail on into April, there are new and exciting opportunities in store for pirates all across the Sea of Thieves. From treasure-filled Mega Stashes to a game update bristling with fresh challenges, it’s another action-packed month for seekers of fortune. Read on…

Sails of Woven Wonders – Tuesday, April 8th – Tuesday, April 15th

In the spirit of a Southern Gothic folktale unfolding this month in a distant world, these elegant midnight-blue sails can be claimed for free by anyone who plays Sea of Thieves between April 8th and 15th. Find them in your Ship Customisation Chest and weave new tales as you set sail!

Players who picked up the X Edition of Sea of Thieves will get a special variant of their own, as they find the Misted Sails of Woven Wonders retroactively added to this edition’s cache of extras…

Pirate Emporium Spring Sale – Wednesday, April 16th – Tuesday, April 22nd

Spring has arrived on the Sea of Thieves, bringing a Pirate Emporium sale packed with a vibrant selection of ship sets, costumes, weapons and emotes! Celebrate growth and nature as you wrap your deck in the Mandrake ship set, slip into the Paradise Garden Costume or arm yourself with Beachcomber’s Bounty weapons – all these and more available at healthy discounts.

If you want to be more expressive, expand on your emotes with the Oar-Inspiring and Secret Coconut Emote Bundles. For those seeking a major makeover, the Pirate Appearance Potion is on sale too!

Mega Stashes Event – Thursday, April 17th – Thursday, April 24th

During the Mega Stashes Event, setting sail for Skeleton Forts and clearing them out could lead to even greater rewards. Daring pirates have a chance to uncover Ashen Mega Stashes down in the Vaults – a hoard fit for even the most seasoned treasure hunter. And if you want a memento of your time robbing the skellies’ stashes, conquer enough Skeleton Forts during this Event and you’ll be rewarded with the magnificent Stash Seeker’s Moustache!

‘The Great Meg Chase’ Release – Friday, April 18th

A thrilling new addition breaks the surface to become part of the Sea of Thieves soundtrack! ‘The Great Meg Chase’ will be available to stream on Spotify or the streaming service of your choice from April 18th, bringing the pulse-pounding tension of a Megalodon pursuit straight to your playlist.

April Monthly Update – Thursday, April 24th

The final instalment of Season 15 brings even more adventures to those who sail for The Hunter’s Call. While the seas teem with new life, there are fresh encounters to be had on land too as wild boars now roam the islands!

These scrappy scavengers hoard treasure in their wallows, but if threatened they won’t hesitate to defend their turf with razor-sharp tusks. You may well run into boars while out on your adventures, and The Hunter’s Call will challenge you to track them down as part of additional Company Voyages. The same goes for Megalodons, with Voyages targeting these legendary sea monsters also added to the roster in April. Be ready for a fight!

Twitch Drops – Friday, April 25th – Monday, April 28th

Fancy ending the month with some extra rewards? This set of Twitch Drops allows you to tune in and claim the Stormy Sea Dog Bucket and Drum, Stalwart Sea Dog Cutlass, Seasoned Sailor Rapier and Rising Morningstar Eyepatch.

Drops are available by linking your accounts and watching any Sea of Thieves Partner on Twitch for the required amount of time. If you’re not sure who to watch, check our Partner Directory to see who’s online and available to tune in to once those Drops go live!

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Wild Seas
Hunting Spear Rewards

• With the hunting spear duplication issues now resolved, cashing in a hunting spear at The Hunter’s Call once again awards the originally intended amount of reputation and gold.

Updates
Performance Monitoring

• Following reports of a performance regression with March’s game update, this hotfix includes improvements to performance monitoring behind the scenes to aid in the investigation of these issues.

Fixed Issues
Hunting Spear

• Players can no longer use various methods to duplicate their stock of hunting spears.
  
• After throwing a hunting spear, players can now quickly switch to another weapon or item and aim as intended.
  
• While holding a hunting spear, attempting to retrieve items from a Treasure Chest should no longer cause the item to disappear.
  
• Using a quick tapping method to repeatedly throw hunting spears should no longer cause the next throw to become stuck.
  
• Jumping while aiming a hunting spear will no longer cause the pirate’s aiming animations to snap.

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.

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

Download and Installation
Download Size:

• Steam: 1.3 GB

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Calling all Guardians! Yesterday's update brought the latest content update to Sea of Thieves, and with it, some radiant new additions to the Pirate Emporium – Lightbearer items, inspired by the world and characters of Destiny!

Whether your pirate is as silent as a Hunter, mighty as a Titan or wise as a Warlock, they’ll find a ship set to suit their style, complete with Collector’s cosmetics and a Ship’s Crest. An array of matching weapons and a costume set to round out the range ensures you’ll be ready to take on whatever otherworldly foes may stand in your way.

You can check out the trailer below to see the full Lightbearer assortment, and then visit the Pirate Emporium to gear up and get ready for battle – the seas are counting on you!

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Wild Seas
Heed the call in Season 15, which brings a wealth of new incentives to The Hunter’s Call while introducing new wildlife both harmless and hostile. For an overview of the fierce features due to roll out over the course of this Season, head to our dedicated Season 15 page!

Hunting Spear

• Players can now wield trusty hunting spears which can be aimed and thrown, dealing damage to roaming wildlife and other players alike. Spears can also be retrieved when embedded in a solid surface and thrown again.
  
• Hunting spears can even be loaded into a ship’s cannons for extra power and fired at players or other ships. When fired into a ship, the spear will lodge in the hull, causing a small damage hole. Removing it will increase the hole size, so be prepared to repair!
  
• Hunting parties looking to stock up their ship should visit The Hunter’s Call representatives, who will sell hunting spears up to a limit of five. Hunting spears can also be discovered washed up on shores, within shipwrecks and among the rewards earned when defeating Skeleton Ships.

Ambient Wildlife

• While sailing the open seas, crews may now find they are joined by seagulls who fly alongside the ship as it sails. These birds will disperse if they sense danger!
  
• While out exploring islands, players may now stumble upon small lizards basking in the daytime sun.
  
• Crews creeping into a dark cave may disturb a flock of bats, who will promptly flee from their hiding spot.
  
• Players exploring the shallows near islands may now come face to face with a smack of jellyfish. While these floating jellies may seem threatening, fear not, they’re harmless!

Wild Seas Commendations and Rewards

• With the introduction of the hunting spear, new Commendations have been added within the Reputation tab to challenge aspiring hunters. Explore the new challenges under Wild Seas to unlock exotic wildlife-themed weapons.

Fishing Voyage Improvements

• The Fishing Maps provided on Captain’s Fishing Voyages now provide crews with only a partial piece of the island near the fishing location, making it more of a challenge to locate the fishing spots.
  
