Sea of Thieves Round-Up: August 2021
Sam 'Foc'sle' Foxall (Copywriter)
Posted in: General Updates on 10 Sep 2021
After July saw us sailing on calmer waters, the winds began to pick up again in August for Sea of Thieves as we released a sizeable quality of life update, spiced up the seas with some well-earned mayhem and refreshed the Pirate Emporium with new items, including those dedicated to a certain harbinger of the abyss. Grab your reading glasses and a drink of your choice, as we cast our eyes back over all of August’s action!
Content Update
In July’s round-up, we touched on how we’re continuing to fine-tune the Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life experience, and August saw us deliver on a lot of the most frequently requested fixes with a polish-packed update. Improvements across the board were joined by new Emporium highlights dedicated to another Caribbean captain, following the Captain Jack Sparrow collection back in June. We followed this hearty mid-August meal with a small hotfix digestif to round up any stragglers, and before you ask, yes – we still see the owl requests as they drop into our massive ‘IN’ pile…
In parallel with a similar sporting competition meant to foster global co-operation, pirates from across the Sea of Thieves showed their athletic prowess (and many invented their own piratey sports) in August’s first Event, The Plunder Games. Then, coinciding with Gamescom in this world, the Bilge Rats temporarily replaced the spirit of co-operation with a desire for chaos in the Making Mayhem Event. Inspired by the antics of treasure hunters from beyond the stars, it was dedicated to lootin’ and/or shootin’ with a particular focus on all things explosive. The Mayhem ship set was the reward for all those boisterous buccaneers who helped cause a ruckus, so any pirates you see sporting this livery are sure to have some Stronghold Kegs squirrelled away.
News and Features
The news wire was crackling with stories this month, following July’s relative quiet. We had some appreciative words from EP Joe on the momentum of Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life, and following on from our pet promotion at the end of July, we were happy to announce that you animal-loving pirates raised over £40,000 to help support our neighbours and animal conservationists at Twycross Zoo.
Alongside that we managed to rack up three new Community and Creator Spotlights, shining a light on costumed corsair Darth Caul, artist extraordinaire iDrawHomer and passionate community champion Freyline – that’s one packed playbill. The third Rare Fan Art Gallery Showcase recapped a wide range of Sea of Thieves artistic efforts too, and more Hats of Unfeasibly Glorious Fame left our haberdashery to land on the heads of select sailors as we rolled out more fortnightly updates to the Community Hub. Remember, use the hashtag #BeMorePirate when sharing your exciting exploits if you want a chance at sporting that luxurious headgear!
While our summer weather may have been inconsistent, the Rare Store saw the addition of some sunny Sea of Thieves items including beach towels and deckchairs to brighten up your next unpredictable trip to a British seaside town, and Season Three-related items bringing a blue horizon to the growing Seasonal Collection. Meanwhile the Summer Emporium Sale dug up deals on outfits, pets, weapons and even Pirate Appearance Potions. Now then folks, the segue klaxon has sounded, meaning it’s time for the officially mandated transition into talking about…
Videos and Streams
All things audiovisual! To compliment our August stock refresh in the Pirate Emporium, we released our usual sizzle reel, showing these new accoutrements in all their glory. And on the same day, Joe’s Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life thank you post was complemented by a special video message from Creative Director Mike thanking all of you rapscallions for joining us on that adventure. Quick stat drop – we had 4.8 million active pirates tootling about on the sea in June alone! We’re going to run out of grog at this rate…
Following its arrival in late July, we also put together an official announcement video for our exciting new Twitch initiative, Sea of Thieves Television. Five days a week, Partnered streamers and guests will be broadcasting live on the Sea of Thieves Twitch channel, with a rotating selection of shows to keep pirates of all stripes engaged. Whether you want to learn the ropes or see one of our masterful community artisans create things live on stream, we hope you'll always find something worth watching!
The Twitch Drops train kept on rolling in August as well, dropping off parts of the Gilded Phoenix ship set for dedicated Twitch viewers. You can also earn Twitch Drops by watching Sea of Thieves Television when Drops are active – another reason to tune in!
Social Channels
Even when the weather wasn’t co-operating, we weren’t glum over on Sea of Thieves social channels where our cups runneth over with memes, clips and other delights. As we completed the closing ceremony of The Plunder Games, all that was left to do was hand out the medals and Golden Hour Sails to the winners of the equally athletic Competitive Corsairs #SoTShot competition. Some fantastic action shots here, though we’ll have to check the handbook to see if all the equipment is up to regulation. In a last-ditch attempt to catch the sun, the next #SoTShot contest was all about summery scenes – with the winners set to see us through until the spooky season arrives.
You can always rely on #TriviaTuesday and #SundayVibes to provide weekly doses of Sea of Thieves lore and stunning vistas, come rain or shine. In August’s series of Sunday sails we saw the sun rising over Skull Keep, then swung by Golden Sands Outpost to catch some rays, took in the view at Marauder’s Arch and handed in loot at Plunder Outpost before ending this month’s tour quite fittingly at the Isle of Last Words. Looking for the inside scoop? #TriviaTuesday gave the skinny on Ocean Crawlers and Phantoms, as well as Captain Jack Sparrow’s crewmates Gibbs, Scrum and Anamaria. New occasional hashtag too? #SoTGear? Why not.
We couldn’t resist peppering our social channels with other tomfoolery: there were Caturday teefies and beans, we put out a call for the (wrong) names for a famous hat, gave a monkey its dues, congratulated stablemates Double Fine with some special artwork and reminded you that we don’t hoard kegs.
And so we wave off summer and trudge into autumn’s wet, leafy embrace – at least it’s the most suitable weather for staying inside and playing Sea of Thieves. If you want to be the first to get the latest news hot off the pirate presses, keep your eyes locked on the Sea of Thieves social channels: that's Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitch, TikTok and the official Forums and Discord server. We’re going all mysterious for next month’s round-up – it will be delivered to you via a dream half-remembered, by a cloaked figure doing semaphore in the mist. Either that or we’ll just post it here.
