The gang behind Sea of Thieves are giving us new ways to play the game whether it’s flying the flag on the high seas or plundering for treasure on islands, the game has more plunderin’ and high sea sailing to come! Along with loads more of content for us all to sink our scurvy teeth into!
The team opened with a Seasonal Big Listen with their insider program members, which will undoubtedly serve to accept and adapt feedback from the player community into the game itself. Now this, THIS is how you listen to the fans.
One big thing that the community has been vying for is more story to plunge into, and while the creative team has been more focused on the sandbox side of things within the game, the shift definitely seems to be heading more in a more narrative focused direction, which in essence will add some real meat to the already content-rich game! A new story addition within the season would be a huge positive for fans of the game, and that is exactly what the team over at Rare want to do, among other big things! Without further ado, let’s open the chest and see what plunder we have!
New Team Setup and Seasonal Approach
Rare have committed to expanding the Game Health Team to ensure that Sea of Thieves has a continuity of new content and a variety of add-ons consistently being added to the game. With these teams already set up and ready to go, improvements are already being enjoyed by avid players!
This new seasonal approach aims to span the course of three months, whereas all the seasonal content of old has been released all at the start of the month. This gives the fans something to look forward to over three months and increases excitement for the add-ons! The new seasonal approach will look like this going forward –
Month 1: More sandbox features and world building setup
Month 2: Headline live event, upscaled and expanded with lore elements
Month 3: ‘call to action’ moment for players, revisiting and revitalizing sandbox content
This comes along with existing live events which will now always run on the community weekend in the first month of a season, and a Gold & Glory in the last month, ensuring that players have ample opportunity to catch up if they’ve struggled to find game time. While this shift will require a transitional period to put it all into fruition, this brings with it no community weekend for season 16 and rather a community weekend for season 17 in early August which ensures the community don’t go too long without any multiplier goodness!
Season 17
Season 17 will of course be all about the Smugglers’ League, which is a band of pirates heading to the shores of Sea of Thieves. The first month of this will involve Smugglers’ Hideouts, new loot types and Smugglers’ Runs to really introduce this ragtag bunch of pirates. The second month will bring a headline event in the shape of a heist, while Month 3 refreshes the skeleton fort experience which is a feature that has remained unchanged for a long time.
A community weekend celebrating Rare’s 40th anniversary will land at the very beginning of the season, and Gold & Glory near the end will offer that all-important catch-up moment before season 18. You can also expect the usual rewards, Twitch drops, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Perks and more as Rare look to roll out a wave of cool stuff to get your hands on.
Season 18
Of course, it wouldn’t be Sea of Thieves without a teaser as to what comes next in the swashbuckling future. In season 18 there looks to be a focus on The Devil’s Roar, this season promises to boost emissary play along with general activity in the region. New ancient shrines and expanded Smugglers’ League gameplay will form a part of this, as well as a unique headline event!
Additional Updates/Features
Other features coming to the game are huge, just as big as the new seasonal approach and updates being made to the game. Custom servers will be dropping in early 2026 as part of a new subscription model and will come with a host of other benefits as part of a premium package. Custom servers will offer a vast range of different features which include a private customizable sandbox, with switches, toggles and commands to curate the server experience. Subscribers will be able to do things such as spawn enemies, loot on and off commands, turn off AI enemies and ensure that the environment is fit for whatever shenanigans you want to set up.
Along with the custom servers, this will be able to run the safer seas fleets, filling a server full of friends and larking about to their hearts content, all while earning rewards at the same levels available in the solo version of safer seas.
With the new subscription service being offered next year, the team at Rare decided to announce it nice and early so that their partners and creative communities can make plans for sooner rather than later. Rare want to build the tool set in partnership with the community, which lies at the very core of what they are aiming to do with their fresh updates and game health teams.
Does this sound like a winner of an update? I certainly think it does, as at the base of it all, Rare are really pulling into the community dynamic which we are struggling to see in many modern games. From the quality-of-life updates to the custom servers, I think this goes without saying, but the community will heavily benefit from the updates coming and the seasons coming in the future!
