Cosmetic Plans and Portal Hopping | Sea of Thieves Developer Update: September 3rd 2026 — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:06Hey everyone. In this update, we'll share  the results of the recent community vote,
2. 0:11a new approach we'll be trying for bug  reporting, changes we're making to our
3. 0:16cosmetic strategy, and then because I've  got quite attached to the lab coat, finish with
4. 0:21a little update on season 21's no diving  experiment. Right. Last month, we ran our first
5. 0:27community vote to bring some old favorite islands  back as new Legendary Locations in Custom
6. 0:34Seas. For anyone who voted, you've probably  seen the landslide victory already. But for
7. 0:40everyone else, drum roll, please...
8. 0:42It's Golden Sands, what a surprise.
9. 0:45This iconic Outpost will be returned to its former glory as the next Legendary Location for Custom Seas.
10. 0:53The team will now begin work digging back into the  archives and rebuilding this Outpost as it
11. 0:59once was, before it was transformed into Port Merrick,  and will be arriving in a future update. For those
12. 1:06who voted on Old Boot Fort and Lost Sands,  don't worry, those will make their way to Custom
13. 1:12Seas a little later down the line in the order  they ranked in the voting. So, after Golden Sands,
14. 1:19we'll begin working on Old Boot Fort, which  won the battle for second place,
15. 1:23and then finally finish with Lost Sands. And  on that point, I just want to be clear that
16. 1:28these locations aren't sitting on the shelf  ready to go. Your vote has defined the order
17. 1:33in which we'll begin rebuilding these. Each one  is going to require some restoring, custom setup,
18. 1:40polish, and then testing before they'll be  ready. So, we'll work through these in that
19. 1:45order and bring them out when they're ready  to go. Sticking with the topic of community,
20. 1:51I want to talk about a new trial we'll be running  to help improve visibility on the biggest issues
21. 1:56affecting your experience on the seas.  Our game health team are coming to the end of
22. 2:01their recent bug bash and have made improvements  across some of our most frequently raised issues.
23. 2:08from the elusive mast bug, inconsistent barrel  inventories, Ancient Megs not releasing rewards,
24. 2:15stingy merchants and a range of issues  experienced after migrating across servers as
25. 2:21just a few examples. As the team looked to their  next phase of work, we felt it was time
26. 2:26to check in with you all and get your feedback  on what are the biggest issues affecting your
27. 2:31experience right now. In order to do that,  this week we'll be opening up a space on the Sea of Thieves
28. 2:37Forums for public bug reporting, where you can  raise a bug report and others in the community
29. 2:43can expand and upvote so the most impactful issues  bubble up to the top. This is a bit of a trial,
30. 2:50so we'll see how this goes in practice. But thank  you all in advance for your support and
31. 2:55we look forward to reading your reports. Next up,  let's talk about cosmetics. In previous updates,
32. 3:02we've acknowledged the feedback on the imbalance  of cosmetics arriving through the Pirate
33. 3:07Emporium when compared to those that are earnable  or purchasable through game stores. We've also
34. 3:14seen feedback recently on some more traditionally  lore-tied sets arriving in the Emporium, and
35. 3:21want to bring some more definition around how  we're approaching this. I just want to be clear
36. 3:26though, Sea of Thieves is now in its ninth year, and  sales in the Pirate Emporium play a crucial part
37. 3:33in funding ongoing development on the game. But  while this will remain a key priority area for us,
38. 3:40we've been working on a revised strategy  for cosmetics that begins to re-address the
39. 3:45balance. Over in the Pirate Emporium, starting  this October, you'll see us begin to shift,
40. 3:52and the Emporium will return to delivering more  brand collaborations, IRL seasonal items,
41. 3:58and cosmetics inspired from Rare's back catalogue  of games. We'll also be moving away from the
42. 4:05consistent approach to sets we'd previously  settled into, and we'll be focusing
43. 4:10more on smaller bundles of high-quality items  over full sets arriving each month. And in the
44. 4:17Outpost stores, we'll continue adding new  stock each month for you to spend your gold on,
45. 4:22but now with a much stronger offering. We'll begin  by introducing a new mini set each Season
46. 4:28that celebrates a legendary character from within  our game lore. In addition to that, Pirate Legends
47. 4:35will now also unlock access to an  exclusive cosmetic set that they can earn each
48. 4:40Season. And then to top it off, we'll continue  with the steady stream of new cosmetics delivered
49. 4:46every month for all players to spend their gold  on. This new approach to the Outpost stores will
50. 4:52kick off in Season 21 with September's update.  The first legendary character will be Merrick with
51. 4:59the introduction of the Fisherman's Fable set. For  pirate Legends, the Courteous Knave set will begin
52. 5:05arriving in the Legends Hideout starting  with the clothing, and then the new Cast Iron set
53. 5:11will begin arriving in the stores across Season  21, starting with the weapons in September.
