Rare’s pirate adventure title Sea of Thieves has topped Steam charts thanks to the release of its Pirates Of The Caribbean crossover. The massive update and DLC was first teased during the Xbox Showcase at E3 2021, a collaboration which surprised fans despite the perfect match in theme.
The first-person multiplayer adventure game was first announced at E3 in 2015, and later released in 2018 for PC and Xbox consoles. Sea of Thieves, as its name suggests, allows players to take on the role of a pirate, sailing the seas in a shared-world to complete missions, and raid other player ships; eventually earning the player the coveted title of Pirate Legend. Although released to lukewarm reception from fans and critics due to its repetitive content, Rare has since continued to diligently support the game, releasing free content updates which have since addressed Sea of Thieves’ initial criticisms.
The Season 3 update for Sea of Thieves was released on June 22 on Steam, along with its Pirates Of The Caribbean collaboration titled A Pirate’s Life. According to SteamDB, the free update, along with a sale offering a 33% discount for Sea of Thieves, has brought the game to the top of Steam’s global top seller chart. Along with claiming the number one spot on the charts, the new update also brought the game’s concurrent player count to a peak of 63k online in the past 24 hours following the update’s release, which falls just slightly below of Sea of Thieves’ all time record of over 66k players on Steam during its launch. Interest for the game also saw a massive spike on the popular streaming platform, Twitch, with Sea of Thieves receiving over 203k viewers, falling just short of its release record of 261k viewers.
Considered to be the biggest update to Sea of Thieves since its release, Rare began development on A Pirate’s Life in March, 2020. The update brings with it a new story campaign featuring five Tall Tales, which are lengthy narrative-focused quests that will take players to unique new locations crafted specifically for the crossover. Popular characters from the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise are also featured, including the legendary pirate Jack Sparrow, who will join the player on their swashbuckling adventure, and Davy Jones, who serves as the event’s antagonist.
It’s unsurprising A Pirate’s Life is faring so well thus far, considering the overwhelming popularity of Disney’s Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise. The appearance of Disney characters outside of the Kingdom Hearts franchise could mean the company may allow more collaborations with other studios in the future. Thanks to Rare’s continued dedication to Sea of Thieves, the crossover has definitely brought new life to the game, which is both seeing the return of old players and drawing in new pirates.
Sea of Thieves is available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam.
Source: SteamDB