It's been a long and winding road for Sea of Thieves. Originally launching back in the spring of 2018, the shared world pirate simulator managed to attract a passionate fanbase even though the game received mostly mixed reviews due to a lack of content, a number of server issues, and repetitive quests. However, most agreed that the game had serious potential and had a serious foundation to build on top of. Over the past two years, Rare has provided nearly monthly updates of expansions and content which has gone a long way to help turn the ship around.

After finally launching on the Xbox Series X/S this past November, Rare is now focusing on getting ready to follow a familiar trend with other live service games. In a new Tweet from the official Sea of Thieves account, Rare posted an image of the game's logo and the phrase Season One under it. While it may be a bit odd to see a nearly three year old game finally get a season pass, fans can at least access it for free when it arrives on January 28.

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Season One will kick off with a major piece of new content as well as normal live service style events and a new type of Merchant Alliance voyage where players will don a detective hat to attempt to find and recover a lost shipment somewhere in the world. The three month season will also allow players to unlock 100 levels of the battle pass, with earned experience from normal activities going towards new levels. Rewards include new cosmetics, ship parts, and more. For players who want just a little bit more, the game will offer a premium track called the Plunder Pass which offers unique rewards and items originally found on the real-money store.

The announcement comes at an opportune time for the popular pirate simulator which has just seen a huge player spike on Steam. Over the past few weeks, Sea of Thieves have seen the biggest jump in player population numbers since it arrived on that platform in June. With this free update on the horizon, the number could rise even further or at the very least keep the numbers it has been enjoying recently.

Sea of Thieves is out now on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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