Rare delays Sea of Thieves' long-awaited Captaincy Update into August
"There was a real risk of not delivering to the quality and polish we expect".
Sea of Thieves' long-long-long-awaited Captaincy Update, first discussed prior to the game's release all the way back in 2018, will miss its planned launch later this month and is now due to arrive alongside Season Seven on 4th August.
In its originally envisaged 2018 guise, the Captaincy Update was an early victim of Sea of Thieves' rocky launch, with Rare ultimately making the decision to place it "on the back burner" while it refocused its development plans. Most assumed it was lost to time after that, but, to everyone's surprise, it suddenly resurfaced during Microsoft's not-E3 showcase this June.
This new iteration of Captaincy follows the same basic premise of the originally teased update, introducing a host of new features designed around the idea of becoming the captain of your own distinctive vessel. These will include the ability to name your ship, decorate its cabin, earn unique rewards, make use of special new cash-in points across the ocean, and more.
Unfortunately though, there'll be a little more waiting before the update arrives - Rare has now announced it'll pushing its launch (and that of Season Seven) back from 28th July to 4th August. Discussing the delay in a post on the Sea of Thieves website, executive producer Joe Neate explained, "With such a fundamental update to the game, there is a lot of hidden work to be done in the background. This is an update that brings in a vast range of new stats to track, and has required a complex partnership across our Game, UI and Services teams to bring it to life."
"As we started getting closer to the originally stated release date," Neate continued, "it became apparent that things were coming in hotter than we liked and there was a real risk of not delivering to the quality and polish we expect, as well as putting undue pressure across the team to get it all over the line. Subsequently, we have made the decision to shift the release date back slightly to August 4th."
Today's delay does, of course, mean Sea of Thieves will be heading into August having only released one season of new content so far in 2022. At this point, it seems highly unlikely the year will bring all four promised seasonal updates revealed in January's roadmap, so - after a Season Six stretched perilously thin - let's hope Season Seven will be worth the wait.