• Crews on a Fishing Voyage will no longer find they are attacked by emergent threats on the island with the fishing spots.

Ancient Megalodon Balancing

• The Feared Redmaw and Barnacled Dread now take reduced damage from a blowpipe’s Poison Dart.

Gameplay Improvements
Performance Improvements

• The Sloop, Brigantine and Galleon have been rebuilt behind the scenes, breaking up each ship into smaller parts, allowing them to be loaded in sections by the server. This work will provide server performance improvements when ships are created at the start of a session, in addition to ships arriving on a server after diving or naturally through server migration.
  
• Performance optimisations have been made to Storage Crates and Resource Barrels, addressing spikes in framerate when repeatedly interacting with their inventories over longer sessions.
  
• Performance improvements have been made to the way treasure items floating in water are managed across the server.
  
• Further performance improvements have been made to how Trinkets are loaded when approaching Captained ships. Trinkets are now gradually loaded in over time and will only fully load when much closer to the ship, further reducing the performance impact when approaching ships at sea.
  
• A new management system is now in operation on the server, controlling the activation of certain events and encounters to ensure that the server has the necessary resources to safely operate the activity. Encounters with an emergent Megalodon are now controlled by this system, with further events to follow in future updates.
  
• In addition to the above areas, this update includes a range of smaller optimisations to game performance that provide improvements across the broader experience.
  
• Players navigating to Frame Rate Lock within the Video settings will now find supporting information clearly advising them to lock their frame rate for a more consistent experience.

Lifting Outpost Trap Restrictions

• Traps can now be placed in and around the Outpost taverns, allowing crews to lie in wait for unsuspecting players.
  
• Players triggering a nearby trap when arriving in the tavern at the start of their game session will remain unharmed and not suffer damage while ‘waking up’.

Grapple Gun Animations

• Players grappling to a location will now have a unique animation, showing their pirate flailing as they’re pulled through the air.

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 browse and buy the latest additions!

New Items – Now in Stock!

• Lightbearer Ship Collection and Ship’s Crest
  
• Lightbearer Weapon Bundle
  
• Lightbearer Costume Set
  
• Mighty Lightbearer Flag, Hull, Collector’s Figurehead and Collector’s Sails
  
• Silent Lightbearer Flag, Hull, Collector’s Figurehead and Collector’s Sails
  
• Wise Lightbearer Flag, Hull, Collector’s Figurehead and Collector’s Sails
  
• Gold Curse Toucan
  
• Dire Dark Warsmith Weapons: Double Barrel Pistol, Throwing Knives, Grapple Gun and Blowpipe
  
• Pet Pig Outfits: Sovereign, Bilge Rat, Sea Dog, Pirate Legend and Ghost
  
• Over Here! Emote (free!)

Outpost Cosmetics
New Outpost Stock!

• The Outposts now stock equipment, instruments and a range of weapons from the Azure Scout set, available for purchase at their respective shops.

Updates
Pirate Emporium Browsing

• When browsing bundles within the Pirate Emporium, players can now navigate directly to the ‘Browse All’ menu from a shortcut at the bottom of the screen.

Accessibility
Emetophobia Support

• Players who suffer from emetophobia (fear of vomit/vomiting) can now turn off all vomit-related audio effects from the Audio settings, including sounds made by players and pets.

Fixed Issues
Gameplay

• Players grappling to a ship’s ladder should no longer find themselves temporarily appearing in a different location.
  
• Items dropped in various areas of Siren Shrines and Treasuries will no longer float up to unreachable locations.
  
• Items dropped into shallow pools on islands will now float properly instead of hovering high above the surface.
  
• Reaper’s Chests hidden within shipwrecks will once again show their tell-tale beacon from across the seas, and no longer require a crew to approach before they become visible.
  
• All blowpipes have been reviewed and their aiming improved to ensure shots now align with the tip of the blowpipe when fired.
  
• Players can no longer grapple treasure through the open storeroom windows of Sea Forts.
  
• Tall Tale items from locations within the Sea of the Damned can no longer be brought back to the Sea of Thieves.
  
• Melee attacks from a throwing knife below the deck of the ship should no longer appear to hit an invisible surface in various locations.
  
• The Dance Off Danger Commendation will now progress when players use a Bone Caller to target Obsidian Skeletons.

The Hunter’s Call Trading Company

• Captains can now place up to five Banner of the Hunter and Merrick Shipmate Trinkets on their ship once unlocked.
  
• The Orb of Secrets can now be sold to The Hunter’s Call for the same price as other Trading Companies.
  
• Hunter’s Call treasure sold to The Reaper’s Bones no longer increases progress towards Call of the Hunter Commendations.

Fishing Voyages

• Treasured Fish can now be grappled out of other players’ hands.
  
• Players with a Treasured Fish on their line should no longer see the fish reappear in the water when crouching or swapping items before retrieving it.
  
• The fishing spots at Isle of Last Words have been moved further away from the shore to ensure crews can fish successfully.
  
• Treasured Fish now move naturally when swimming towards the fishing float.
  
• Frenzied fishing spots now fade away once all fish are caught and a Voyage is completed.
  
• Fishing spot visual effects no longer appear inside the ship’s hull if the ship stops on the fishing spot.

Ancient Megalodons

• Commendation progress for defeating Ancient Megalodons is now awarded to all crews participating in the encounter by dealing damage, not just the crew that lands the final hit.
  
• While attacks by Ancient Megalodons can occasionally overturn a ship, the frequency of this occurrence has now been reduced.
  
• Ancient Megalodons should now be able to navigate smoothly around the Fort of the Dammed.
  
• Defeating an Ancient Megalodon will now be recorded in the Captain’s Logbook.
  
• Firing a Grapple Gun at the Barnacled Dread will no longer cause the tether to attach to a distant location.
  
• Crews can now progress the Who Needs a Bigger Boat? Commendation when attacking an Ancient Megalodon with a Cannon Rowboat.
  
• Captains defeating an Ancient Megalodon will now progress The Feared Pirate Milestones and Ship Milestones.
  
• Crews defeating an Ancient Megalodon should now consistently find the Hunter of the Feared Redmaw and Hunter of the Barnacled Dread Commendations progress correctly.

Pet Pigs

• Players stroking a pig while jumping will now appear to stroke the pig correctly after landing and the pig will remain in the correct position.
  
• The nameplate for a pet pig will now be shown above the pig.
  
• A pet pig’s shadow will now be shown when holding it.

Performance and Stability

• Crews performing multiple server migrations during a single session should no longer experience rubberbanding and server desync.
  
• Further improvements have been made to game stability to reduce scenarios where players unexpectedly exit the game or become disconnected from their session.

