One of Microsoft's exclusives, Sea of Thieves has been a stress point for the publisher to promote, and the sales and player numbers show how much of that has proved effective. However, its initial novelty has proven to be a sore point for its players to remain invested in its world, and developer Rare is attempting to correct course as executive producer Joe Neate and design director Mike Chapman outline in a video update detailing Sea of Thieves' future.
The pair discusses how the next month will be focused on addressing major fan feedback first, which informs how the team broaches new content down the line. Some of these design philosophies include offering more goals and rewards for exploration, more emergent events taking place during PvP and PvE, and expanding the ways players can become Pirate Legends and what they can do beyond that status.
To gain players' continued attention, diverse weekly events are in the works that reuse mechanics and portions of the world in new ways, granting rewards for your efforts to explore as well. Beyond this goal, the first content update in May will unveil The Hungering Deep, which will encourage players to band together against a mysterious new threat. Summer will see the release of Cursed Sails and Forsaken Shores, which offers new enemy types that rock the proverbial boat. Three more free updates are scheduled for the fall and winter.
You can read Kyle Hilliard's Sea of Thieves review here.
[Source: Sea of Thieves website]
Our Take
After an hour with Sea of Thieves, I had a gut feeling that players would quickly grow tired of it since content would get old and repetitive quickly. The game reminded me too much of Destiny 2, and my thoughts aren't far off from the overall reception. That being said, I do like the direction that the updates will be taking the game in, and considering how they're all free so the community isn't divided, I can only see things going up from here on out.