Build new game modes to challenge your friends, record unrivalled cinematics and experience the Sea of Thieves like never before! To learn more about this Season’s headline features, head over to our dedicated Season 20 page.
Emoting with Free Camera
Players are now able to choose an emote and enter Free Camera mode, allowing them to perform the emote while accessing the full camera controls.
Pirate Practice Preset
A new official Preset has been added, providing players with quick access to an experience set up for swift practice runs through World Events, naval battles and more.
Session Join Code Protection
When entering a Join Code to access a custom session, the digits will now remain hidden to prevent the code from being shared with others potentially viewing. The code can also be revealed and hidden at any time while being entered.
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Bone Caller Balancing
Bone Callers used to attack other crews’ ships have been rebalanced and are now dynamic based on ship size. When thrown, each will now summon one skeleton on a Sloop, two on a Brigantine and three on a Galleon.
No changes have been made to Bone Callers used defensively on the crew’s own ship, and they will continue to summon three skeletons on all ship sizes or when used on land.
Water Splash Improvements
Firing ranged weapons into the water now results in a satisfying visual and audible splash.
Last Ship Standing – Shrinking Battle Bounds
While the Battle Bounds will continue to shrink in stages early in the battle, the final area will no longer remain static during the final phases of the fight.
Crews will now find that at the 25-minute mark, the final area between the rocks will slowly shrink over the course of 10 minutes, forcing the battle towards an explosive close.
Last Ship Standing – Retrieving the Spoils of Battle
Any jettisoned resource barrels, Storage Crates or Emissary Flags released from sunken ships now have seagulls circling above them, to make them easier to locate during the fight.
Last Ship Standing – Winners’ Grace Period
After besting their rivals to become the Last Ship Standing, winners will now find that the portal will not appear until they sail away from the final combat area. This change has been implemented to address crews being prematurely removed from the area.
Winners are still returned to the High Seas after 10 minutes, giving them plenty of time to collect their spoils.
Last Ship Standing – Diving with Emissary Flags
Victorious crews claiming the Emissary Flags of their rivals will now be able to return to the High Seas and dive again into their next battle, and continue to carry their Flags as trophies into subsequent matches.
A range of legacy Commendations have become increasingly difficult to achieve over time as the game has evolved. As part of this update, these Commendations are being extended to support additional methods of progression.
Merchant Alliance Commendation Improvements
Merchant Alliance Commendations that task pirates with recovering various Resource Crates and resources have been reworked to provide a more predictable way for players to progress.
Four new Commodities introduced to Merchant Trade Routes give players new ways to progress the following Commendations in addition to the original requirements:
Merchant Forager – Fruit Crates or Crates of Unprepared Ingredients
Merchant Shipwright – Wood Crates or Crates of Crude Repair Materials
Cast Iron Merchant – Cannonball Crates or Crates of Unwrought Munitions
Black Powder Merchant – Gunpowder Barrels or Crates of Unprocessed Gunpowder
Miles Sailed Commendation Improvements
Trading Company Commendations that require players to sail with an active Voyage have been updated, and will now also progress when the crew is sailing on behalf of the Company as an Emissary. These Commendations include:
Sailor of the Gold Horizon – Sail 1000 nautical miles on Gold Hoarders Voyages, or with their Emissary Flag raised.
Sailor of the Whispering Bones – Sail 1000 nautical miles on Order of Souls Voyages, or with their Emissary Flag raised.
Sailor of the Merchant Alliance – Sail 1000 nautical miles on Merchant Alliance Voyages, or with their Emissary Flag raised.
Sailor of Athena’s Fortune – Sail 1000 nautical miles on Athena’s Fortune Voyages, or with their Emissary Flag raised.
Hunter of the Wide Sea – Sail 1000 nautical miles on Hunter’s Call Voyages, or with their Emissary Flag raised.
Sailor of Scorching Seas – Sail 1000 nautical miles on Reaper’s Bones Voyages, or with their Emissary Flag raised.
Faction Battle Commendation Improvements
Faction Battle Commendations that require crews to cash in their Streak have been reworked so that they still progress when crews remain battling and win battles with their active Streak. These Commendations, for both the Servants of the Flame and Guardians of Fortune, include:
Ferocious Warrior – Reach the Allegiance Streak to become a Champion or win battles as a Champion.
In His Name – Reach the Allegiance Streak to become a Champion or win battles as a Champion after the Ritual of the Flame.
Best of the Best – Reach the Allegiance Streak to become a Champion or win battles as a Champion.
Pretty Good at This – Reach the Allegiance Streak to become a Champion or win battles as a Champion after the Blessing of Athena’s Fortune.
