Release Notes

Ahoy pirates!

This week's update introduces Cursed Sails, another step in our free post-release content plan. Cursed Sails brings the threat of skeleton ships to the Sea of Thieves, as the dead make war on the living. Follow banners on the Outposts to find a battle, or speak to the Bilge Rats to investigate the source of the skeleton scourge!

This content update introduces and showcases a raft of new features which will persist in Sea of Thieves beyond the time-limited campaign.

• Cursed Sails Campaign - Pirate dominion on the Sea of Thieves is being challenged… by the dead! Skeletons are taking to the waters in grim galleons, united and spurred on by a mysterious captain. Armed with cursed cannonballs that sow chaos and confusion, the dead make war on the living in Cursed Sails! Watch out for banners on the Outposts, calling you out to battle skeleton ships over the course of three weeks. You can also take a break from the action to investigate the source of the skeleton scourge, following a tale of greed and madness starting with a hint from the Bilge Rats. The introduction of Alliances between crews and the new three-pirate Brigantine ship may help to even the odds. Prepare for battle, pirates!
• New Threat - Skeleton ships have arrived from the depths of the Sea of Thieves with a variety of cursed cannonballs. Blast them from afar or board their vessel if you fancy your chances face-to-face! Beware of the cursed cannonballs… their effects may turn the tide of battle in the blink of an eye.

• Brigantine - Positioned nicely between the bulk of the Galleon and agility of the Sloop, the Brigantine has been perfectly designed for three pirates to sail to victory.
• Alliances - A new "Offer Alliance" pennant flag has been added to the Flag Box in the crow’s nest, along with options to both "Join Alliance" and "Leave Alliance". Don't have a mic? Use the "LET'S FORM AN ALLIANCE!" option when holding a speaking trumpet to show your intentions! Form alliances with other crews you encounter on the Sea of Thieves to share in both adventure and reward. Just be careful who you trust, we are pirates after all!
• Eye of Reach Skeletons - The march of war has inspired skeletons to pick up the Eye of Reach, causing them to pose a threat from a longer distance than ever before. Take care across the entire map – these eagle-eyed foes aren't only found in the crow’s nest of skeleton ships.
• Bone Crusher Ship Liveries - Won all the battles? Part with your Doubloons for the time-limited Bone Crusher Sails, Hull, Figurehead and Flag liveries throughout Cursed Sails!
• World Region Sails - Conquer the battles in each world region to earn The Ancient Isles Sail, The Shores of Plenty Sail and The Wilds Sail.
• Bone Crusher Scar and Tattoo - Conquer all three battles to earn the time-limited Bone Crusher Scar and Tattoo set, which will appear in your Vanity Chest.
• Price Drops - The arrival of the skeleton fleets has the shopkeepers panicked, so you’ll find significantly reduced prices across all the Outposts during Cursed Sails!
• Commendations - Earn 22 standard Commendations and two Legendary Commendations as part of Cursed Sails. The standard Commendations are only available to earn throughout this time-limited campaign – however, the Legendary Commendations are here to stay! Remember, being a three-week campaign means not all Commendations will be achievable within the same week.
• Bilge Rat Titles - Earn five unique titles introduced with the Cursed Sails Campaign and equip them straight from the Vanity Chest!
• Bilge Rat Doubloons - There are 200 Bilge Rat Doubloons available for the standard Commendations, and an additional 100 Bilge Rat Doubloons available for completing the Legendary Commendations. Each of the Cursed Sails Commendations on the Bilge Rat progress screen details the number of Bilge Rat Doubloons it rewards. Remember, being a three-week campaign means not all Doubloons will be achievable within the same week!

• Hunter Set - The Hunter clothing, items, weapons and ship liveries are now stocked across all Outposts. Spend your hard-earned gold on this sleek new set!
• Bone Crusher Set - The Bone Crusher belt, boots, eye patch, gloves, hook and peg leg are now stocked in the Outpost Clothing Shops. Also get your hands on the Bone Crusher equipment and instruments from the Equipment Shops, all in exchange for gold. Missed the rest of the Bone Crusher set made available during Bilge Rat Adventures? Not to worry, these will be back in the future... so keep your eyes peeled!
• Ghost Ship Liveries - Pirate Legends can now purchase the Ghost Ship Sails, Hull, Figurehead and Flag from within the Hideout. These require varying levels of progression within Athena's Fortune to unlock.

• Hair Styles - 13 new hairstyles are now available to all pirates from the Vanity Chest. The High Society hairstyle is purchasable in the Outpost Clothing Shops in exchange for some gold coin.
• Hair Dye - 13 colours of hair dye are now available to all pirates, straight from the Vanity Chest. Now's the time to spruce up your pirate! Perhaps you long for a colour that really brings out your eyes… perfect for your enemies to peer into as they fall to their watery grave!

Further improvements and optimisations for all platforms are ongoing.

• The Chest of Sorrows now fills up ships with water as intended.
• Skeleton Thrones Titles should now correctly be awarded to players who completed the required Commendations.

• Skeletons and animals may not spawn as intended.
  We are aware of this issue and are working to resolve this as quickly as possible.
• Skeleton Forts and Kraken are temporarily disabled due to performance issues.
  We are working to enable these features as quickly as possible.
• Some players travel in an unintended direction when fired from a cannon.
  We have a fix for this issue currently in testing and are looking to get this rolled out in an update very soon.
• Some players may continue to hear muffled sound after being fired from a cannon.
  We have a fix for this issue coming in our next update. As a temporary solution, being fired out of a cannon again clears the muffled sound.
• Players speaking to a Gold Hoarder NPC at an Outpost may incorrectly receive "The Hungering Deep Begins" banners.
  We have a fix for this and it will be issued in next week's build.

Download size:

Xbox One: 1.42GB
Xbox One X: 1.42GB
Windows 10: 1.01GB

XBOX INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS CAN BE FOUND HERE.

PC INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS CAN BE FOUND HERE.

You can discuss these patch notes in the Forums here.

You can leave your feedback on the game in general here.

Looking for new crewmates? We've got a bunch of places you can visit to seek out like-minded pirates, so sail on over to these official Sea of Thieves hangouts:

• Forums
• Xbox Club
• Verified Discord