Sea of Thieves, the long-ongoing pirate adventure game of Rare, is about to dive into its eighth content season. Coming next week, the major update carries new features that fans of dedicated PVP action have been dreaming about, including on-demand encounters, fresh locations, and more. The lengthy Season 8 reveal trailer is above.
While Rare has previously tried to offer a competitive PVP-only game mode in Sea of Thieves, this Arena mode was shuttered early this year due to most players sticking with the Adventure mode. But in Season 8, the studio is taking another crack at pleasing those who are primarily focused on PVP action, but this everything will be taking place in the regular overworld.
With the upcoming content update, pirate crews will be able to join either the Guardians of Fortune or the Servants of the Flame to matchmake into PVP sessions straight from the Adventure mode. From the captain"s table, players can choose to find another willing crew and emerge next to them in spectacular fashion from under the waves for a cordoned off combat session until one vessel sinks.
Being an opt-in feature, running away from the fight isn"t an option, as straying too far from the battle zone in these matchmade rounds will sink the fleeing ship, giving victory to the remaining crew. Sinking ships of the opposing team also provides rewards in the form of Gold and Allegiance to the winning faction.
Interestingly, increasing Allegiance with Guardians of Fortune and the Servants of the Flame will also let players access the new faction-only parts of the world. While it will take a lot of work to unlock these new areas, persistent players will be rewarded with being able to change their appearance to either an apparition or skeleton, which come with their own custom looks.
Being a new season, a whole lot of new cosmetic items are coming in too, letting players customize their pirate, ship, and captains quarters even further with both earned and paid content.
Sea of Thieves Season 8 is dropping on November 22 across PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox Cloud Play as a free update. More information regarding the PVP mode and other features will be available once the patch notes go live on the same day.