Burning Blade Commendation Improvements
The Playing the Part Commendation has been reduced to requiring a single Burning Blade returned with 8 or more Rituals (down from 10 Burning Blades returned).
The Feeding the Fire Commendation has been reworked so that it progresses when crews continue retrieving Rituals with their active streak:
Feeding the Fire – Reach a streak of 4 Rituals or complete Rituals after reaching that streak in command of the Burning Blade.
Bilge Rats Weekender (August 14th – August 17th)
New Challenges task crews on High Seas with performing high-flying stunts, Ashen Lord antics and assists for other crews. Don’t forget to check in with Larinna for more details on the Weekender and the location of the next Bilge Rats Firework Display!
Reaper Gunpowder Runs return as part of this Weekender, bringing back an explosive time-limited Voyage for crews sailing the High Seas. Handing in Gunpowder Barrels, Stronghold Gunpowder Barrels and Kegs of Ancient Black Powder provides big boosts to gold and reputation payouts, while Event Goals offer opportunities to earn those sought-after Doubloons.
The Black Market will receive new stock during the Weekender for players with Doubloons to spend:
Famous Pirate Shirt and Hat
Bloodstone Dragon Trousers
Spider's Venom Eyepatch
Master of the High Seas Boots
Hungering One Hunter's Belt
Pegleg of Boneward Blade
Shadow Tide Suave Hair
Touch Grass Emote
Devilish Duchess Dress (requires Pirate Legend status)
The Smugglers’ Market will also have new items in stock for Doubloons, the contents of which will remain hidden until Duke is discovered in his new location!
Emissaries of Fortune (starting August 5th)
A new regular Event begins in August, boosting Emissary rewards for crews representing the various Trading Companies on the seas.
For 24 hours every Wednesday (starting 10am UTC), players sailing as Emissaries will receive a generous additional reward multiplier per Grade, stacking on top of existing bonuses!
New Outpost Stock!
The Outpost shops now offer the remaining items to complete the Silver Coin clothing set, along with the Lantern and Spyglass, all available to purchase with gold.
Show off your personal style with purchases from the Pirate Emporium! Pick up exclusive cosmetics such as ship liveries, costumes, weapons, pets and emotes using your Ancient Coins, purchasable with real money. Head to the Pirate Emporium to browse and buy the latest additions!
New Items – Now in Stock!
Smouldering Pegasus Ship Collection
Smouldering Pegasus Weapon Bundle (Cutlass, Pistol, Blunderbuss, Eye of Reach)
Smouldering Pegasus Costume Set (with and without beard)
Pocket Lizard Emote
Palm Tree Wave emote – now returning for free!
Mass Invite Protection (PC Only)
Streamer Mode Support has now been expanded and provides controls for creators on PC to protect from mass invites while in the front-end menu.
Players can now mute ‘Front End Invite Notifications’ and will find any received invites no longer block navigation through the menu and appear filtered at the top of the screen.
In addition, players without this setting enabled will find that after receiving multiple invites in quick succession, the invite notification now provides an option to temporarily mute further invites for that session.
Gameplay
After purchasing supplies from the Merchant Alliance or Hunter’s Call, players attempting to redeem the items will now find that all purchases are placed on the ground nearby for easy retrieval. Alongside this improvement, players should find that redeeming purchased supplies is much more consistent.
After diving, crews should no longer experience scenarios where ship interactions on other rival ships become unusable. These can include but are not limited to non-interactable Ammo Crates, missing cannons, empty resource barrels or missing Quest Tables.
After diving into Faction Battles, players should no longer find weapons and equipment in their loadout may become unusable or switch to different cosmetics than those chosen at the Armoury.
Ancient Megalodons defeated during their bite attack should now consistently release their rewards into the sea to be recovered by victorious players.
Ancient Megalodons should no longer appear near the location of active Faction Battles.
Treasure left at sea for a period of time before being retrieved will now have its sink timer reset, ensuring it remains floating for the full duration if dropped into the sea again.
Rowboats should now persist between sessions after being attached to a Captained ship.
Waves of skeletons summoned during the Fort of the Damned should no longer appear beneath the ground, and should now consistently appear in areas where they can engage in combat.
During Faction Battles, Emissary Flags released from crews who are destroyed by the Battle Bounds now appear as being won in battle.
The Cannon of Rage should no longer disappear when a player carrying a cannon attempts to pick up another.
Blowpipe darts should now correctly apply their effect even if a player switches weapons while the dart is in flight.
Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons on a player-controlled Burning Blade should now reappear in the correct numbers when killed.
During the Legend of the Veil Voyage, cannons on the Sea Fort will now defend against approaching ships.
Merchant Alliance Tutorial Voyages now complete correctly when handing in Chicken Coops, regardless of where the tutorial was started.
