Sea of Thieves, the upcoming pirate game being worked on by Rare, will be entering its closed beta on January 24, 2018, according to a press release from the publisher.
In Sea of Thieves, players can band together in cartoonish pirate crews and sail the oceans in search of treasure and other ships to blow apart with a monstrous broadside. You'll be able to land on islands, explore dungeons filled with spooky skeletons (and other hazards), and fire yourself out of a cannon at an enemy ship because why not. Have a look at their recent Release Date Announce Trailer to see what the game is all about:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebb7rp44kg0
The Closed Beta FAQ lays out all the details for how it's going to work. Things will kick off on January 24 at 7:00 AM Eastern Time and last until January 29th at 3:00 AM Eastern Time, making for a total of just under five days of playtime with pirates. Access to the beta will be granted to anyone who has joined the game's Insider Programme prior to December 1, 2017, and to anyone who pre-orders the game. If you'd pre-ordered a physical copy of the game, you'll need to redeem the Black Dog cosmetic pack to get into the Sea of Thieves Closed Beta.
24 hours before the start date, the game will be made available for download. The experience for the closed beta has been custom-tailored for the short period of time the game will be available; Rare has stated that players won't be seeing the full game. There won't be any NDA for the beta, so feel free to stream, record video, or take a treasure trove of screenshots to your heart's content.
Sea of Thieves was originally announced at E3 2016 as part of Microsoft's show, and the following year saw nearly ten minutes of multiplayer gameplay in action. If you're up for some hijinks on the high seas, you won't have to wait long - it'll be coming to the Xbox One and Windows 10 on March 20, 2018. You can pre-order the game at its official website.
What do you think of how Sea of Thieves is shaping up? Will you be taking a crack at the closed beta? Let us know in the comments below!