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@mrgrim67686 you do understand that Microsoft pushed Rare to launch the game early and didn't realy care about the outcome right? With the new head guy in Microsoft Rare can actually put effort into the game now. It's grown into an amazing game and I personally love the feeling of helping build this game. Sure it's been slow, but I love interacting with other crews. If you saw the Cursed Sails and Forsaken Shores teaser, you saw that 9 million players or so have been on SOT. I can't account for how many people are still playing it, but I can guarantee you that this game is going to last a while because it has such a strong community. If you need people to play with and usually have a set time to play you can add me with my gamer tag BRITS Grim. I'm not trying to get mad or be mean, and I understand the concern, but the game is getting better and you should always have faith in not just the developers, but the common as well.

@rarden said in Player Count:

@fishst1ck
I only raised that point to highlight that 90% of those applied and got refunds. I'm one of the 10% that still love this game and I'm here for the long haul.
I've only one issue that could make me go and that's crossplay only servers. If an option is not introduced then I'm off also.

Don't spread false information here please, these numbers have never been released and 90% seems highly unlikely.

Furthermore this thread is about playercount and the OP's concern about if it would still be high enough to continue his faction leveling. Don't try to change every thread into a discussion about crossplay.

@the-warcrombie guys check the numbers, this was the biggest seller in March 2nd to far cry 5. That does not include gamepass subs. There are a lot of players out there. New content launch, peeps will be coming back I'm sure. Anyone notice the weekly updates are 1.3gb portions? It's adding up, someone is probably data mining the pc files now to uncover some juicy bits. Cheers

@fishst1ck
I only raised that point to highlight that 90% of those applied and got refunds. I'm one of the 10% that still love this game and I'm here for the long haul.
I've only one issue that could make me go and that's crossplay only servers. If an option is not introduced then I'm off also.

@rarden said in Player Count:

@fishst1ck
How many had applied for a refund within that first week is a number I'd like to see.

I'm not really trying to make the point that they sold millions of copies, just that enough copies were sold to not fear server shutdown anytime soon.

I was pretty pessimistic after launch.

I also know a huge number of players tried it, felt similarly disappointed, and left but like all major titles it will still likely be on their radars if the game gets engaging content.

I stuck around to whine and complain because this game is one of my top 5 all time dream game concepts and I have been gaming for more than 40 years. So I was not ready to let go of the dream. I have been waiting for an open world pirate game since I was old enough to say "aaaaaarrrrh".

The fact that Rare has made the next three content patches a priority, and the teaser details seem pretty cool, with the addition of a new ship type, makes me feel much more hopeful about the future of this game.

I think we will see a return of tens of thousands of players with the content update next month. And by the end of summer there is a solid chance this game will have recovered a large percentage of their base.

@fishst1ck
How many had applied for a refund within that first week is a number I'd like to see.

@kashaarafall Did the "as far as I can tell" being my first bullet not give that away?

I think Microsoft claiming it's the fastest selling 1st party IP and best selling MS Store game, does at least state that a decent number of people bought it.

I'm not claiming here that there's millions of people playing the game, I'm just telling the OP that his fear of the servers being shut down any time soon or not finding anyone to play is a unwarranted fear.

@fishst1ck So, speculation.

@kashaarafall Just on my personal perception based on the general hype around the game, the number of streamers playing the game, the amount of SoT videos on youtube, the buzz about the game on the forums here and on reddit and the messages Microsoft released about Sea of Thieves being their most succesful IP with 2 million active players with first week (this probably includes a majority of gamepass users) and best selling Windows 10 store game.

Also:
It's never stated what the actual sales numbers are, but Aaron Greenberg does state that it's the fastest selling 1st party Microsoft IP this generation not including game pass. Which means it sold faster than Gears of War 4, Halo 5 or any of the Forza games.

Aaron Greenberg on Twitter / X

@fishst1ck Sold pretty well based on what numbers? Just kind of curious.

For an online game like this, I feel Xbox LFG provides good data on how popular it is and atm there seems to be a new post every few seconds.

Considering that it is probably a small percentage of users whom use LFG and each post would be looking for 1 - 3 players, I would say the game is still very popular at the moment. I know that when either myself or friends put up a post, we usually get a fair amount of people interested in a short space of time even when the post is quite specific and says something along the lines of 'doing gold hoarder missions and completing them including riddles'.

@the-warcrombie said in Player Count:

Is there a way to see how many people are currently playing SoT? I got to 40's on all factions and its hard for me to want to keep pushing into it...because of the fear of a second letdown and knowing I just put that much time into a 1,2 KO. I'd like to see how many people have also dropped off the boat

I'm pretty sure you have nothing to fear:

• The game sold pretty well as far as I can tell
• Rare shared content plans for the entire year, should be enough to get those 10 levels even if you only play a couple of hours a week.
• Players needed to populate one server is about 16-24
• The amount of active users on these forums and SoT subreddit alone are already enough to fill 10+ servers
• Microsoft is in the cloud hosting business, keeping a few SoT servers running for years to come to keep the community happy won't be a problem.

