Introduction
Pirate games have always sounded like a great idea, but for years, hardly anyone got them right (with the exception of Sid Meier’s Pirates! and subsequent re-releases). Then Sea of Thieves came along in 2018. It was made by the British studio Rare and published by Xbox Game Studios, and the goal was simple: put players on a pirate ship and let them create their own stories.
Instead of a normal single-player adventure with missions guiding you the whole way through, Sea of Thieves drops you into a shared world full of other crews. Everyone is out there looking for treasure, fighting skeletons, hunting monsters, or trying to rob each other. Some days the ocean is quiet. Other days the whole server seems to end up fighting in the same place.
The game launched in March 2018 on Xbox One and Windows. Since then it has expanded massively with updates, seasonal content, and new story missions. It later arrived on Xbox Series X/S and even PlayStation 5 in 2024. After years of updates the game has grown into one of the most popular multiplayer adventures around, with more than 40 million players having tried it.
Eight years later, Sea of Thieves is still going strong.
The basic idea
Sea of Thieves is a first-person multiplayer adventure set in a huge open ocean. Every player controls a pirate and sails around completing voyages for different trading companies.
The world is shared, meaning other crews are always out there somewhere. You might never see them, or you might suddenly find cannonballs flying at your ship.
There are three main ships players use:
Sloop
A small ship usually run by one or two players. It turns quickly and is easy to control but can’t take much damage.
Brigantine
A medium-sized ship designed for three players. It balances speed, firepower, and durability.
Galleon
The largest ship in the game. It needs four people working together but carries the most cannons and can survive heavy damage.
Running a ship properly takes teamwork. One person steers the wheel, another adjusts the sails, someone checks the map, and someone watches for danger. During battles players repair holes, bail water with buckets, and fire cannons at the same time.
When a crew works well together the ship feels like a real pirate vessel instead of just a vehicle.
Sailing around the world
The world itself is one of the best things about the game. The ocean constantly moves, waves rise and fall, and storms roll across the map. Sailing through a thunderstorm can be chaotic. Lightning hits the ship, the compass spins wildly, and the waves push the boat in every direction.
The islands are scattered across the map and each one has its own shape, caves, and beaches. Some are quiet little islands with a single palm tree, while others have ruins, forts, and skeleton armies guarding treasure.
While exploring the sea players regularly run into random events:
Skeleton ships floating in the ocean
Shipwrecks filled with loot
Treasure floating in barrels
Storms and dangerous weather
There are also giant sea creatures like the Kraken and the Megalodon. Both attack ships and can turn a peaceful voyage into complete chaos.
Another dangerous area of the map is the Devil’s Roar. This region is full of volcanoes, earthquakes, and boiling water. The treasure is worth more there, but surviving the trip is much harder.
Voyages and trading companies
Most activities in the game come from trading companies that give players voyages.
Each company has a different style of mission.
Gold Hoarders
These voyages involve treasure maps and riddles. Players travel to islands and dig up buried chests.
Order of Souls
This faction focuses on combat. Players hunt skeleton captains and collect their skulls.
Merchant Alliance
Merchant missions involve delivering animals or fragile cargo between islands.
Completing voyages gives players gold and reputation with the companies. As reputation increases the missions become more difficult and more valuable.
There are also other factions such as Reaper’s Bones, which reward players for stealing treasure from other crews.
Eventually players can reach the rank of Pirate Legend, which unlocks special missions and access to a hidden pirate hideout.
Ship combat
Naval combat is where the game becomes memorable.
Battles between ships can last several minutes and involve a lot of moving parts. Cannons blast holes in the hull, water pours into the lower deck, and players scramble to repair damage before the ship sinks.
Ships can lose their masts, anchors can break, and steering wheels can be destroyed. Crews have to repair everything while still fighting the enemy.
There are also special items that make battles more interesting. Cursed cannonballs can cause strange effects on enemy ships, like making the crew drunk or stopping them from steering. Gunpowder barrels can explode and sink ships instantly if used well.
Players often jump onto enemy ships to sabotage them directly. Boarding an enemy vessel and dropping their anchor at the right moment can completely change the fight.
No two battles play out the same way, and some of the best moments in the game happen during these chaotic fights.
Tall tales and story content
When the game first released it didn’t have much story content. Later updates introduced the Tall Tales missions.
Tall Tales are longer narrative adventures that send players across the world solving puzzles, exploring ruins, and hunting legendary treasure. One storyline involves the search for the mythical Shores of Gold.
Later expansions even added crossover stories inspired by Pirates of the Caribbean and Monkey Island, bringing famous characters and locations into the Sea of Thieves world.
These story quests added much more direction for players who wanted something beyond random exploration.
Progression system
Sea of Thieves handles progression very differently from most multiplayer games.
Gold and reputation unlock cosmetic rewards only. Players can buy new clothes, weapons skins, ship decorations, pets, and emotes.
None of these items change gameplay. A brand-new player has the same weapons and abilities as someone who has played for hundreds of hours.
This design keeps the game balanced. It also means players can leave for months and return without being weaker than everyone else.
The focus stays on player skill and teamwork rather than grinding for stronger equipment.
Updates over the years
Sea of Thieves was designed as a live service game that would grow over time.
Since launch the developers have added:
Fishing and cooking
Rowboats
Harpoons
Skeleton ship fleets
Story campaigns
Seasonal battle passes
Live in-game events
New updates arrive regularly, often introducing new mechanics, enemies, or limited-time adventures that change the world temporarily.
These updates helped transform the game from a fairly simple pirate sandbox into a huge ongoing multiplayer world.
Problems
Even after many updates the game still has a few weaknesses.
Some voyages can start to feel repetitive after a while. Digging up treasure or transporting cargo is not very complicated gameplay on its own.
Sword combat is also fairly basic compared to the naval battles. Fighting skeletons on land is not nearly as exciting as fighting other ships.
Solo play can also be difficult. The game is clearly designed around teamwork, and running a ship alone takes a lot of effort.
Despite these issues the core experience remains strong.
Final thoughts
After years of updates, Sea of Thieves has become one of the most unique multiplayer games around. It focuses less on structured missions and more on player interaction and unpredictable moments.
Sailing across the ocean with a crew, spotting another ship on the horizon, and deciding whether to fight or run creates situations that rarely happen in other games.
The world looks beautiful, the naval combat is exciting, and the freedom to approach situations however you want keeps things interesting.
Eight years after release, Sea of Thieves still stands as one of the best pirate games ever made.
Final Rating: 9/10