Crews pledged to a Faction from the Hourglass of Fate who choose to scuttle will no longer be shown the option to requeue.
Tridents of the Banished now have a chance to be found washed up on islands across the seas.
Players will now make progress in the Dance Off Danger Commendation when making Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons dance.
Captains are now limited to placing one ‘Stones of Siren Power’ Ornament on Trinket spots.
The pillar image is now removed from the map once the correct pillar is completed during the Search for Ancient Secrets Voyage.
The Eternal Fighter Commendation now progresses when an Eternal Guard is defeated by skeletons summoned from a Reaper's Chest.
‘Shores of Gold’ – Crews reaching the Gold Hoarder at the end of this Tall Tale will now find they can move and attack as intended.
‘A Pirate’s Life’ – While players are aboard the Ferry of the Damned, the ship’s cannons remain locked until released by the Ferryman.
Custom Seas
Various improvements have been made to the UI menu flow across the Command and Quick Command Menus to provide usability improvements, text and localisation improvements and UX fixes.
With ‘Hide Gamertag From Me’ enabled, the scoreboard now correctly hides player gamertags.
The player’s gamertag no longer appears in the top-right corner of the first-time Custom Seas introduction.
Ancient Skeletons no longer appear naturally in Private Sandbox sessions.
Enemies can no longer be spawned on the Ferry of the Damned.
When using the scoreboard, players’ final score is no longer able to exceed the score limit.
Quick Sail/Fly controls will now be hidden when using the ‘Hide Menu’ option.
The time of day now updates live, with a clear indicator, when a new time is selected.
The current location indicator for fog and storms now appears without delay when a new location is selected.
All Hunter’s Call reputation options are now greyed out when the Trading Company is set to Off.
If the host closes the game in a lobby, non-host players are now removed after 10 minutes.
The fog location can now be moved to an island in a different region.
When activating a new World Setting, all audio should now be present.
With the Expanded Ship Supplies switch enabled, mangoes now appear in the ship's food supplies.
Friendly Fire now correctly applies flinch, knockback and controller vibration feedback.
With Opposing Crew Damage disabled, melee damage no longer triggers controller vibration and camera shake.
Fast Travel now correctly displays an error message when attempting to teleport a player to themselves or when on the Ferry of the Damned.
The island filter when choosing a Fast Travel destination now cycles through all categories.
Flying now moves upward and downward at a consistent speed.
Flying players are no longer pushed around by earthquakes in The Devil's Roar.
Attempting to repair a ship that has passed the point of no return now correctly shows that it can no longer be repaired.
Ships no longer rotate unexpectedly after Fast Travel or Quick Sail.
The My Crew page now consistently displays all crew members correctly.
Custom Seas Presets can now be renamed before a Preset is selected.
Players can now open the radial menu while emoting or using Disguises.
Custom Seas – Free Camera
Using the Free Camera while putting on a Disguise no longer leaves the player stuck flying.
Activating the Free Camera while walking no longer causes that input to repeat once the camera is closed.
When activating the Free Camera aboard a moving ship, the player now remains correctly locked to the ship.
The Free Camera now correctly hides the player's shadow when ‘Show Pirate’ is turned off.
On a controller, the Free Camera now rotates at the correct speed while locked onto a target.
When using the Free Camera, effects applied to the player should no longer also be applied to the Free Camera.
Deed completion notifications earned while using the Free Camera are now shown after exiting that mode.
Custom Seas – Legendary Locations
At Legendary Locations, ships are no longer thrown into the sky if they block a spawn point that will be used by ships added to a session.
Players entering the Glorious Sea Dog Tavern simultaneously now move correctly into the location.
Players entering the Glorious Sea Dog Tavern are no longer left with fog or underwater visual effects on screen.
Players now sit correctly on the chairs inside the Glorious Sea Dog Tavern.
Footsteps on the rugs inside the Glorious Sea Dog Tavern now play the correct sound.
Taking a mermaid at Legendary Locations when no ships are present no longer results in endless loading.
Merfolk Statues found within the caves at Tribute Peak now return players to their ships as intended.
Last Ship Standing
Further improvements to matchmaking have been made to address issues that were causing crews to become stuck beneath the waves when waiting for rivals or experience a black loading screen at the start of battle.
After losing a battle, crews with crewmates still on the Ferry of the Damned should no longer experience a Cashewbeard error and find themselves disconnected from the game.
Crews waiting for rivals beneath the waves are now able to freely load the ship’s cannons and restock their ammo from the onboard Ammo Crate.
Following a win, the Battle Bounds will now return to the starting size, allowing players to retrieve any items before returning to High Seas while preventing access to unintended areas of the environment.
