Rare has turned the successful launch ofSea of Thievesinto an active post-launch, releasing its first major content updateThe Hungering Deepand starting up its biweekly Bilge Rat Adventures. But Rare’s eyes are already looking forward, both towards the five content updates remaining in 2018 and beyond.
In an interview with Game Informer, Rare design director Mike Chapman was asked directly about whetherSea of Thievescould feature a Battle Royale mode. The idea is great on paper sinceSea of Thieves' mixture of land and sea looting and PvP lends itself very well to competition and survival. But Rare has never been a studio to follow in another’s footsteps.
Chapman’s response starts noncommittally, but constructively. He describes how Rare’s structure - four individual teams each working on different updates - enables the company to release content intoSea of Thievesroutinely. He goes on to mention how there are alreadyfive more content updates planned for 2018, implying that there’s no room for divergence this year. 2019, however, is another matter entirely.
After providing context regarding the ongoing development ofSea of Thieves, Chapman further elaborated on the idea of aBattle RoyaleinSea of Thieves. He starts by providing an example of how Rare’s priority is to make sure everything put intoSea of Thievesis made with a unique Rare outlook:
“I think there are so many examples of content in the game where we’re like, we always talk about the death mechanics and we turned it into the ghost ship. We put a Sea of Thieves spin on a familiar mechanic with new and interesting takes. We see the battle royale thing, but I think there will be opportunities to do that kind of thing differently. It’s interesting where you can take PvP in the game, but we’d want to put a unique Sea of Thieves spin on it and do something completely surprising.”
The conclusion Chapman ultimately reaches is that he and the team at Rare are proud of whatSea of Thievesis and the reasons that it’s successful. Rare’s plan for the future is to build on that success, not attempt to create and different sort of success. Yet a major part ofSea of Thieves' successis listening to its community, so if the players are saying that Battle Royale-inspired content would be incredible inSea of Thievesthen maybe it’s worth considering. But Rare has no plans to simply recreate a Battle Royale mode usingSea of Thievesmechanics for the time being.
For now, players can look forward to seeing just what Rare has planned forSea of Thievesthrough the multiple content releases remaining in 2018. And if a competitive multiplayer mode like a Battle Royale is somethingSea of Thievesfans really want to see, then keep asking. Rare’s clearly interested in what fans are interested in seeing come next.
Sea of Thievesis available now on PC and Xbox One.
