Sea of Thieves’ Huge Anniversary Update is Live Now

Microsoft and Rare have been teasing the big anniversary update for Sea of Thieves for quite some time. The update has been confirmed to include a lot of new content, from an all new story-driven adventure to multiple new modes and features. Finally, the one year celebration update is live now, and we can finally get a look at everything it brings to the table.

The update adds a new story mode that Rare promises will last you 10-20 hours, a new fishing mode that includes cooking, and an Arena mode which promise unique spins on the game’s PvP model. It seems the update has also brought some other welcome things too. Xbox One S models will get a performance boost and overall game loading improvement. A lot of minor fixes to audio, gameplay, and UI are included as well. You can see a partial changelog of the massive update below, as provided by the developers, and see the full list here.

Sea of Thieves is available now for Xbox One and PC, and the Anniversary Update is live now for both platforms as well.

TALL TALES – SHORES OF GOLD

Grand adventures, vast riches to plunder, ancient secrets to uncover… stories of piracy and wild encounters on the waves. The Sea of Thieves is bigger and stranger than anyone knows. Tall Tales – Shores of Gold brings this pirate world into even more vibrant focus, leading you deep into long-lost legend and mystery. Are you ready to follow our trail of tales?

THE ARENA

Experience the thrill of competition and engage in explosive encounters in The Arena – a place dedicated to contests of seafaring skill on the Sea of Thieves! The proudest pirates love to show off their abilities and The Arena is the ideal place for it. Trust in your crew and test your mettle in this dedicated new game mode.

THE HUNTER’S CALL

Pirate bard Merrick, a true survivor of the Sea of Thieves, has decided to build on his experiences by founding a new Trading Company known as The Hunter’s Call. This ragtag band boasts experts in hunting, fishing and cooking and would like all pirates to master the same skills. Handsome rewards await those who can catch the rarest creatures and cook the finest dishes!

ANNIVERSARY UPDATE

The Sea of Thieves Anniversary Update also brings along various world improvements to enhance the core experience. Expanded ship damage means that your beloved vessel can suffer a broken mast, capstan or even wheel, meaning that sailing and escaping battle could become very tricky indeed.

PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS

• Xbox One S Improvements – Performance on the Xbox One S has been improved.
• Improved Loading Times – Time taken to initially load in to Sea of Thieves has been reduced.
• Game Stability – Resolved a number of client and server stability issues.
• We are constantly reviewing the performance and stability of each release and providing performance optimisations and stability improvements.

FIXED ISSUES

Gameplay

• ‘Push to Talk’ functionality now works correctly on Xbox One when set up in Audio Settings.
• Chest of Sorrows no longer fills up a ship when placed on a docked Rowboat that is then detached from the ship.
• When fighting the Kraken, moving into a safe space while it attempts to snatch you up from the ship will no longer cause you to be pulled through the environment.
• If the game is unable to delete your pirate from the front end settings screen, it will no longer cause an infinite loading screen.
• It is no longer possible to interact with items while holding a chest.
• After undocking from a ship-based interactive item, you will now be able to correctly tap the quest radial or item radial to return to the previously wielded item.
• Resolved an edge case where a Closed Crew could become an Open Crew when the crew owner leaves.
• Resolved an issue preventing Xbox One players using a mouse from turning their camera.
• When using the pirate chat radial, closing the second page of the radial without selecting a message will no longer automatically send a message.

UI

• Players with unlocked Commendations for previous Mercenary Voyages will once again see their Commendations in the Reputation pages.
• The Title counts on the Bilge Rats Reputation page will now correctly count the Titles available to players.
• During the new player onboarding tutorial, handing your tutorial chest to another player and having them cash it in for you will no longer leave tutorial messages stuck on-screen.

Audio and Visual

• Waterfall SFX at Plunder Valley no longer cut out.
• Fauna now renders at the correct level of detail when players are in close proximity.
• Shanties now play as expected when played during a server migration.

Environment

• Angled palm trees found in the Shores of Plenty region now render correctly.
• The cannon next to the beacon on Devil’s Ridge can now be climbed into.
• The ship’s flag on the Ferry of the Damned is now correctly attached.
• There are no longer palm leaves stuck to the beach at Mermaid’s Hideaway.
• Players can no longer walk beneath the water on Crescent Isle.
• It no longer rains in the Pirate Legend Hideout at Plunder Outpost.
• It’s no longer possible to get stuck inside rocks at Thieves’ Haven.
• Players can no longer get stuck between the wharf and the tree at Plunder Outpost.
• It’s no longer possible to get stuck on rocks at Ancient Spire Outpost.