Sea of Thieves to release on closed beta ahead of launch

Sea of Thieves, the multiplayer action-adventure video game that delivers all need to live the free roaming private life, will be available for closed beta ahead of the official launch on March 20.

The game developed by Rare and published by Microsoft Studios for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One has been delayed by over a year after it was game play was first shown at E3 conference in 2016. Rare launched the Insider Programme to give select members access to an in-development version of the game for test purposes and get feedback from players.

Joe Neate, Executive Producer at Rare, in a blog post on the official Xbox blog said that the working hard on Sea of Thieves after a ‘chock-full’ of announcements in December.

This includes revealing March 20 as the launch date and “made a star of an unsuspecting chicken with a swashbuckling trailer”, kick off pre-orders, reveal how to progress through the world of Sea of Thieves, and show off the haunting Limited Edition controller, and host the biggest ever Technical Alpha play session last month.

The Sea of Thieves Closed Beta will run from 12 p.m. GMT on January 24 to 8 a.m. GMT on January 29 which gives pirates a full five days of “sailing, shanties and shenanigans.”

Neate said they’ve crafted a bespoke experience for Closed Beta players that “offer a true taste of the pirate life and a great chance to get your sea legs ahead of March 20.” He also announced they won’t be testing the full game during this Closed Beta phase, and want to keep a good selection of things for players to discover at launch.

The Sea of Thieves Closed Beta will be accessible to those who joined the Sea of Thieves Insider Programme before December 1, 2017, and who pre-orders the game.

Another final thing is the Closed Beta will not be covered by a non-disclosure agreement, so players can stream, create videos, share clips, take screenshots or do anything else that their wonderful minds can come up with. Some of the favourites will also be shared on Sea of Thieves’ social channels and website.