A scale test for Sea of Thieves is now live according to a tweet from the game's official account. The particulars of this element of the game's beta are detailed in a recent blog post over on the game's website.
Sea of Thieves is a game that's all about being a swashbuckling pirate (and bringing along some of your friends for the ride if you feel so inclined). It had its first closed beta event at the end of January 2018 which ended up getting extended due to a number of technical issues that prevented people from playing. Executive Producer Joe Neate headlined a Developer Update video where he talks about the scale test:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_LURB3IXYY
The first closed beta brought light to a number of issues, some of which the Sea of Thieves developers had expected and some which they did not. Describing the experience as "humbling", they managed to figure out where they needed to prioritize their efforts to make sure the game is ready for prime time. In particular, the ability to start the game or sell items at outposts were highlighted as major issues that they're seeking to address.
The scale test is meant to hit a higher player count than the previous test and see how their efforts at remedying the previous problems from the last beta have turned out. Even so, a beta is a beta and some people may be experienced issues as highlighted by this tweet from the game's account:
https://twitter.com/SeaOfThieves/status/964448832993026048
An F.A.Q. is available if you want to read up on what's going on with this round of the beta. Xbox Insiders and players who had access to January's closed beta will be able to participate in this one. The Sea of Thieves scale test is live now and is scheduled to run until Sunday, February 18, 2018 at 10:00 AM GMT (that's 5:00 AM Eastern Time). If you're curious as to what this game is all about, you should read our own Anson Chan's write-up on what he thinks of the game and what he hopes it will have in the future.
What do you think of Sea of Thieves so far? Do you think the game's development is on the right track? Let us know in the comments below!