Flags will now display correctly as won in battle if a player equips the flag before voting to dive to Last Ship Standing.
Players can no longer scuttle their ship while sailing beneath the waves into a battle.
The Battle Bounds ship creak audio is no longer briefly heard when loading into the winners' tunnel.
The Nigh Unsinkable and A Sunken Century achievements now progress during Last Ship Standing battles.
The Extinguished Commendation now progresses when its requirements are met in Last Ship Standing.
Various improvements have been made to the environmental design surrounding the wreck at the centre of the battle.
Visual and Audio
Players should no longer find their pirate appears invisible in menus or their cosmetics missing in-game.
Players crouching and standing repeatedly should now consistently appear in the correct stance when viewed by others.
Players now appear with the correct weapons when performing the Covert Weapon Pose Emote.
Players climbing inside the Shining Pegasus Cannons now appear correctly when viewed by others.
Equipping the Courage of Captaincy Eyepatch no longer makes the player appear invisible when previewing cosmetics at the Vanity Chest.
After claiming the Burning Blade, players will no longer see effects from the Flameheart statue flickering around the Map Table and Ship’s Crest.
The Ghost Fleet cloud will now display correctly regardless of where the player is facing.
Visual effects from items no longer remain visible when items are stowed on a player’s back.
Eternal Guard spear effects no longer flicker while skeletons are being summoned.
Ferry of the Damned lighting and shadows now appear correctly without flickering.
Obsidian Ashen Winds Skull effects no longer appear around the player's hand while crouching.
Splash visual effects now appear correctly when a player is hit by boiling water thrown from a bucket.
The player’s hand is no longer hidden along with the Trident when its charge runs out.
Some Double Barrel Pistols no longer display reversed triggers.
The Prosperous Privateer Glamorous Hair preview icon now matches its in-game style.
Sandra at Dagger Tooth Outpost no longer displays graphical detail issues.
Animals placed inside cannons no longer appear misplaced after players leave and return to the area.
Environment
Improvements have been made to areas of the environment at Plunder Valley, Fetcher’s Rest, Old Faithful Isle and Ruby’s Fall to address visual issues and prevent players from becoming stuck while traversing.
Players who become stuck and teleport within the Pirate Legend Hideout are no longer returned to the sea, and are now consistently returned to the Hideout entrance.
Treasure on Snake Island can now be retrieved consistently without interactions being blocked.
Skeleton Ships no longer become stuck on the rocks near the Glorious Sea Dog Tavern.
Ladders found in both the Maiden Voyage and ‘The Lair of LeChuck’ Tall Tale should now be climbable as intended.
Sea Fort winches now rotate correctly, and barrels attached now remain in the correct position during their movement.
Players now sit correctly on the chairs in Wanda's hideout rather than on the floor.
‘Heart of Fire’ – A lever to disable a floor blade trap during this Tall Tale can now be interacted with.
User Interface
Players browsing UI menus across the experience should no longer be timed out due to inactivity if they remain active within the menus.
Ship previews shown in the front end now display their sails correctly.
Players on PC using both keyboard and controller simultaneously should no longer see a Gaming UI menu appear when using certain button combinations.
Accepting a crew invite while an Info & Tips window is open no longer leaves an empty UI menu on screen.
The Ghostly Curse Alsatian and Ragamuffin pets no longer have the option to wear outfits.
Scene Stealer Masks now appear correctly when browsing the Pirate Emporium.
Distinction level icons are now visible in the Progress tab.
Players on PC using a DualSense™ Wireless Controller can now fully navigate the front-end menu and begin a session.
Players who have already completed the Season Pass will no longer receive Renown earned notifications.
Claiming a reward from the Season Pass moments before diving beneath the waves no longer causes the player to become stuck in the menu.
The Captain’s Logbook now records a single entry when completing Ghost Ship Voyages.
Reputation pages now display correctly for players who have not unlocked Athena’s Fortune.
Text and Localisation
Improved localisation across multiple languages, including fixes for Russian and Italian, addressing missing translations and incorrect formatting.
Accessibility
Screen narration and accessibility features now correctly narrate UI elements throughout Custom Seas menus.
All loading screen text is now correctly narrated.
Performance and Stability
Players experiencing a severe game crash should no longer find their graphics settings could become corrupted, resulting in compromised visuals and preventing access to the game.
Improvements have been made to game stability to reduce scenarios where players unexpectedly exit the game or become disconnected from their session.
This update includes a range of smaller improvements to high-framerate play, addressing hitches that impact the smoothness of gameplay.
To learn more about known issues in Sea of Thieves currently being tracked and their status, head over to our Known Issues support site article.