So enjoy your sailing and become the legend you want to be!

@admiral-rrrsole
I remember a time when videogames were about fun, not about reward. It's sad to see that so many people can't seem to enjoy a game for its fun mechanics and beautiful environments, but are only satisfied when they are presented with some sort of 'big numbers' for their 'efforts' of playing a game.
I get it, being rewarded feels good, but people should let go a bit and try to have some fun once again. Don't treat videogames like work, guys!

to little to do in this game besides being cancer

@the-warcrombie

The most relevant indicator for an individual player is probably the availability of LFG posts for groups to join.

Total player count is largely irrelevant for a game that has a max of 6 ships and 16 players per server world.

As long as a few hundred people are always online, the game will feel the same in the world whether the player count is 500 or 500,000.

What matters (to me) is how quickly can I find a group using the Xbox LFG. So far, I am always seeing a high number of current posts and I can join a party within a couple of minutes.

LFG is not anecdotal - it’s an indicator of participation for the wide community of players.

The most relevant indicator for an individual player is probably the availability of LFG posts for groups to join.

Total player count is largely irrelevant for a game that has a max of 6 ships and 16 players per server world.

As long as a few hundred people are always online, the game will feel the same in the world whether the player count is 500 or 500,000.

What matters (to me) is how quickly can I find a group using the Xbox LFG. So far, I am always seeing a high number of current posts and I can join a party within a couple of minutes.

LFG is not anecdotal - it’s an indicator of participation for the wide community of players.

@tundra-793 said in Player Count:

and like I said we're only weeks away from our first (free) DLC, I don't see that number dropping anytime soon.

lol I always find that amusing when people say "free DLC" or "free content upgrades".
No it's not free, we've already paid for it, they have just been slow at completing the game.

All of the conflict on these forums are due to lack of in-game content. Even if it's the long on-going arm wrestle between PvP and PvE, or Xbox versus PC. It all starts with lack of content.

I think if most people took a good hard look at what is really at the root of their dismay it would point to the lack luster, anti-climax that SoT's release soon exposed. It isn't the game that many had hoped for.

Many seem compelled to PvP because grinding away at PvE isn't very rewarding and / or hours of time and hard work can easily be lost in an instant.
But then PvP isn't very rewarding either. Some say that there are too many ships on the servers while others say that there isn't enough.
Either way, a bounty system and villainous rep wouldn't hurt.

So many suggestions have been offered (good and not so good) in honest attempts to try to spark some sort of life into a very promising foundation of a game.
This must speak volumes to any game developer but alas Rare don't want to stray from their tunnel-visioned game plan which is very debatable as too just how much thought and real world testing in all scenarios have they really done? And why are they happy with it?

Naturally the game differs whether you are always playing with the same crew or as a random. And not just between friendly employees having a laugh and giggle to help promote the fun side.

I'm sorry to all the SoT cheer-squad here but let's face it, if the game was so compelling there wouldn't be half the people here on these forums on a daily basis. You wouldn't be here reading this.

@stinerdasfuhrer said in Player Count:

@ultimate-powa if the battle is just to sink a ship I'll pass. If I get attacked I rather do drive by sales with my crew scuttle the ship so he can see we sold everything and server hop.

To each their own.

I just recommend sinking the ships or at least get to the point where if you see any ship, you're confident enough not to see them as a huge threat, just an annoyance.
If you let enemy players decide how you are going to play the game, it'll be a whole lot less fun.

Kill them and you'll be free to play the game the way you want.
Most people don't keep coming back nowadays, though there are still those jerks.

@mrgrim67686 Haha true that. Im 46, 33, 30. So definitely less than half way! As you can see I love the Gold Hoarders voyages.

@evasive-envy said in Player Count:

@mrgrim67686 I'm sorry you are experiencing so many problems with this game and you are not enjoying it. I've played over 300 hours in game already and am only half way to pirate legend. I keep coming back for more! I bought the game outright and got my money's worth a long time ago.

Only reason for me to play is PvP. ...and I do like the PvP. I do not like the low server populations. At all.
Haven't played much lately though. Work, and most of my friends quit.
You're halfway when you reach the low 40s BTW. :p

@tundra-793 said in Player Count:

@stinerdasfuhrer Ah dude, Microsoft tossed SoT on Game Pass for launch day, I can't imagine it'll be leaving anytime soon.
Sea of Thieves is a landmark title for Xbox this generation, it's like their baby. I think we're in good hands, and the game will thrive throughout the whole year, and hopefully beyond.

Indeed! Free content updates f*w!

@stinerdasfuhrer Ah dude, Microsoft tossed SoT on Game Pass for launch day, I can't imagine it'll be leaving anytime soon.
Sea of Thieves is a landmark title for Xbox this generation, it's like their baby. I think we're in good hands, and the game will thrive throughout the whole year, and hopefully beyond.