Microsoft and Rare released the swashbuckling pirate game Sea of Thieves in March 2018, and while it had a rocky start the game has truly grown into its own. This weekend marks the game's third anniversary, and after Sea of Thieves had its biggest month yet in January 2021, its developer announces it just hit a milestone of 20 million players.
The game reached 15 million players in July 2020, showing exponential growth as it gets on in years - likely in-part thanks to a surge in Sea of Thieves players on Steam this January following the launch of a battle pass system. Sea of Thieves thanked its fans on Twitter and announced a number of things coinciding with the game's anniversary and player milestone.
There are a "chest full of goodies and bonuses" planned throughout the rest of the month, according to an Xbox Wire post detailing the anniversary celebration. Sea of Thieves players who log in between now and March 25 can get the Prosperous Captain's Sails, and Xbox Game Pass subscribers can also receive the "Jump for Joy" emote. The game will be 50 percent off in the Microsoft Store this weekend, and the "Gold and Glory Weekend" event offers players double gold and Seasonal Renown between March 19 and 22.
Also outlined by the Xbox Wire post are the final Season 1 update released today and its corresponding Twitch drops, the free first issue of Sea of Thieves' Origins comic miniseries, and an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate perk in which subscribers can claim the Ocean Crawler Bundle free until June 18. While the game hasn't solved all its problems, for instance Sea of Thieves had to remove voice and text chat from Arena mode due to player toxicity, this anniversary celebration shows Rare's title still has a long life ahead of it.
Sea of Thieves is available now on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Source: Xbox Wire