The Next Sea of Thieves Update Revamps The Arena and Adds Cats

The Next Sea of Thieves Update Revamps The Arena and Adds Cats

Written by on | OpenCritic

Games discussed:

The next Sea of Thieves monthly update is a few weeks away, but Rare has spilled the beans on most of what it entails. During the Inside Xbox livestream, Rare took to the seas to reveal Ships of Fortune, this month's content update which, fittingly for its second anniversary, is quite huge.

For starters, The Arena mode is getting a makeover. Rather than fight over several different chests on several different islands, now each warring crew will battle by land and sea for a single chest. All pirates know where it is, making it harder and more interesting to cash in. To help ease this new tension, both game modes, Arena and Adventure, are getting a new ability to revive crew members within a short window of time. Players can also elect to bypass the downed state and send their soul to the Ferry of the Damned as usual.

As for Adventure mode, trading companies will offer players the opportunity to play as Emissaries, representing the various factions in new quest types with new rewards. The reputation system has been deepened too, with a raise of the level cap and new Emissary rank to climb. 

Joining the four previously present companies, Gold Hoarders, Order of Souls, Merchant Alliance, and Pirate Legends comes a brand new company, the Reaper's Bones, which is a PVP-focused company that rewards players for inviting and surviving conflict. Don't worry if you're afraid of more griefers setting sail. The company doles out minimal rewards to players who elect to slash and sink the same crew over and over, eventually even offering them no reward at all. 

In the Pirate Emporium, the shop will soon offer new emotes, cosmetics, and, at long last, cats as pets. Dog lovers are still left holding the leash for now, but cats have been a long-awaited feature and they'll join birds and monkeys at sea with the new Ships of Fortune update.

Ships of Fortune launches on April 22 for Sea of Thieves on Xbox and PC. The game is also on its way to Steam.

About the Authors

Mark Delaney Avatar Image
Mark is an editor at GameSpot and a Boston transplant now biking across Portland, Oregon. He especially enjoys covering battle royale, horror, and sports games. He spends his free time with his family, marathoning HBO, and advocating for animal justice.