54. 5:17It's also worth noting that outside of the  Outpost, we've then also got the Black Market,
55. 5:22Season Pass Star Prize, Twitch Drops and various  Event rewards arriving across our updates. We feel
56. 5:29confident that this new approach gives each store  a much clearer role to play and begins to re-address
57. 5:36the balance of cosmetics players can  earn and purchase while playing Sea of Thieves.
58. 5:42We look forward to hearing your feedback when  these new sets start arriving later this month.
59. 5:48And then let's end with some experiment news. So,  last month we shared our plans for Season 21's
60. 5:55experiment, where we'll be removing  the ability to dive to Voyages, Tall Tales,
61. 6:00and Raids. We knew this was going to be a  polarizing topic, and given your feedback,
62. 6:06it clearly has been. But whether you are for or  against this change, we've seen lots of
63. 6:11healthy discussion and suggestions on how we could  go even further. There's been two topics
64. 6:17that have risen head and shoulders above the rest,  though. Hourglass in Adventure and portal hopping.
65. 6:23Now, I'm not going to dig into the hourglass topic  in this video, but we've heard the feedback loud
66. 6:28and clear, so stick a pin in it for now,  but I do want to talk about portal hopping. So,
67. 6:34portal hopping is using a Sea of the Damned Tall  Tale to migrate across servers on demand. Now,
68. 6:40we knew there was going to be ways for  players to move servers in Season 21,
69. 6:45whether that was scuttling to new seas or just good  old server hopping, but those options would be
70. 6:51pretty limited and come with the friction of  both time and lost progress. Portal hopping,
71. 6:57however, does keep the ship supplies and,  crucially, it retains the Emissary status,
72. 7:03allowing Grade Five ships to move between servers  and retain their grade. And let's face it,
73. 7:09it's a pretty common tactic used by Grade Five  Reapers hunting for other Emissaries to fight.
74. 7:15Now, the goal of this experiment in Season 21 is  to bring back the feeling that each server has a
75. 7:21living story to tell, that the actions crews take  over time can be observed and interacted
76. 7:28with by others, and that potential threats can  be seen growing, allowing players to prepare.
77. 7:34While portal hopping clearly isn't something new,  we feel that the ability for a ship to migrate
78. 7:40on demand to a new server and retain  their Emissary status goes against our goal
79. 7:46as it shortcuts the storytelling potential. And  in the case of hunting Reapers, can often
80. 7:52create an invasion seemingly out of nowhere.  So, when our experiment launches in September,
81. 7:58while crews can still use portal hopping to move  across servers, they will now find their
82. 8:04Emissary status is now lost, requiring them to  build that grade back up again on their next
83. 8:10server. As we continue to explore ways to bring  the Sea of Thieves sandbox back to its best,
84. 8:16we strongly believe that crews should build  their reputation and influence within the
85. 8:21seas they're currently sailing. Reaching  Emissary Grade Five should reflect the story that
86. 8:27crew has created on that server, creating along  the way opportunities for stories, rivalries,
87. 8:34alliances, and conflict to emerge naturally, rather than arriving suddenly from
88. 8:39another server. I know that's probably not  going to land with everyone, but we believe
89. 8:44this change gives us the best chance of  reigniting the living, evolving sandbox that sits
90. 8:50at the heart of Sea of Thieves. Alright, I think  we'll call it there. Catch you all next time.