The open-world RPGSea of Thievesis doing what it takes to keep its fan base happy and bring in new players. In addition to the already-announced updates planned through September, it’s being reported that Rare has at least three more new content updates planned for 2018.
In a conversation with IGN, Rare studio head Craig Duncan andSea of Thievesdesign director spoke about their plans to keep the game above water in an ocean of competing multiplayer titles.
“We’ve always talked about wanting to change perceptions of what multiplayer could be,” Chapman said. “We’ve got this magical opportunity to make all the areas of the game richer. And beyond The Hungering Deep,Cursed Sails, and Forsaken Shores is coming, there’s going to be three more this year as well.”
For the relatively slim development team, keeping up with major triple-A developers is a challenge. Where typically, each major update would have its own dedicated development team,Sea of Thievesdevelopers are quickly jumping from one project to the next in the interest of consistency. Despite the team’s limitations, Duncan promises quality content and a robust future forSea of Thieves.
“We’re trying to make amazing content as quickly as we can,” Duncan said, “but obviously we’re prototyping new mechanics. [The Hungering Deep’s] Megalodon is very different from Forsaken Shores, very different from Cursed Sails.”
The most recent major update toSea of Thieves,The Hungering Deep, brought about a bevy of aesthetics, bug fixes, and quality of life improvements. Most significantly, the update introduced the horrifying Megalodon shark to the unsuspecting seafarers ofSea of Thieves. The next significant drop, Cursed Sails, is coming sometime this month and Forsaken Shores is planned for a September release, meaning these unannounced updates will likely be released within only a 3-month time frame.
Rare’s dedication to improvingSea of Thievesis likely due to encouraging sales figures, which bothMicrosoft and Rare claim to have surpassed their expectations. And while much has been done to improve upon the game’s rocky start, concerns about lack of substance drive considerable public scrutiny. Perhaps Rare is smart to be dedicating its resources to beefing up the core experience with frequent content updates and fixes.
Sea of Thievesis available now for Xbox One and PC.