User Interface

• Players who were previously unable to save changes to their game settings should now find that these are saved consistently when leaving a session, and no longer need to be changed at the start of a new session.
  
• Players attempting to open their game settings and the Quest Table at the same time should no longer become stuck.
  
• Using the back button while navigating the Pet Chest with a virtual keyboard on consoles will no longer cause the menu to become stuck, preventing further input.
  
• Browsing many pages of the spotlighted sections in the Pirate Emporium will no longer cause the menu to become unresponsive.
  
• In multiple areas of the experience where a player’s gamertag is shown within a menu, a shortcut button can now be used to summon the player profile on supported platforms.
  
• Switching pirates within the pirate selection screen on the front end should no longer cause the lighting to flicker.

Visual and Audio

• Players using the ship’s wheel on a Brigantine will no longer have their game chat muffled when speaking.
  
• Multiple crews gathering to join the Legend of Glitterbeard will now find the visual effects light consistently with the music.
  
• Players using a disguise while wearing a Curse with visual effects will no longer find those effects give away their disguise by appearing briefly when other players approach.
  
• Players wearing a Stately Shirt should now find that all hairstyles appear correctly.
  
• Players with tattoos wearing a Stately Shirt should now find the tattoos appear correctly.
  
• Previewing a disguise within the Vanity Chest now correctly shows the pirate inside the disguise.
  
• The Dreamers’ Dust Costume has regained its visual effects.
  
• The Hidden in Plain Sight and Be Alluring to Get Ahead Trophies are now correctly sized and positioned when previewed in the shipwright’s shop or a player’s Trinket collection.
  
• Switching from crouching to standing while holding a fishing rod will no longer cause the rod to momentarily appear in the middle of the screen.
  
• The Baleful Bloom Costume now fits correctly on pirates of all body sizes.
  
• The belt of the Dark Adventurers Jacket no longer merges through the pirate when performing emotes.
  
• Players performing the Swashbuckling Story Emote should now correctly see the sword.
  
• Further improvements have been made to a range of existing hairstyles, ensuring they remain visible when wearing certain costumes.
  
• The Party Boat Jacket and Gloves now appear correctly on pirates of all body sizes.
  
• Players wearing Carla’s Costume should now find the medallion appears correctly on pirates of all body sizes.
  
• During the Ritual of the Flame sequence, the liquid in the chalice will now drain correctly.
  
• During the Ritual of the Flame sequence, glowing eyes will no longer be visible on the skeleton during the transition.
  
• The Pirate Lord now displays the correct visual effects when banging his staff during tutorial sequences.
  
• The lower jaw of the Obsidian Ashen Winds Skull now shows the correct material when being fired.
  
• Players using a disguise while wearing the Burning Eyepatch of the Ashen Dragon should no longer see visual effects floating above the disguise when moving.
  
• Glint effects on nearby treasure now appear consistently when moving in and out of range.
  
• After a Skeleton Fort Key is inserted into the Vault door, it will no longer appear to float in the air.
  
• Players wearing the Intrepid Explorer Jacket now appear correctly when performing a range of emotes.
  
• Crews equipping the Fog-Piercing Frog Lantern will now find the visual effects appear correctly after diving.
  
• Performing the Scrappy Weapon Pose or Menacing Weapon Pose Emote with a blowpipe should now trigger the correct emote.
  
• The flowers on Forest’s Blessing Costumes are no longer affected by nearby storms.
  
• The Ghost Ship’s Crest now appears correctly in the Ship Customisation Chest preview.

Environment

• All Skeleton Vaults have received a polish pass, ensuring their contents are completely hidden from the outside and the cracks in the flooring blend with the environment.
  
• Mercy’s End Fortress now has an Armoury for players to change their loadout.
  
• Players making their way onto a Skeleton Sloop will now find they can safely navigate the ship without hitting invisible surfaces.
  
• Walking into skeletons found deep within The Reaper’s Lair should no longer cause the player’s camera to stutter.
  
• When descending to the Shrine of Flooded Embrace, players should no longer find they can pass through certain doors before they are unlocked.

Text and Localisation

• After players dive to and complete a Raid Voyage for The Hunter’s Call, the Captain’s Logbook will now correctly record the arrival location instead of always displaying Discovery Ridge.

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: 2.9 GB

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Roll up, roll up, another Community Weekend has appeared on the horizon! Season 15’s will be a special anniversary affair, acting as the final fanfare of activities and celebrations for Sea of Thieves’ seventh circling of the sun.

Did you know the first of these Community Events was 10 whole Seasons ago, with Season Five’s Community Day? We’ve come a long way since then, with more reward boosts, Pop-Up Plunder maps, special Voyages and Community Goals than you can shake a stick at! But one thing’s remained, and that’s our aim of using these Events to show our appreciation for all the ways that you, our wonderful community, breathe life into the Sea of Thieves.

So as our twelfth Community celebration approaches, we’re all incredibly excited about the features, freebies and fun on offer during this period. And as is now customary, we’re writing an article about it so we can provide all the hot info on what to expect. Let’s get into it…

Cake By the Ocean
…but just before we do, it would be remiss of us not to mention that this Community Weekend begins immediately after our Seventh Anniversary Celebration Event – which, if you missed the memo, is a bumper celebration of memorable moments that began on Friday, March 14th. Act fast and you can still dive in to claim your Voyages of Luck and cosmetic rewards from completed Community Goals.

One more note on these anniversary celebrations: you might’ve seen some surprising sweet treats slink their way onto the Sea of Thieves servers of late. These particular patisserie-pioneered items will be sticking around until Monday, March 24th. You’ve still got time to seek them and see what secret they unveil…

Community Weekend Commencement
Hot on the heels of the Anniversary Celebration Event, Community Weekend kicks off from Saturday, March 22nd (11am UTC), running for a full 48 hours and finishing on Monday, March 24th (11am UTC).

Your login bonuses this time around are the Golden Sailor Hull and the blue-and-yellow Season 15 Community Weekend Flag, which pair very nicely together – and yes, we did plan that on purpose, you’re welcome. The flag will also be present on our themed Picture Walls present at the Outposts. However, this time out, there will also be another Picture Wall on the map – not at an Outpost, but another hand-in hotspot – and it won’t quite look the same as the others, given who’s architected it…

We'll also be sweetening the pot for players with this particular Community Weekend, given the occasion: any rewards unlocked during the Anniversary Celebration Event will also be available to pirates diving into Sea of Thieves during Community Weekend, who will have them added to their inventories when they log in. In short, that means there are stonks of sweet items up for grabs! Which would make you a fool not to swing by for some seafaring shenanigans.

