Sea of Thieves Blasts into Season Eight!

The Battle for the Sea of Thieves has arrived! In the wake of the ‘Return of the Damned’ decision point Adventure, crews across the sea have fractured into two opposing Factions. Now that Season Eight is finally here, it’s time to jump right in and pick a side.

Just download the latest Sea of Thieves update and you’ll be neck-deep in on-demand ship battles – and possibly seawater if things aren’t going great – before you know it. As always, this Season is free for all players, including the traditional 100 levels of Seasonal progression to unlock and rewards to earn.

If you missed the big results stream discussing the outcome of ‘Return of the Damned’, there’s still time to catch up – but in this new Season you’ll find that the conflict between the Reapers and supporters of the Pirate Lord has spilled across the Sea of Thieves, and crews on both sides are being called up to battle it out, cannon to cannon. To find out how the new PvP system works and how you can win glory for your chosen Faction, let our very own John talk you through the basics in the official Season Eight trailer:

With so many new systems coming into play, you might wonder how it all came together (and just what kind of thought process goes into “How can we reward players? Ah yes, we’ll Curse them”). To answer that very question, and a few others, people from all across the Sea of Thieves team sat down to discuss the making of this Season in our new Deep Dive video.

From underwater audio to player skill matching, any questions you have about the Battle for the Sea of Thieves are sure to be answered in this peek behind the scenes:

Of course, the new Season wouldn’t be complete without a host of new cosmetics and goodies. In honour of a pirate’s love of gold, the Pirate Emporium now stocks the King’s Ransom ship set, allowing you to deck out your ship in livery befitting a monarch. You can even pick up a matching crown...

The Night Wulf weapons and costume are now in stock too, and there’s a brand new Season Eight Plunder Pass, packed with the complete Ravenwood ship set and the latest evolving costume. So why not take a walk around the Emporium and maybe treat yourself to something shiny?

That should be plenty to be getting on with, but don’t think there’s nothing else to look forward to! With the annual Festival of Giving on the way in December, a Community Day awaiting us in the new year and more Adventures always on the horizon, Season Eight will be packed with exciting content to explore even if on-demand ship combat isn’t your scene. Keep an eye on our usual channels to make sure you don’t miss a thing!

What’s that? You still have questions? Impossible. But there’s lots more information to be found about all the features delivered in this update on our dedicated Season Eight page, and if you’re after even more detail, you’ll want the complete release notes.

And that really should be everything. So get sailing! Your Faction needs your help! Somebody’s got to conquer these waves after all, and why shouldn’t it be you?