Edmund Duncan

Sea of Thieves , the forthcoming Microsoft exclusive , is being pitched as a games as a service-style game. Publisher Microsoft sees it as the sort of game that players will want to keep coming back to month after month. It comes as little surprise then, that like so many other games as a service, Sea of Thieves will also include microtransacti

In a recent post on Reddit, user vJoeyz shared news regarding a possible Sea of Thieves open-beta. The information, obtained by digging through newly added files for the insiders-only version of the game, contains multiple references to content for an unannounced open beta. The only way the closed beta could be accessed was to either have it pre-ordered or be a member of the games insider prog

Speaking to IGN , Rare's executive producer Joe Neate confirmed that the first major post-launch Sea of Thieves update will introduce microtransactions. This update is expected around three months after Sea of Thieves news|https://seaofthievespedia.com/ of Thieves ' launch and "anything in this area will not impact power or progression, and you'll always know what you're getting - so that means no loot crates," says Neate. Given the ongoing controversy surrounding pay to win loot boxes and the debate on whether or not loot boxes are gambling , many will be glad to hear that Sea of Thieves won't feature that mecha

For now, though, Rare will continue with the development of Sea of Thieves in preparation for its forthcoming launch. There's plenty to do, and Rare seems like they're adding new ideas as fast as they can come up with them. The studio just revealed how players can now get sick and vomit into a bucket, then use the bucket as a weapon against friends (or alli

Considering the fact that Sea of Thieves will be a shared open world, it wouldn't be surprising to see the game offer players opportunities to build abodes and other buildings, and work together with friends and strangers to create and protect entire villages. Additionally, considering the game is focused on pirates, and pirates need ships, it's very likely players will need to purchase a boat either alone or with others in order to set sail. There may also be ways for players to gather materials to build or upgrade those ships, making them more capable pirates and thie

Some prospective Sea of Thieves players may question the decision to include microtransactions, but Neate has an explanation for the business model. "Ultimately I have to look at the reality of running a game-as-service as a business," says the executive producer, adding that "My goal and everyone else's goal here is to have as many people as possible working on this, and just keep giving people reasons to return, reasons to have fun. We have to run that like a business, you need revenue coming

Neate is not the first developer to offer this explanation, with former Uncharted developer Amy Hennig also saying that loot boxes and microtransactions are a result of rising game development costs . This means that players can likely expect more microtransactions in games going forward, but many will be hoping that they follow Sea of Thieves ' lead and only offer cosmetic unlo

Many gamers have been asking about the possibility of customizing their galleons, and it looks there are a variety of ways to do this in the full game. Files have been found for a healthy selection of hulls, ranging from red, white, or black, all the way to barnacled, adventurer, and a design simply called "Old Bettsy". The same categories also exist for the sails, pennants, and flags – a strong indicator that crews will be able to vote on a flag to sail under. As expected, player customization will also be much more in-depth, with a healthy portion of tattoos, eye patches, beards, hooks, and pegs up for select

Sea of Thieves looks to be the latest in the plethora of new and upcoming shared-world games. The shared world concept is still fairly new for console gamers, and seems to pull together the best of role playing games and massive multiplayer online games into a full online world that gives players the opportunity to interact with each other, work together, and fight one another in an epic wo

The addition of harpoon guns brings some exciting possibilities for underwater combat and maneuvering: it's a great shark deterrent (as it's likely gunpowder-based weapons won't be usable under water post-beta), and also brings the possibility that pirates will be able to attach themselves to opposing ships via the harpoons and potentially sneak up the sides. Of course, that's not the only new weapon to watch out for. The boarding axe, heavy sword, rapier, flintlock pistol, and blunderbuss will also be featured in the full version of Sea of Thiev

There are also references to more instruments beyond the hurdy-gurdy and accordion, which have become massive hits among players. Each of the two existing instruments has a lead and backing track (along with their drunk variants), but a fifth track for drums also appears to be on the cards. Many players have also wished for larger galleons allowing for crews of 5 or 6, but the datamine has revealed no fruits in that regard – just more pomegrana