Stream of Consciousness
To raise the Community Emissary Grade during Community Weekend, pirates are once again tasked with watching Twitch to multiply the in-game generosity, with total watch time powering Grade progress. All you need to do to help raise the Grade – and thus increase in-game rewards – is watch any of your favourite content creators in the Sea of Thieves category on Twitch between Saturday, March 22nd and Monday, March 24th (11am UTC).

We’ll also be hosting a special Saturday stream on the Sea of Thieves Twitch channel, and every minute watched there will also contribute to the Community Emissary Grade! So make sure you tune in, if you can – we’ll be taking the Compass of Chaos for a spin, and who knows where it might take us.

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!

Drops Shipped
Although merely watching Sea of Thieves creators do what they do best is a reward in itself, we also have a range of Twitch Drops for folks tuning in, with the Seasoned Sailor Heavy Sword, Seasoned Sailor Eye of Reach, Eastern Winds Ruby Pegleg and Eastern Winds Ruby Trousers all on offer to those who spend a chunk of time watching Sea of Thieves creators over the weekend.

Not only that, but if a special cumulative Community Goal is met during Community Weekend – an ambitious total number of World Events dived to and completed – then from Monday, March 24th to Monday, March 31st (10am UTC), players will be able to score not one, but two precious Obsidian items as further Twitch Drops!

If unlocked, the Obsidian Captain’s Chair will be the brand new Drop on offer that week, and given the extra-special nature of our anniversary activities we’d bring back the Obsidian Ship’s Crest as a bonus Drop running alongside it. Just as long as you smash that all-important shared Community Goal, of course…

Pop-Up Plunder Prevails
Our quizzical, time-limited, social media-based loot roulette shenanigans are back for Season 15 Community Weekend! We’ve picked some significant islands in tribute to our seven years of history, but stay tuned to our social channels for clues on where exactly we’ve buried these tantalising treasures on the High Seas. 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!

Hat to Go!
As is customary on Community Weekend, we’ll be bestowing both love and rewards upon some unsung heroes of our player base. These fine folks will be honoured 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 with the #BeMorePirate tag.

As we confirmed last time out, we’re taking submissions on Bluesky too – so if you’re over there and would like to suggest a Hat recipient, please do so with the #BeMorePirate hashtag and aim it at the https://bsky.app/profile/seaofthieves.com account.

Seas the Moment
There’s no better time to jump into (or back into) Sea of Thieves than a good-vibes, big-gains event like Community Weekend, so make sure you seize the day – or the weekend – and hit the waves for a whole lot of fun. We’ll see you then!

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Mark seven years on the seas with Community Goals charting Sea of Thieves' history, free Voyages of Luck, cosmetics to earn including the High-Spirited Spin Emote and Golden Sailor Cannon Flare, and more! Navigate to the Events Page in the Pirate Log tab to learn more.

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As it always does, February raced past in a whirlwind, but that didn’t keep us from loading it with goodies and making the most of the time available. With events and updates and hardly a moment to breathe in between, it was a packed few weeks – so rather than leave you in suspense, let’s skip right to the rundown…

Content Update
First up in February’s activities: strange disturbances at the Sea Forts. Ghostly ships were spotted circling the area, and any sailors who got close found themselves fending off Phantom fighters with spectral blades at the ready. These Dark Fortress Raids offered no easy battle, but pirates who emerged victorious could sail away from the time-limited Voyage with two tasty Vaults’ worth of loot.

Right after that, The Hunter’s Call decided it was time to make their move and declared the start of Season 15! Alongside a major expansion to everyone’s favourite fishing Company – including new Distinctions, rewards, piscine prey and, for the first time, Hunter’s Call Voyages – two Ancient Megalodons emerged from the depths to terrorise those on the waves with their unexpected abilities. Want all the info? Hit the release notes! And the additional notes for a quick hotfix (but don’t worry, we were back up and running in no time).

A fresh Season of course also meant an influx of fine fashions for players to get their hands on, whether they could be earned by raising your Renown or trading your hard-earned Ancient Coins in the Pirate Emporium. Most exciting of all perhaps was the latest expansion to the Pet Chest: pigs! Who could say no to their little faces?

News and Features
We started February with a few things that needed tying up before Season 14 ended, in particular the latest Style of Thieves contest! To give everyone time to get their outfits together, we revealed the themes as early in the month as possible – even before we’d had a chance to get our February forecast of activities out.

That wasn’t the only focus on community efforts in our News pages either, as we made sure there was time to fit in a new Creator Spotlight. This time we were chatting with FluffyEdge, Stream Team sailor and cat enthusiast, to find out all about her adventures with Captain Tigerpants.

In the run-up to Season 15’s launch, we wanted to set expectations for how this Season’s features would be arriving in phases to keep things spicy – cue a Forum post from Production Director Drew with the lowdown. From there it was onto our classic Season launch article and, a little while later, another check-in from Drew discussing the hotfix. What else could anyone possibly want to know about Season 15?

Videos and Streams
The approach to a Season launch is always packed with videos teasing what’s to come, whether it’s a simple title screen reveal or a Sea of Thieves News episode focusing on some imminent features. This time around, there was also a fresh Developer Update going deeper into the Season’s staggered release and highlighting the performance improvements about to arrive, as well as some eye-opening Megalodon found footage…

Once Season 15 was securely pulling into port, we expanded the roster with the time-honoured offerings of a content update video and launch trailer to show off all the new things joining the queue for you to sink your teeth into (or vice versa). The Pirate Emporium team also got in on things with an oh-so-refined spotlight on their suave Rococo merchandise.

It wasn’t all about Season 15 this month though – some of our other teams had things to share! First up, our talented musicians had a fresh version of ‘Ballad of the Mer’ to add to the usual streaming platforms, giving a dramatic orchestral twist to the familiar tune. Later in the month, the Community team and our lovely streaming supporters once again assembled for a GameBlast stream, helping to spread awareness and raise money for the important work of SpecialEffect, culminating in over £25,000 donated!

Social Channels
Our social channels in February were awash with competitions and challenges. Alongside eight new entries in the Community Hub and a #SoTShot round focusing on some of the most spectacular loot hauls ever seen, we could also be found handing out magnificent mittens to the latest Style of Thieves victors – plus a few extra once we realised we had some repeat winners!

There was also a romantic February occasion to be marked by, naturally, Valentine’s Day-themed Compass of Chaos challenges, but in the end we spent most of the month trying to find a missing pirate. It took days to track them down. If only we’d had Captain Flameheart’s powers of observation.

The final part of the month was, pretty unsurprisingly, taken up with celebrating some of the new additions to Sea of Thieves – or at least, all the important bits. Including a lot of pigs. It was mostly pigs, in fact. Oh, and baby Merrick.

