Hannelore Edmunds

Contrary to the silence that surrounded the game after Sea of Thieves ' E3 2015 debut , Rare has made sure to hammer home the price model of the title this time to ensure no ill-conceived rumors float around Sea of Thieves this time. Microsoft has experimented with a number of free-to-play multiplayer business models with its own titles, but those have found varying levels of success, with enough commercial failures - like Project Spark and Lionhead's Fable Legends - that companies like Rare have likely taken notice and adjusted business models accordin

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

What do you think about Sea of Thieves not being free-to-play? Is it fair for developers to still take this approach to multiplayer content, or has the era of paid multiplayer business models started to fade away? Let us know in the comments be

One of Microsoft's strongest franchises -- the racing simulator Forza Motorsport -- was given its seventh installment announcement, showing impressively alluring gameplay smoothly operating at an impressive 4K and 60 FPS on Xbox On

Interestingly, Rare didn't have anything else to say about how Sea of Thieves would be monetised after its launch next year. All Mayles could offer in that regard was a broad design philosophy that hints towards a content release plan similar to that of Destiny or other long-term investments like The Divisi

And yet…as pleasing as it was to eventually get to grips with the ship’s functions — jostling between control of the wheel and micro-managing of the sails, during solo sessions — or as enticing the next island on the horizon was to make landfall over, it’s hard not to come away from Sea of Thieves and think: "OK…but what else is there?" Admittedly while the beta did restrict activities to purely hunting down treasure, to say the more "in-between" segments — the mundane segments if you will — proved to be the more entertaining and/or insightful segments brings up a worrying and (potentially) lacking hook that Sea of Thieves’ gameplay sorely needs.

Rare's Short Haul trailers are just one way the developer is continuing to communicate with its audience, whether they're excited for Sea of Thieves or not. There are several other short video series that are ongoing, like the Inn-side Stories series or one-offs created for special events, like Talk Like a Pirate Day. Perhaps this extensive amount of developer-to-player communication is another strategy to help bring players closer to the experience that Sea of Thieves will provide . Perhaps in knowing Rare, players will better know their ga

The closed beta for Sea of Thieves treasure guide|https://seaofthievesfans.com/ of Thieves has come and gone and despite server issues on day one , it's safe to say it was quite the success. With interesting co-operative gameplay and fun cartoonish art style, Microsoft and Rare's pirate adventure seems to be winning gamers over. Now, if the rumors are to be believed, those who missed out on the closed beta may soon be getting a chance to captain their own s

It wasn't too long ago that Bandai Namco announced Code Vein . However, with its announcement, details of which platform it would be coming to was unknown. Until today, at least. Code Vein has been announced for Xbox One, with an enhanced version coming to the Xbox On

It’s in no way surprising that the mantra of "…but what do I do?" or variations thereupon, has lingered over Sea of Thieves like a pungent-but-irremovable odor. While there was always a strong case that there’d already been a fair amount of intrigue built up for what Rare — proper Rare that is, not Kinect Sports-shackled "Rare" — was cooking-up, prior to and since its reveal back at E3 2015 (which admittedly garnered somewhat of a deflated "eeeeeehhhhhh" reaction from yours truly), details pertaining to its content, its progression, its finer details outside of an odd sample of footage and some rather unfunny plodding through voluntary player commentary, have been somewhat conserved. For what purpose though; after all, you and I both know Microsoft need all the good marketing they can get their hands on if they’re to give Xbox a reasonable chance in 2018.

Naturally, then, gamers have been eager to find out exactly what the online component of Sea of Thieves ' multiplayer would entail. Unfortunately, those expecting that the title would be free-to-play once initially purchased are going to be sorely disappointed. Sea of Thieves design director Gregg Mayles shot down the idea of a free multiplayer experience in an interview with Eurogamer at E3 2016 yester