Sea of Thieves just added loads more loot
UPDATE: New dev video says private crews due next week, and more.
UPDATE 8.30pm: Following on from today's sizeable Sea of Thieves cosmetics update, Rare has released a brand-new developer video, further detailing its content creation plans for the weeks and months ahead.
Much of the video, presented by Sea of Thieves producer Joe Neate, outlines how the development team will operate from now on, ensuring a regular influx of new content.
Essentially, development is now split between three groups, each working on one of the game's recently unveiled major expansions. One is currently putting the finishing touches to this month's The Hungering Deep - which Neate describes as a "medium-sized content update" - while the others focus on the larger Forsaken Shores and Cursed Sails offerings.
Teams are also responsible for creating weekly events within each development block - these are due to begin in earnest once The Hungering Deep releases - and will immediately start work on the next major content update when one is complete. Previously, Rare revealed that a total of six free major content drops are planned for 2018.
Elsewhere in the video, Neate announced that Sea of Thieves' much-requested public and private crew function will, hopefully, be made live in next week's patch drop, currently scheduled for Tuesday, May 8th. This will prevent random players from joining an established crew if one member loses their connection, and should hopefully reduce the number of pirates being insta-brigged on joining a multiplayer game.
Rounding off today's developer update - said to be the first in a regularly series of videos - Neate also teased two smaller, but frequently requested, quality of life features due to be implemented soon. Firstly, the team is looking at hiding a player's name tag when they're beneath the water, in order to allow for a more stealthy form of PvP play.
Additionally, it should soon be possible for players to hand resources - cannon balls, planks, and so on - to their crew mates, hopefully adding a little more fluidity to the game's various interactions. Excitingly, this probably also means we'll soon be able to prod friends in the face with a banana during the quieter moments of oceanic voyaging.
For a few more Sea of Thieves tidbits, do check out Rare's full developer video above.
ORIGINAL STORY 2.35pm: Pirate simulator Sea of Thieves now has many more cosmetic items to spend your hard-earned (or stolen) loot on.
Today's update for the game, version 1.0.6, has brought in new Admiral, Bilge Rat, Sea Dog and Sovereign designs for clothes, weaponry and ship customisation. Merchant inventories will now vary by outpost, too.
You can take a look at a few of them below, but there's nothing particularly exciting. Sea of Thieves likes including palette swaps of existing designs - like the figurehead below - although the clothing is different:
More exciting - and far more attainable - is a new grog bottle sniper rifle (sorry, 'Eye of Reach'). You can get this for precisely one gold for the next two weeks to celebrate the game's one month anniversary.
Other changes in the patch mean skeleton cannon firing has become less annoyingly accurate (good), you'll respawn from the Ferry of the Damned quicker (great), and the sloop's ship bell has moved sides so you don't accidentally ring it while climbing the ladder (niche).
Download sizes range from 2.06GB on PC to 2.40GB on Xbox One and Xbox One X.