In spite of the fact the game officially launched on Xbox One back in 2018, Sea of Thieves is currently bigger than ever. In fact, the game's Executive Director, Joe Neate, recently revealed that January 2021 was the biggest month Sea of Thieves has had yet, despite falling nearly three years after the open-world online pirate game's initial launch.
Detailed through a new Sea of Thieves update video, Neate claimed that January had the highest number of active players in a calendar month and the most concurrent users the game has seen to date. "To be nearly three years into the journey for Sea of Thieves and to be in that position is incredible," Neate states in the video, claiming "I definitely think this year is going to be our biggest one yet."
Although Sea of Thieves got off to a somewhat rocky start – with players accusing Rare's tongue-in-cheek pirate sim of lacking substance – it has since managed to carve itself out a passionate player base, especially with its release on PC bringing aboard a significant number of new players. Recently, the game shocked many when it shot up Steam's charts seemingly overnight, becoming one of the storefront's best-selling games. The success has continued to ramp up in the weeks since, and now, it seems it's resulted in some incredible player stats for Rare.
It's good news too considering the studio intends to add a lot of content to the game throughout 2021. Beginning back on January 28, Rare has decided to implement new, season-based content drops for Sea of Thieves, following the formula of live-service titles like Fortnite, PUBG, and Apex Legends. Right now, players are enjoying the first of a number of planned seasons, with the current run adding a battle pass, new missions, and fresh items. According to Neate, a new season will air roughly every 3 months, bringing new events and items.
The executive producer also reveals that the team currently working on Sea of Thieves is the biggest its ever been, meaning players can look forward to receiving more content than ever before during 2021. Of course, the studio is also hard at work on another game, with Everwild also in development. That game already looks to be something of a departure for the traditionally comedy-focused team, seeing players traverse a stunning fantasy world filled with magic, mystical landscapes, and peaceful wildlife. It'll be the first game from the studio since Sea of Thieves launched in 2018 and will be heading to the Xbox Series X.
Sea of Thieves is out now on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.