The Rare-developed open-world pirate game, Sea of Thieves, isn"t that far away from its launch, coming three years after the game was officially unveiled. The game"s long-running NDA covered technical alpha came to an end last year with a massive week-long test session, but for anyone who"s yet to try the game out, there are more opportunities materializing, as the developer announced today that a closed beta will commence later this month.
The closed beta will run for a five day period, from 4am PST on January 24 to 12am PST on January 29. Rare noted in the announcement that the beta will not offer the game"s full experience, saying "we want to keep a good selection of things up our sleeves for players to discover at launch." However, the developer added that "We’ve crafted a bespoke experience for Closed Beta players that offers a true taste of the pirate life and a great chance to get your sea legs ahead of March 20!" Sadly, no details regarding what new features can we expect in the beta were shared.
As for who is eligible for joining the closed beta, only Xbox One and Windows 10 players that have pre-ordered the game as well as those who joined the Sea of Thieves Insider Program before December 1 will have access. Also, the beta will not be under NDA, meaning players can "stream, create videos, share clips, take screenshots," and more, without worrying about the giant foot of Microsoft coming down on them, which is more than welcome.
For those who are still unclear on what the game as a whole is about, the developer revealed some more details on the quests and progression systems of the game late last year.
Sea of Thieves is heading to Windows 10 and the Xbox One console family with cross-play between the platforms enabled. Also, thanks to it being an Xbox Play Anywhere title, purchasing a digital copy of the game on one platform will give access to the other for no extra charge.
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