Sea of Thieves' inaugural battle pass season launches next week
Includes new Merchant Alliance voyage type.
Sea of Thieves' previously revealed battle pass will launch its first season of player progression and rewards next Thursday, 28th January.
The battle pass - intended to offer a "tangible sense of progress", even when engaging in shorter sessions according to Rare - will feature 100 progress levels (with associated seasonal rewards) that can be unlocked through exploration, adventuring, and combat. There's also talk of pirate trials "that celebrate...existing content and encourage you to play in new ways".
Notably, this new seasonal model also marks a shift in development strategy for the multiplayer pirate game. Instead of delivering new content on a monthly basis, as it did previously, Rare will now release new features every three months, at the start of each new season.
As far as Season One goes, that includes a new voyage type for the perennially unpopular Merchant Alliance trading company, which will require players to follow clues across land and sea in order to locate a lost ship wreck and shipment.
In addition to the battle pass, which is entirely free for all players, seasons also introduce a separate premium component known as the Plunder Pass. This will unlock discounts for existing items in the premium Pirate Emporium store, alongside "a few" exclusive items.
We'll know more when Season One gets underway next Thursday on Xbox and PC.