Sea of Thieves is changing its content rollout strategy by adding a season pass. The new change does away with monthly updates and will instead see content roll out in three-month long seasons starting in January 2021.
Each season kicks off with a new piece of content, described as a “new way to play.” Developer Rare will roll out live events, new rewards, and quality of life fixes as a season progresses. Season 1 will feature three live events.
The biggest change is that the game is adding a season pass, which gives players 100 levels of pirate renown. Gaining renown unlocks different rewards like cosmetics for characters and ships. Players can buy a Plunder Pass, which adds an extra rail with additional rewards and exclusives from the Pirate Emporium. Rare did not share pricing details for the pass.
The content update is a change of pace for Sea of Thieves that puts it more in line with other live service games. The season model is similar to the model used in games like Destiny 2 and Fortnite.
As part of the season 1 update, the game adds a new Voyage Experience that tasks players with doing detective work to find a lost shipwreck. Rare says that it’s focusing on building adventures moving forward and deprioritizing the competitive Arena multiplayer mode. Rare will continue to support Arena, but it has no plans to update or evolve the mode going forward.
Sea of Thieves’ will cap off 2020 with its Festival of Giving event starting on December 9. Gilded voyages will return as part of the update.
