Content Update
The big news of October hardly needs an introduction, but we’ll give it one anyway just in case you somehow missed it: Season Ten has begun! This much-anticipated shake-up of the Sea of Thieves formula began by introducing Guilds, allowing players to team up with pirates beyond their standard crew and work together to unlock new rewards. The update also included a number of quality-of-life upgrades for players to enjoy, with the full list of changes explained in the accompanying release notes (plus short and sweet hotfix notes in the closing days of the month).
At the very end of the month, Halloween couldn’t pass by unnoticed. Alongside a suitably spooky sale, pirates got to dive into Ghoul & Glory and set sail for doubled gold, reputation, Renown and Allegiance. There was even the Rapier of the Damned and a Legendary Search for the Skull of Destiny Voyage on offer to anyone who logged in during the event for maximum spookenings. Did you remember to save a treat for the Ferryman?
News and Features
We started October in the midst of Community Weekend chaos, with the final few Pop-Up Plunders appearing and everyone scrabbling to hand in their loot before the rewards multiplier ended. Trying to sum up everything that happened here would be impossible, so it’s a good thing our very own Social Media Lead James has you covered with his Community Weekend retrospective! Phew. Saves us a job.
From there we jumped into Season Ten with both an launch article and an Xbox Wire post summarising all the main features of the update and where to find more information. Production Director Drew Stevens even popped by to share a State of Play update in the Forums a few days later as we ironed out some kinks.
Over in community news, two more names made it onto the coveted Spotlight roster. First up, creator YooKay dropped in to share his journey though the Sea of Thieves community and how he became a content creator. Towards the end of the month he was joined by PvP legend PeiRei, who let us in on a few tips for people trying out Faction battles for the first time. And for those who want to check in on another legendary line of battlers, the latest Sea of Thieves comic series, Sea Dog’s Search, kicked off in October and can be read for free! It seems like Lesedi’s been busy…
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Videos and Streams
Before we got to anything else, we were due a Sea of Thieves News episode and the Video team were ready and waiting to deliver early in the month. They were joined by guest Drew, who took a few minutes to go through some of the most widely discussed technical aspects of Sea of Thieves and what we’re doing to ensure a fair and stable gameplay experience for all. Have any questions about hit registration or anti-cheat? That’s the best place to find answers.
No Season release would be complete without trailers and Deep Dives, and ahead of launch we wanted to ensure that everyone got the gist of Guilds and was ready to go from the outset. So we kicked off with a Guilds Explained video running through the new systems, then followed up with a Guilds Deep Dive to fill in any remaining questions you might have had. Then, finally, it was time for launch and a Season Ten Overview video to go with it!
Some exciting changes were happening outside of the game too, as another video introduced Pirate Perks. These exclusive merchandise items can only be picked up by pirates who have made a name for themselves on the Sea of Thieves, through rank, Renown or Pirate Legend status, and are ready to show off their hard work anywhere they go!
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Social Channels
It was a big month for the competitive amongst you. Alongside the usual Community Hub update, photo aficionados had a chance to win snazzy sails in the Musical Mayhem #SoTShot competition, while fiends of fashion were able to show off their fit in an extra-special Community Weekend edition of Style of Thieves.
Alternatively, if you just wanted a few new cosmetics without having to compete, Twitch was the place to be. Throughout Community Weekend there were all kinds of exciting treats to earn, culminating in October’s delivery of the gloriously refined Obsidian Ship’s Crest. Later in the month, Twitch viewers took a moment to celebrate other seas and worked to unlock items from the Ancestral ship set.
Over on our other channels, the banter included a brief diversion into bandana favouritism and a discussion of the merits of sailing as a Reaper Emissary – which some might consider to be a red flag – but as soon as Season Ten crested the horizon, it was all we could talk about. After all, there were Guild names to help you decide! And fellow pirates for you to recruit! We even opened ourselves up to roasting by asking everyone to rate our own Guild name. Of course, it wasn’t all about Guilds, and we dutifully raved about the new cooking situation and encouraged playing with the new chest mechanics too. Nom nom nom indeed.
All of which brought us seamlessly to the end of the month and the start of a wet and cold November. At least we have plenty of pumpkin soup to keep us warm for the foreseeable! We’ll be back in December to reflect on the escapist pirate delights taking place this month, so keep an eye out for that. In the meantime, drop by our social channels to stay up to date with news as it happens: find us on TwiXer, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube or Twitch or the official Forums or Discord. Stay safe on the seas, sailors!
Previously in 2023:
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: September 2023
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: August 2023
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: July 2023
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: June 2023
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: May 2023
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: April 2023
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: March 2023
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: February 2023
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: January 2023
