Celebrate 25 Million Sea of Thieves Players with an In-Game Gold Giveaway and 25 Things to Try!

The pirate ranks of the Sea of Thieves continue to swell, as we’re happy to announce that we’ve reached the auspicious milestone of 25 million players! With the introduction of Seasons earlier this year, and our epic crossover with Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean in Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life, we’ve seen a huge influx of players casting off for the first time and enjoying all the new features and content. We’re going to need a bigger boat…

With so many sailors heading out for the first time, and well over a year gone by since we outlined 38 Things Added to Sea of Thieves Since Launch, we want to mark the 25 million player milestone by showcasing 25 new features we’ve introduced since then. As an extra celebration, anyone who plays Sea of Thieves between October 19th (3pm BST) and October 26th (3pm BST) will receive a special login bonus of 25,000 gold and 25 Doubloons. On top of that, one randomly picked pirate who hands in treasure during this period will earn a payout of 25 million in gold!

Now let’s list our 25 things to try – and don’t worry if you’re yet to set sail on the Sea of Thieves or it’s been a while since you were out on the waves, as all major content updates have been added for free so you can jump in and enjoy the experience right away!

Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life

Our biggest addition to Sea of Thieves since 2019’s Anniversary Update, the big Disney crossover Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life sends you on an adventure alongside Captain Jack Sparrow in five brand new Tall Tales, where you’ll clash with the infamous Davy Jones on a quest to save the pirate way of life. Engage in epic battles, solve puzzles and explore places not just in the Sea of Thieves but beneath and beyond it too!

Seasons

Introduced at the beginning of 2021, Seasons overhauled both Sea of Thieves’ update schedule and in-game progression system to give players new ways to play on the seas. We’re currently in the swing of Season Four and you can read about how Seasons work right here, but in short – each Season lasts roughly three months and brings in new features, so far including new areas to explore, Voyages, Events and rewards, along with 100 levels of Seasonal progression to be climbed just by playing the game, awarding Season-specific goodies.

The Sunken Kingdom

First seen as part of the Tall Tales in Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life, the Sunken Kingdom acts as the tentpole feature of Season Four, letting you dive deep into the Sirens’ undersea realm. Explore sunken Siren Shrines and uncover their mysteries, face down waves of Sirens and Ocean Crawlers as you scour Siren Treasuries, haul up brand new Coral treasures and more!

Emissaries

Added as part of 2020’s Ships of Fortune update and recently expanded upon in Season Two, the Emissary system gives you an opportunity to act as an envoy of the Trading Companies on the seas. By raising your reputation and then raising an Emissary Flag, you can earn extra gold, reputation and special rewards from the Company you’re representing as you hand in loot and defeat threats on the Sea of Thieves. Be warned, though – flying an Emissary Flag makes you a target for The Reaper’s Bones…

Trials and Deeds

Added alongside Seasons in early 2021, Trials and Deeds provide sets of mini-challenges to tackle, awarding extra Renown to boost your climb to level 100 and unlock a wide range of rewards along the way. Each Season brings a refreshed pool of Trials and Deeds – can you complete them all before the Season ends?

The Reaper’s Bones

The followers of this belligerent Trading Company were introduced alongside the Emissary system in the Ships of Fortune update. The Reaper’s Bones strive for superiority and have no respect for the other Trading Companies, wanting only to send their Emissaries to a watery grave and take their Flags as trophies. If you see an Emissary of The Reaper’s Bones out on the waves, be prepared for a fight. Of course, you can also choose to join them yourself…

Crew Costumes

First introduced with the haunting Soulflame Crew Set in 2020’s Fate of the Damned update, Crew Costumes allow all crew members to dress up together in themed costumes, as long as one person owns the set – whether it’s as members of Captain Jack Sparrow’s motley crew or sailors from a faraway desert kingdom.

Treasure Vault Voyages

As the key addition in 2020’s gilded Vaults of the Ancients update, Treasure Vault Voyages let you channel your inner bank robber by tracking down keys and breaking into hidden Vaults dotted around the Sea of Thieves. Solve the puzzle inside each Vault, and a Chest of Ancient Tributes is yours for the taking! Spend too long counting the gold inside, and the closing Vault may end up being your tomb…

Ashen Lords

Signalled by a swirling red tornado, it’s always a big event when an Ashen Lord arrives on the Sea of Thieves. The headline addition in July 2020’s Ashen Winds update, Ashen Lord battles present a fearsome challenge as you contend with not just these burning brigands’ fiery assaults but waves of Ashen Skeletons and red-hot magma raining from the skies. Vanquish one of these lieutenants of Captain Flameheart and a flame-belching Ashen Winds Skull is yours to command.

New Shanties

Need a rousing song to play as your cannons rip through an enemy Galleon? Want to kick off a pirate’s birthday party with a festive ditty? Our crews’ original shanty songbooks were fleshed out with plenty of new options in 2020, including Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture and that old classic, Happy Birthday. Rumour has it there’s also a special unlockable shanty for dedicated Commendation hunters in Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life…

Tall Tale Checkpoints

Added as part of May 2020’s Lost Treasures update, this highly requested quality of life feature allows you to save your progress through the epic narrative-driven Tall Tales by reaching specific points along the way. Should someone on your crew have to nip off to make their dinner or if you find a persistent crew of Reapers on your tail, Tall Tale checkpoints give you the ability to pause your adventure without having to circle back to the beginning when you dive back in.