Well, there you go: as promised last month, despite being naturally disadvantaged in terms of length, February more than pulled its weight when it came to Sea of Thieves goodness. We’ll be back with the next round-up when March is over to see how you’re getting on with Season 15’s latest features, but until then you can hunt us down on Twitter/X, Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, the official Forums and Discord. And don’t stop sending us your pet pig pictures! Obviously.

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Previously in 2025:
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: January 2025

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March marks another year of adventure on the Sea of Thieves, and you’re invited to celebrate this latest milestone with a bounty of Events, rewards and festivities. From the Seventh Anniversary Celebration Event that segues into Community Weekend through to Emporium sales and a suitable shanty, there’s more than enough to keep you busy!

Seventh Anniversary Celebration Event – Friday, March 14th – Saturday, March 22nd

During this month’s Event, all pirates are invited to tackle a series of Community Goals inspired by memorable moments in Sea of Thieves’ past. By working together to hit cumulative targets, you can unlock a range of rewards commemorating some of those unforgettable encounters and discoveries. The celebrations kick off here: rally your crew and get ready to make your mark!

‘Happy Birthday’ Release – Friday, March 14th

Celebrate a special month with a tune fit for the occasion, as a unique rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ joins the Sea of Thieves soundtrack on your favourite streaming services. This newly recorded shanty is a delightful way to mark seven years on the seas, whether you want to sing along or just relax on the deck and enjoy being serenaded.

Sea of Thieves Xbox Dynamic Backgrounds – Friday, March 14th

A new way for players on Xbox to bring the spirit of the high seas to their screens! These animated backgrounds aim to capture the essence of Sea of Thieves, from its breathtaking scenery to moments of seafaring peril. To dive into the selection of dynamic backgrounds on Xbox Series X|S consoles, go to the Personalisation options within your Xbox settings.

Pirate Emporium Anniversary Sale – Monday, March 17th – Monday, March 24th

No celebration is complete without loot to be claimed at a bargain price! Ready as always to get involved in a celebration, the Pirate Emporium shopkeepers will be hosting their traditional Anniversary Sale. Dark Warsmith, Dire Dark Warsmith, Lodestar, Islehopper Outlaw and Stone Islehopper Outlaw sets are all lined up for dramatic discounts…

Xbox Gear Shop Update – Monday, March 17th

An exclusive Sea of Thieves Seventh Anniversary sweatshirt design is en route to the Xbox Gear Shop! This cosy offering with bespoke iconography makes it easy for any pirate to declare their participation in seven epic years on the seas. You can also pick up a deck of handsome Sea of Thieves playing cards for a celebratory game or two!

Sea of Thieves: 2025 Editions – Thursday, March 20th

Just like in 2024, another anniversary brings an opportunity to refresh the Sea of Thieves editions available to buy on all formats. Stick with the base edition or explore what’s included in the 2025 Deluxe and Premium Editions – and maybe others? – arriving on Sea of Thieves’ anniversary date of March 20th!

Microsoft Solitaire Sea of Thieves Theme – Thursday, March 20th

An unmistakable sea breeze blows through the Microsoft Casual Games collection this month! Players will soon be able to bring the spirit of the pirate’s life to their Solitaire table with a Sea of Thieves-themed backdrop and custom card backs adorned with iconic imagery from the game.

Season 15 Community Weekend – Saturday, March 22nd – Monday, March 24th

There’s no slowing down after the Seventh Anniversary Celebration Event as we roll straight into Season 15’s Community Weekend. Expect all the classic Community Weekend delights including souvenir freebies, Pop-Up Plunder, a Community Emissary Grade ready for boosting and Picture Walls for premium posturing. Of course we want to see your own creations and hear your own stories too as you join in the festivities alongside the whole Sea of Thieves community!

Twitch Drops – Saturday, March 22nd – Monday, March 24th

If you set sail during Community Weekend, don’t forget to claim some well-earned rewards along the way. This time, the Seasoned Sailor Heavy Sword and Eye of Reach are up for grabs, alongside the Eastern Winds Ruby Pegleg and Trousers.

Twitch Drops are available by linking your accounts and watching Sea of Thieves Partners on Twitch. If you’re not sure who to tune in to, check our Partner Directory to see who’s online when these Drops go live!

March Monthly Update – Thursday, March 27th

The adventure continues in March’s free content update, bringing the next wave of Season 15 features to the seas. Hunters will soon have a new tool at their disposal with the introduction of the hunting spear for taking down big prey, even as the world around them fills with lively newcomers including lizards skittering across the sands and jellyfish drifting through the waves.

All that along with some dazzling new offerings in the Pirate Emporium and fresh Outpost stock too! Look out for a full breakdown of new additions in the release notes when this update drops on March 27th.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Perks – Thursday, March 27th

Pirates with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate can claim an extra treat this month via the Perks programme! Themed around – what else – Sea of Thieves’ latest anniversary, the time-limited Seventh Serving Emote will be available to redeem from March 27th. Head this way to find out more about Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Perks.

Microsoft Rewards Sea of Thieves Sweepstakes – Monday, March 31st

Ever wonder what a Megalodon crossed with an Xbox controller would look like? Want to be in with a chance of winning just that – an extremely limited-edition new Sea of Thieves controller? Stay sharp for information on how to enter the Sweepstakes and potentially get your hands on ‘The Devourer’ later this month!

As you can see, you won’t get a chance to be bored during Sea of Thieves’ latest anniversary extravaganza. Enjoy all the goodies, opportunities and overall holiday vibes, and raise a tankard in our direction if you see us on the seas!

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Wild Seas
This hotfix addresses a number of issues identified following the launch of Season 15, while cracking down on players using methods to accelerate their progress through The Hunter’s Call much more quickly than intended. For more information on the steps being taken by the team, read the latest Season 15 State of Play Forum post.

The Hunter’s Call Trading Company

• Following review, the team has identified that the reputation required for each rank was set higher than intended, slowing progress through The Hunter’s Call at higher ranks. The requirements for each rank have been corrected and players will now progress at the intended pace.
  
• Due to this change, players who have made progress since Season 15’s launch may find they move up to the next Hunter’s Call rank upon starting their next session. We will continue to monitor player progress and may make further adjustments if required.
  
• Crews cashing in their hunting hauls to The Hunter’s Call representatives at Outposts and Seaposts will now find they provide the same payout as the Sovereigns, ensuring that Captains can use these conveniently located services.

Updates
Quest Table Voyage Cooldowns – Temporarily Disabled

• The previously announced Voyage cooldowns have been temporarily disabled to protect game stability. These restrictions will make their return in a future update.
  
• Crews who start and cancel the same Voyage repeatedly in a short space of time will now find that the Voyage is placed on cooldown and cannot be voted on for a short duration.
  
