Sea of Thieves debuted on March 20, 2018, making this weekend the third anniversary of Rare's beloved pirate adventuring game. To celebrate, Rare has announced a host of festivities for players, with extras for Game Pass Ultimate members.
"This weekend marks three years since Sea of Thieves made its maiden voyage on Xbox One and Windows 10, and what a journey it’s been!" said Executive Producer Joe Neate. "Since our launch back in March 2018, over 20 million pirates have begun to chart their own tales of high seas adventure, and we couldn’t be more grateful. From everyone at Rare, we’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who has joined us on the Sea of Thieves journey so far – 2021 is looking to be our biggest year yet, so stay tuned for more!"
The celebration takes shape in several ways. To start, all players who log into the game between now and March 25 will receive the Prosperous Captain's Sails for their ship. Game Pass members will also receive the Jump for Joy emote. In the Game Pass Ultimate Perks tab, subscribers can also claim the Ocean Crawler bundle for free between now and June 18. The game itself will also be marked down by 50% in the Microsoft Store for Xbox and PC this weekend only.
A Gold and Glory weekend returns starting tomorrow, March 19, and running til March 22. Players will earn extra loot and XP for all actions. Previously, committed pirates have used such an event, paired with the Emissary system, to go from new players to Pirate Legends in a matter of days, a feat that normally takes months for most players. For the first time, this XP event will also affect the new Season Renown level of your character, so you can tier-up through the Plunder Pass faster.
The final set of Twitch Drops for Season One is on the way as well. Players who tune into partnered Sea of Thieves between March 19 and 23. Rewards on offer in that span include the Gilded Phoenix equipment set and the Hornpipe Dance emote. Free comics exploring more of the backstory of Sea of Thieves are now available on Comixology as well.
All of this is perhaps supplemental to the main event of the anniversary, a game update dropping today which adds a new Vault Raiders event coming March 25. New store items are also available, including the new ROFL emote.
It was a little over a year ago that Sea of Thieves surpassed 10 million players, and today the team celebrates 20 million. There's no question that despite a lukewarm launch, Sea of Thieves has grown into a juggernaut not just for Xbox, but perhaps more importantly, for Game Pass. It was the first game to launch into the service on day one, and remains one of the biggest success stories three years later.