Captain Flameheart

Not only are his lieutenants yearning for a scrap, the feared skipper of the Burning Blade himself made a grand (re)appearance on the Sea of Thieves in the Haunted Shores update, complete with his ghostly armada. As his huge leering head in the sky taunts you into battle, expert helmsmen can try their luck at sinking Flameheart’s fleet to earn some phantasmal plunder, including devastating Wraith Cannonballs. If you want to hunt Ghost Ships, but don’t want the added pressure of Flameheart bellowing at you about supplies, you can also take on Ghost Ship Voyages with the Order of Souls and secure some valuable Damned treasures to cash in.

Cats and Dogs

These hotly demanded pets can now be found mingling with their avian and simian friends in the Pirate Emporium, meaning you can choose from a selection of four-legged breeds to join you on your high seas adventures. From the stocky Ragamuffin to the fluffy Inu, any one of these furry companions will act as the perfect mascot for your crew’s wild adventures. Before you ask – yes, you can pet them.

Sirens

One of the many new threats that emerged as part of Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life, these denizens of the deep will emerge from the depths if you stay in the water too long, and also fiercely guard their Sunken Kingdom against intruders. While Sirens attack up close with their sharp claws, the fearsome Siren Leaders can also attack from afar using the Trident of Dark Tides. Don’t forget to pick up the Siren Gems they drop once defeated!

Emissary Trade Routes

A tentpole featured added in Season Two, Trade Routes allow Merchant Alliance Emissaries to live the life of dedicated high seas traders. By acquiring Commodity Crates at an Outpost, canny corsairs can turn a tidy profit by consulting prices and selling these stashes of unprocessed raw materials at other Outposts. Remember – buy low, sell high!

Plunder Pass

If you want to max out the rewards on offer as you gain Renown and climb through the progression levels of each Season, the optional Plunder Pass adds exclusive goodies to the pool that aren’t available anywhere else. Purchasable from the Pirate Emporium with Ancient Coins, a new Plunder Pass arrives each Season with a fresh crop of rewards, either partially or completely exclusive to that Pass until the Season ends!

Trident of Dark Tides

The signature weapon of the Sirens, this powerful pronged projectile weapon can be found around the Sea of Thieves or within the Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life Tall Tales and put to use for your own purposes. Charging the Trident to full power fires off an explosive bubble that packs a real punch – watch out for friendly fire!

Lost Shipments

Introduced in Season One, these Voyages let you help the Merchant Alliance find ships that never completed their trade missions. Track a ship’s projected path, find clues to its fate along the way and collect the vessel’s Manifest from its sunken remains. Keep an eye out for the key to the Captain’s Quarters on your search, as the most valuable cargo is waiting inside for the taking…

Ocean Crawlers

Introduced in Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life, this triumvirate of deep-sea baddies shake up combat encounters with their unique skillsets. The hulking Crab packs a real punch and can protect its allies with a coral shield, the Hermit can belch clouds of poisonous spores and burrow underground, while the Eel-ectric can electrify both friend and foe with its shocking attacks.

Twitch Drops

If you’ve linked your Sea of Thieves and Twitch accounts together, you can tune in to Partnered Sea of Thieves streamers when Twitch Drops are active to earn free in-game items! Twitch Drops happen in intervals throughout a Season with new pieces of a selected cosmetic set on offer each time, so don’t miss out.

Reviving

Getting blown up by a Gunpowder Barrel or burnt to a crisp by a firebomb no longer guarantees you a trip to the Ferry of the Damned! Crewmates can now revive downed players by reaching them in time to coax their soul back into their body. Should help be too far away, you can choose to speed up your soul’s passage to the other side instead, getting you back to the action that little bit faster.

Resource Crates

A long-requested feature added in Season Two earlier this year, Resource Crates allow you to easily prep for your next outing by stocking up at any Outpost. Whether it’s cannonballs, wooden planks or even a box full of bananas you need, you can save yourself having to run around rifling through barrels at the start of each session by picking up one of these pre-filled crates from the Merchant Alliance!

Phantoms

Joining the fray alongside Sirens and Ocean Crawlers in Season Three, Phantoms now haunt islands up and down the Sea of Thieves, spooking unsuspecting sailors with their ferocious speed and ability to phase in and out of combat. Watch out for their vicious lunge, and attack when they become visible!

Forts of Fortune

These supercharged Skeleton Forts will net you a bumper loot haul, complete with guaranteed Athena’s Treasures, but they involve dealing with extra waves of foes including some explosive surprises and gruelling boss waves. Beware of bandits too, as the Fort of Fortune Key shows up for all players once the Fort has been conquered – so make sure you’ve got a clear escape route…

Accessibility Updates

Even as we expand Sea of Thieves’ world with new gameplay experiences, we’ve made it our mission to regularly add accessibility features in our free content updates, removing barriers so that anyone can come and enjoy their own pirate adventure. From options such as single stick navigation through to text-to-speech conversion and the ability to tweak elements such as text size and position on screen, making Sea of Thieves accessible to all is a crucial ongoing aim for us as a team. If you have any further suggestions for accessibility features, let us know via our Support site!

So those are our top 25 picks of recent features to check out in Sea of Thieves – there’s still so much more we could have mentioned including highlights of our regularly refreshed time-limited Events, ongoing quality of life additions, and new batches of Commendations and Xbox achievements. But for now, a big thank you to each of our 25 million players to date, a warm welcome to all our curious new corsairs, and a reminder to log in for your celebratory windfall of gold and Doubloons!

New to Sea of Thieves? Join the fun with our Maiden Voyage, a narrative-driven tutorial experience. New players will begin their travels within this scenario – and more tips can be picked up from our online Pirate Academy, which provides invaluable information on topics ranging from sailing to swordplay. Learn more about Sea of Thieves at www.xbox.com/seaofthieves, or join the ongoing adventure at www.seaofthieves.com where you can embark on an epic journey with one of gaming’s most welcoming communities!

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Source: Xbox Blog
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