Sea of Thieves Navigates to Season Nine

New treasure has been spied within the Vaults of the Forts of Fortune, ready for the taking! With this Chest of Fortune heading up a long list of additions and improvements that includes new Voyages, a shake-up to World Events and quality-of-life updates covering everything from harpoons to Hunter’s Call hand-ins, Sea of Thieves’ ninth Season is here to spice up your expeditions to those skelly-filled Forts and beyond.

Released on March 16th and ready for you to explore right now, the new Season also brings in 100 levels of Seasonal progression to power through for new cosmetics and rewards. It’s free to all players as always, and to get started, all you need to do is download the latest Sea of Thieves update and jump right in.

If you weren’t able to make it to the Season Nine preview stream earlier in March, you’ll want to check in on the recording for all the best gossip. Various members of the Rare team were gathered in the Tavern to share their best memories from the last five years, and to drop a few hints about what’s to come in the next update. If you’re curious about the thinking that went into Season Nine’s features, or even just what it’s like to work on Sea of Thieves, it’s a great place to start.

That same stream also premiered the all-important Season Nine Content Update video. There are a lot of changes in this new Season, across a whole range of different systems, so to make sure you haven’t missed anything – and to answer any lingering questions you might have about how to get your hands on that new Fates of Fortune set, or what those crates filled with worms are all about – be sure to have a watch:

As always, a new Season means new styles and the Pirate Emporium is ready to deliver. There’s a new Plunder Pass, with the ethereal Sting Tide ship set and evolving costume waiting for dedicated pirates to unlock. For those who need more immediate returns, the Sea Serpent collection offers everything a good monster hunter could desire, while the Gold Curse Barbary will add a little sparkle to your ship’s deck. There’s even an Enigmatic Emote Bundle for pirates of a more mysterious nature. It doesn’t matter if you’re light on Ancient Coins for now – swing by anyway to pick up the latest Emporium freebie, the Hearing Things Emote.

Even with all the new features to explore, Season Nine isn’t the only thing to get excited about this month. We’re currently in the middle of celebrating our fifth anniversary with a wide range of events, sales and activities to get involved in – check out our Anniversary page for details of how to pick up some swanky new cosmetics and join in the festivities right through to a climactic Community Weekend!

If this lightning-quick run through has left you with questions, may we interest you in the dedicated Season Nine page? Alternatively, if beautifully bullet-pointed facts are what you’re into, you’ll find a list of all the latest changes close to 5000 words long in our comprehensive release notes. Or if you like to watch and listen as the people who made the update tell you about it like they’re right there in the room, there’s a Deep Dive video too:

All of which feels like more than enough talking from all of us when there’s a brand new Season to explore – so venture forth, seize those Chests of Fortune and earn your glory!