Rare’s Sea of Thieves doesn’t set sail until March 20, but you can test out the cartoonish pirate adventure one last time from now until 6 a.m. ET on Sunday, March 11. The final beta test is available to all Xbox One and PC users and features a much wider amount of content than previous betas, giving players a more accurate look at what to expect in the full game.
First up is Merchant Alliance Guild, one of the three organizations that hands out quests in Sea of Thieves. Taking a quest from this guild tasks you with rounding up animals like chickens and pigs from far off ports and bringing them back for rewards. It may sound like a simple fetch quest, but you have to tend to the animals along the way — feed them, corral them, and, of course, protect them from other pirate crews.
The beta also introduces Skeleton Forts. You will know when you’re near one if a skull emblem rises in the clouds above an island. If you decide to dock, you have to fight off waves of challenging skeletons. Clearing Skeleton Forts nets you greater rewards and because they are easily spotted in the sky, you might have to deal with other pirate crews as well as the persistent skeletons.
Users will also be able to customize their pirate vessels for the first time.
In the video above outlining the beta, executive producer Joe Neate said that the goal is to get more players than ever playing Sea of Thieves at one time. Public betas don’t always go without a hitch. Neate said that if the servers run into problems, Rare could temporarily block new players from joining until the game stabilizes. So you may want to download and hop on as soon as possible, just in case.
Hopefully, the game can handle the increased workload, especially since Sea of Thieves figures to be heavily populated at launch. As part of Microsoft’s new initiative, it is the first big game that will enter the Xbox Game Pass subscription service at launch. Subscribers will have the same access to the game as those who purchase it on its release date.
Sea of Thieves launches on Xbox One and PC on March 20.
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