• The following Voyages have had this initial cooldown applied: Medley of Gold Hoarders, Executive’s Lost Shipment, Ashen Executive’s Lost Shipment, Ashen Captain’s Treasure Vault, Bounty for a Skeleton Lord, Legendary Search for Cursed Treasure.
  
• The recently introduced Pirate’s Fishing Map and Hunter’s Fishing Map for The Hunter’s Call have also had a cooldown applied to prevent crews from forcing the island location and gaining reputation at an accelerated rate.

Fixed Issues
Gameplay

• Players lobbing throwables above or below deck across all ship types should no longer find they explode on contact with invisible surfaces.
  
• Addressing the above issue has meant that a previous fix to throwables interacting with the rear hull of the Galleon (3.3.0) has been reverted to prevent further impact. This issue will be addressed in a future update.

Fishing Voyages

• Crews should no longer find themselves able to catch more Treasured Fish than intended on a single Voyage.

The Hunter’s Call Trading Company

• Players will now find Crates of Rare Fish Scales when taking on Raid Voyages for The Hunter’s Call.
  
• Players will now find that any Treasured Fish sold will be tracked correctly towards The Gold Seeker Pirate Milestone.
  
• Players will now find that Voyages completed for The Hunter’s Call will be tracked correctly towards The Voyager Pirate Milestone.

Visual and Audio

• Players equipping The Hunter’s Call Emissary Costume will now find that any masks are hidden to prevent visual distortion of their pirate’s face.
  
• Pirates of all body sizes should now find that the following scars display correctly when equipped: Flameheart’s Revenge Scar, Fates of Fortune Scar and Shadow Tide Scar.

Performance and Stability

• Further improvements have been made to game stability to reduce scenarios where players unexpectedly exit the game or become disconnected from their session. (Released previously as part of an interim hotfix.)

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.

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

Download and Installation
Download Size:

• Steam: 1 GB

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The Sea of Thieves has always been a wild, untamed sanctuary for pirates, but in Season 15 the stakes across these scattered islands and open waters are being raised once again! The latest free Seasonal update sees The Hunter’s Call Trading Company vastly expanding their offerings while two uniquely powerful Megalodons join the fray, with further hunt-related excitement set to follow in the months ahead. Here’s what you can expect from Season 15 of Sea of Thieves…

The Hunter’s Call Grows
Season 15 is all about exploring the wilder side of life on the Sea of Thieves, and who better to lead the charge than The Hunter’s Call? This Trading Company, first introduced with our original Anniversary Update in 2019, sets itself apart from the others with a focus on fishing and, as the name would imply, hunting. Until now, pirates have been able to climb to rank 50 by delivering fish and meat to The Hunter’s Call representatives at Seaposts or, more recently, to the Sovereigns on their behalf.

From Season 15, however, The Hunter’s Call undergoes a major expansion. First and foremost, it’s being brought in line with other Trading Companies in terms of ranking prospects, with the reputation cap being raised to 100 and five levels of Distinction added. This means you can continue to progress with the Company well beyond what was previously possible, unlocking themed cosmetics as you go.

You can also choose to raise a Hunter’s Call Emissary Flag for the first time, enabling increased rewards for treasure handed in – but at the cost of making yourself a target for any Reapers lying in wait nearby! At the same time, new Fishing and Raid Voyages provide opportunities to set out in search of Company-specific loot, including exotic Treasured Fish hauled up from the depths and ready to make you rich…

Megalodon Mutations
Growing alongside The Hunter’s Call are the new dangers introduced to the seas, most notably two terrifying Ancient Megalodons that have crossed over from the Sea of the Damned, ready to unleash carnage with abilities that make them substantially more dangerous than any everyday shark.

The Feared Redmaw has risen from the boiling depths, wreathed in flame and wielding a devastating explosive attack to torch any ship that drifts a little too close. Keep your water barrel full to deal with fires breaking out or you’ll quickly find yourself in the hot seat! Meanwhile, the armour-plated Barnacled Dread torments sailors with Eel-ectric invasions, spawning these formidable Ocean Crawlers onto the decks of attacking ships. Repel boarders while using your cannons to chip away at the Megalodon’s coral armour until you can strike the beast directly!

These fearsome monsters offer tantalising loot if you manage to best them, but finding them isn’t always easy. In this, Hunter’s Call Emissaries have the advantage: ships flying a Grade 5 Emissary Flag will be able to track Ancient Megalodon locations using their Map Table and sail headlong into battle…

Hunter’s Gear
With a new Season, as always, comes 100 new levels of Renown to be earned and all the associated rewards! You can work towards earning new themed cosmetics such as Hungering One Hunter’s clothing, as well as a hoard of gold, Doubloons and Ancient Coins – while purchasing a Plunder Pass also lets you unlock the enigmatic Dynasty of the Deep collection and an extra 750 Ancient Coins.

The Pirate Emporium shopkeepers also debut the fabulous Rococo set this month, inviting you to indulge in the finest historical fashion. This collection includes a ship set with optional Collector’s items, weapons, costume and makeup to add some ostentatious flair to all aspects of the pirate life. Inclined towards the edible arts? You may also enjoy the Culinary Cadet Emote Bundle, with four cooking-themed emotes to get you in the gastronomic spirit!

All This and More
To keep the new content flowing steadily, not all of Season 15’s features will be landing at launch! The monthly updates in March and April will deliver further features on the hunting theme, as teased in our Season 15 launch trailer.

Over the next few months, you can expect to take up a new throwable hunting spear that will prove highly effective at taking down wild beasts, and experience a sudden bloom in the range of ambient wildlife you’ll see on your travels. Following that, some decidedly less passive wild boars will be taking up residence across the islands with their own stashes of loot to protect…

To help keep the feisty local fauna under control, The Hunter’s Call will offer pirates new Hunting Voyages, sending them off to seek a savage Grand Boar or trail in the wake of a rampaging Megalodon as it causes chaos across the waves. To get to grips with all the changes coming soon to the seas, be sure to dive into each month’s release notes when the accompanying updates go live!

Find Out More
For more information on the Sea of Thieves Season 15 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. 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!

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Wild Seas
Heed the call in Season 15, which brings a wealth of new incentives to The Hunter’s Call while introducing new wildlife both harmless and hostile. For an overview of the fierce features due to roll out over the course of this Season, head to our dedicated Season 15 page!

Ancient Megalodon Encounters

• Ancient Megalodons have torn through from the Sea of the Damned and begun terrorising pirate crews with their terrifying powers. Hunters should keep a keen eye on the waves for these deadly new foes.
  
• The Feared Redmaw is a ferocious beast with fiery attacks. Crews must quell its supercharged assault by damaging it to release its pressure and avoid a cataclysmic explosion.
  
• The menacing Barnacled Dread must have its coral armour removed before the beast can be defeated. Look out for its shocking bite and ability to summon Eel-ectric Ocean Crawlers onto your ship!

On-Demand Hunter’s Call Voyages

• The Quest Table now offers a range of Voyages on demand for The Hunter’s Call, allowing crews to sail or dive to their location.
  
• New Fishing Voyages provide hunters with the locations of Treasured Fish where they gather near islands, tasking them to retrieve these new fish for the Company.
  
• The Treasured Fish caught from these Voyages are unique and highly valuable, so they cannot be cooked, eaten or stored in a player’s inventory. They can be handed in for gold and reputation, but beware – they can also be stolen by other pirates!
  
• Hunter’s Call Raid Voyages allow players to experience any of the eight existing Raids on demand, while awarding new Hunter’s Call treasure.

Emissaries for The Hunter’s Call

• Crews can now represent The Hunter’s Call as an Emissary, boosting their rewards as they go hunting across the seas. On reaching Emissary Grade 5, crews should keep an eye on the ship’s map as recent sightings of Ancient Megalodons will now be shown.
  
• Players sailing as an Emissary will now appear on The Hunter’s Call Emissary Ledger and be eligible to earn new rewards.

Hunter’s Call Trading Company Expansion

• Players can now climb to rank 100 with The Hunter’s Call, with new rewards from the Killer Whale set to unlock as they progress. Reaching the lofty rank of 100 will unlock the Hunter’s Call Costume along with a Distinction Ring, allowing players to continue representing the Company towards their next Distinction.

Wild Seas Commendations and Rewards

• With ferocious new encounters to face and Hunter’s Call treasure on offer, a range of new Commendations have been added within the Reputation tab to challenge would-be hunters. Explore the challenges under Wild Seas to unlock rewards from the new Eternal Hunt set.
  
• With the introduction of Hunter’s Call Emissary play, The Reaper’s Bones are now offering the Disgraced Hunter’s Hat for crews willing to claim the Flags of fallen Hunter’s Call Emissaries.
  
• Four new Pirate Milestones have also been added with Wild Seas, unlocking access to new Trinkets: the ‘Fearsome Flame’, ‘Coral Calamity’ and ‘Tides of Tranquillity’ Trophies along with the ‘Gone Fishin'’ Painting.

Season 15
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!

Season 15 Rewards and Plunder Pass

• As The Hunter’s Call expands this Season, players can now earn Renown when defeating new threats and cashing in the new treasures on offer.
  
• Progressing through the 100 levels of Renown in Season 15 will reward players with the Hungering One Hunter’s clothing set and unique Season 15 rewards, alongside time-limited Call of the Seas collectibles. 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 Dynasty of the Deep set, including a ship set with Collector’s items and a selection of themed clothing, all available to earn by raising your Renown. Purchase a Pass in-game through the Pirate Log or Pirate Emporium, or via the Pirate Emporium webpage or Steam Item Store.

Season 15 Emissary Ledger Rewards

• This Season, the Guild Emissary Ledgers offer the ‘Circle of Death’ Painting, ‘Rock Hopper’ Ornament and Guild of Piratical Predators Title to Guilds who perform proudly in the Ledgers.
  
• The initial rewards for the new Hunter’s Call Emissary Ledger include the Assailant of the Abyss Title, Hunter’s Call Inaugural Explorer Sails and Hunter’s Call Inaugural Forager Sails.
  
• In line with the regular rhythm of Emissary Ledgers, these rewards will be earnable from the start of the next month, March 1st.

Chest of Fortune

• For the duration of Season 15, the Chest of Fortune has been returned to the Vault of the Fort of Fortune.
  
• Crews who retrieve Chests of Fortune can now earn the next Grade of the Fortune’s Favour Commendation, unlocking access to Regal Fortune clothing items.

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 Regal Fortune Hook, Pegleg, Tattoo and Eyepatch.

Gameplay Improvements
Performance Improvements

• Sea of Thieves servers now support multithreading and have received the first phase of performance improvements. Parts of the physics and network systems are now directed to a different core and can run in parallel to the main game.
  
• Performance improvements have been made to how treasure is populated within shipwrecks, ensuring that it’s only placed when crews engage with it and more readily cleaned up to improve server performance if items are left behind.
  
• Broad performance improvements have been made for players across both PC and console when playing at higher framerates, improving loading behind the scenes based on the client framerate. These improvements have been tuned to target framerates between 60fps and 120fps, but may also provide some improvements for higher framerates where supported.
  
• Performance optimisations have taken place on all islands across the Sea of Thieves, with each island receiving a pass. There will be no visible changes to the islands as part of these optimisations.
  
• Performance optimisations have been made when selling treasure to Trading Company representatives while representing as an Emissary.
  
• The appearance of the Burning Blade is now much rarer on the seas, with the other World Events now increased in rotation.
  
• In addition to the above areas, this update includes a range of smaller optimisations to game performance providing improvements across the broader experience.

Blowpipe Improvements

• Switching between dart types is now much more responsive and allows for quicker switching before firing.

Trap Inventory

• Traps have now been separated from throwables in the player’s inventory. Players can now carry a maximum of two traps and five other throwables. These revised trap limits are now shown by a separate Trap category in the player’s inventory.
  
• Traps will now be included when cycling through throwables by using the available hotkey.
  
• When using a cannon, traps have been removed from the cannonball radial menu.

Addressing Unsinkable Ship Locations

• Changes have been made to a range of islands where ships have been reported to become unsinkable when partially beached in shallow areas, with players taking advantage of this during Faction battles.
  
• The following islands have been improved to address these shallow spots: Dagger Tooth Outpost, Kraken’s Fall, Shark Tooth Key and Port Merrick.

Hidden Skeleton Fort Vaults

• The Vaults beneath all Skeleton Forts including the Fort of the Damned have been hidden, with players no longer able to see through the cracks from the floors above to spy the Vault treasures waiting to be claimed.

Menu Navigation on Controller

• Navigating through the game’s various menus has been improved when using a controller, providing a more fluid experience when navigating in diagonal movements and held directions now scrolling across larger areas.
  
• These menu navigation improvements can be customised further in the game’s input settings as ‘Controller Menu Deadzone’ and ‘Controller Menu Repeat Speed’.

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 browse and buy the latest additions!

New Items – Now in Stock!

• Pig Pets: Oatmeal, Pomegranate, Truffle, Cinnamon and Mulberry
  
• Rococo Ship Collection
  
• Rococo Ship’s Crest
  
• Rococo Costume Bundle
  
• Rococo Weapon Bundle
  
• Culinary Cadet Emote Bundle
  
• Sting Tide Pistol (free!)

Outpost Cosmetics
New Outpost Stock!

• Fans of the Lucky Hand set can now find the instruments available at Outpost equipment shops.

Season Eight Legacy Cosmetics

• Cosmetics previously available during Season Eight have arrived in Outpost shops and can now be yours in exchange for Doubloons!
  
• Players can now purchase the Cursed Bone clothing set, along with a range of unique one-off items first available during this Season. Pirate Legends can also pick up Flameheart’s Hat and Cutlass.
  
• The time-limited Cursed Bone Flag, Sails, Makeup, Tattoo and Scar, however, remain exclusive to players who participated in Season Eight.

Updates
Detection Improvements for Ban Evasion

• Further detection improvements continue to roll out behind the scenes targeting players who evade game bans to regain access to Sea of Thieves. These improvements will continue to be deployed in phases over the coming months to systematically crack down on banned players and prevent them from returning to the seas.

Quest Table Voyage Cooldowns

• Following the introduction of the Quest Table and the refreshed Voyages delivered in Season 11, players have discovered techniques to increase their progression and gold acquisition in unintended, accelerated ways. The Sea of Thieves team now has the ability to apply cooldowns to specific Voyages should crews start and cancel the same Voyage repeatedly in a short space of time.
  
• While no Voyage restrictions have yet been placed as part of this update, the team will continue to monitor player behaviour and target specific Voyages as part of future updates.

Temporary Voyage Locking

• The Sea of Thieves live team now has the ability to temporarily lock a Voyage and prevent it from being started on the Quest Table. This allows the team to react quickly and protect players in the live environment should a high-impact issue occur, without the need to take the game down for maintenance.

Accessibility
Custom Text Overlay

• A new accessibility feature has been introduced to improve the readability of Riddle Maps. Within the Language settings of the game menu, players can enable a Custom Text Overlay and further customise the appearance, adjusting screen position, font size, background and text colours.
  
• After preferences have been saved, the overlay will be applied when viewing any Riddle Map, with a scroll bar available for longer text.

Fixed Issues
Gameplay

• When players dive to a Faction battle, the enemy ship will now consistently appear visible upon surfacing to begin the encounter.
  
• Players using a Grapple Gun to pull another player while in the water can no longer cause their target to rotate.
  
• The audio effects for scooping and throwing water when bailing should now play consistently when performed in quick succession.
  
• The audio effects for a ship filling and creaking when taking on water are now prioritised over other effects, ensuring that these cues are always clear to players.
  
• Damage marks shown on the outside of a ship’s hull will now appear correctly based on the damage dealt.
  
• Throwables such as blunderbombs targeting the rear hull of the Galleon will now consistently impact the hull’s surface and not pass through certain areas to land inside the ship.
  
• Blowpipe darts embedded in moving ships are now more easily targeted and can be consistently destroyed through player actions.
  
• The prior fix to the Armoury (3.2.3) that addressed players being unable to switch weapons after receiving knockback damage has been reverted to prevent further impact. This issue will be addressed in a future update.
  
• Any open radial menus now close when crouching, preventing a range of visual issues caused by attempting to wield items while crouched.
  
• ‘The Journey to Mêlée Island’ – Emissary Grade progression is no longer awarded when collecting items found within the Tall Tale.

Performance and Stability

• Further improvements have been made to game stability to reduce scenarios where players unexpectedly exit the game or become disconnected from their session.

Traps

• Traps should now consistently rest on the ground when placed in a range of locations.
  
• Traps will now be destroyed when thrown at the outside of a ship’s hull.
  
• Traps loaded with a Bone Caller will now trigger consistently when sprung.
  
• Throwing a trap inside a tavern will no longer prevent players from interacting with it or switching to other equipment.
  
• Players setting the trap will now correctly receive the Red Alert Raider Commendation when meeting the necessary criteria, while those triggering the trap will no longer increase Commendation progress.

User Interface

• Resolved an issue that caused the Quest Table to display an extended loading spinner when browsing for Voyages.
  
• When using low graphics settings, browsing the Pirate Emporium from the Quick Menu during gameplay should no longer cause textures to fail to load within the Emporium and across the wider game upon exiting.
  
• Players earning Distinctions for a Trading Company will now see the correct rank when viewing the Pirate’s Log from the front end menu.

Environment

• Skeletons that emerge at Crow’s Nest Fortress and Barnacle Cay Temple should now appear in the correct locations and not become stuck.
  
• Rain will no longer appear to fall inside buildings at Lookout Point.
  
• ‘The Lair of LeChuck’ – Players can no longer become stuck among palm trees during this Tall Tale.

Visual and Audio

• The Tankard of the Damned now visibly runs out of grog when emptied.
  
• Shadow Skeletons set on fire while in shadow form no longer display distorted visual effects.
  
• Firing a ship’s cannon equipped with various Cannon Flares at Ghost Ships will no longer cause visual issues to appear within the sails.
  
• Dying during the final wave of a Siren Treasury encounter will no longer cause the music to overlap.
  
• The Cardinal Lodestar Flag is now correctly displayed on the Brigantine.
  
• The Cardinal Lodestar and Lodestar Spyglass now sit correctly in players’ hands across all body sizes.
  
• Players wearing the Captaincy of Courage Jacket or Dress now appear correctly when observed by others.
  
• The Horn of Fair Winds and Trident of Dark Tides now appear correctly when viewed at different distances.
  
• The Kate Capsize hairstyle now fits neatly around tall jackets across all pirate body sizes.
  
• Fruit held in a player’s hand now casts the correct shadow.
  
• The Fates of Fortune Pocket Watch now consistently displays the correct time.
  
• The Tiny Tree Emote’s visual effect now disappears when the emote is cancelled.
  
• The light effect of the Ancestral Collector’s Figurehead is no longer visible from inside the ship, and the item now appears correctly when lowering the graphic settings.
  
• The visual effects of the Radiant Comet Collector’s Figurehead now remain visible when viewed at a short distance.
  
• Green smoke from the Checkmate Cannon Flare is no longer visible to players launched from the cannon.
  
• ‘Lords of the Sea’ – The Black Pearl now consistently appears with a golden glow at the end of the Tall Tale.
  
• ‘The Quest for Guybrush’ – Stan's voiceover should continue to be heard after being locked inside the wardrobe.
  
• ‘The Lair of LeChuck’ – Murray’s skeleton now appears correctly once his head is attached.

Text and Localisation

• ‘The Lair of LeChuck’ – Improvements made to the Quest Book to address overlapping text in French and Italian languages.
  
• Improvements made to consistency in terminology across Simplified Chinese, Thai and Brazilian Portuguese languages.

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: 5.74 GB

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Until February 20th (10am UTC), visit your Quest Table to undertake A Raid on a Dark Fortress, a ghost-busting Limited Voyage that leads to a more impressive loot haul than a standard Sea Fort.

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