Sea of Thieves recently got one of its biggest updates yet alongside the season seven launch, bringing Captaincy, the ability to name ships, and far more to the open-sea Rare game. This has caused many to flock back, share their ship names, customize their interiors, and far more. So far, it seems to have gone over well with fans.

To that effect, Game Rant spoke with Sea of Thieves’ Creative Director Mike Chapman and Lead Designer Shelley Preston about the Captaincy update, the reception thereof, personalizing the pirate fantasy, the adventures, new features, future plans, and far more. The following transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.

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Q: Congratulations on the launch of season seven and the captaincy update. First week in, what does it seem like the players are responding to most?

MC: I think that's a great opening question. Of course, it's been a week now. First things first, I think, and this will back up what I'm about to say. I think captaincy in and of itself is Sea of Thieves. It's just been one of those Sea of Thieves updates that I think was always going to happen. It was always a matter of time before we added something like captaincy.

It's something that we've talked about at the idea stage for so many years, and it's probably our most requested community feature. It's kind of surreal. I mean, I was saying to Shelley earlier that it's kind of surreal that it's actually out now. It's almost like a cathartic release to get this update out to players. Because I think, like the type of game that Sea of Thieves is, it's all about the fantasy of being a pirate in a pirate world. You know, we're trying to draw on all those wonderful pirate tropes that players have grown up with, you know, back with Treasure Island or Pirates of the Caribbean and even the Goonies was such an inspiration for us during the prototype. You know, there are just so many wonderful adventure and pirate tropes that we're trying to draw from.

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Our vision for captaincy is not really a historical one. It's drawn from those same tropes, that kind of more romantic fantastical view of the pirate life. So when you think about that, and you think about the legend of Blackbeard and the Queen Anne's Revenge, and you think about Captain Jack Sparrow and the legendary Black Pearl, it's very much around legendary pirates with legendary ships and those ships being a reflection of the things that they have done in that pirate world.

So, we were always going to do it. but I think what's wonderful in the player response is that it really backs up the timing. I feel really good about when we've added captaincy, because I think the Sea of Thieves experience has been enriched so much since our original launch back in March 2018. It's our 36th, I can't believe that number, our 36th content update basically. They've all been free. Sea of Thieves as an experience, it's just so broad, it's so rich, there are so many things to do.

So bringing in captaincy in a way that rewarded you for the things that you uniquely do in your ship, reflecting your personal journey, was always our hope for this. It's so wonderful to say, to loop back to your original question, which is that it really seems to be the thing that's landing with players is players having this emotional connection to their ship. And it starts right from when you first name it, you name it, the pirate Lord appears on your deck, it creates this kind of beautiful moment where etches the name into the crest. And the ship from that moment kind of transformed from being the way you move around the world to your home in Sea of Thieves. And from then on, it reinvigorates everything that's already in the game, and then you're earning unique rewards that reflect the things that you want to do.

Those two things, that's really the thing that we've seen resonate the most over the past week. We've seen so many wonderful ship names that players have created, and just that moment when players start to customize their cabin, they're sharing their pictures on social media and all the pictures are starting to look so distinct because it's a reflection of the things that they've done. I think that's been that's been the biggest thing. Yeah, that sounds like we're hearing that loud and clear from our players.

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Q: I know you said that this was always a plan for Sea of Thieves, but when you say that, like how far back are we talking?

MC: Always. Right from the prototype days, before release. I will let Shelley talk about this as well, like how rich the update is, but like, I think our original vision for captaincy, we knew we wanted to represent the idea of players being a captain in a real way rather than just being a player chosen role. Letting it be something that actually changed your experience was always something that we wanted to do. I think when it actually came to season seven, and now we're actually going to go do captaincy for real, I think it ended up being far richer than we ever first envisioned.

Because of how rich the game is now, it's allowed us to really reward players for those very distinct ways of play. And that's really where the milestone system comes in and all those rewards. So I think like, Shelley could talk to this wonderfully in terms of like, how rich that captaincy experience is kind of compared to the general concept of bringing captaincy.

SP: I think the heart of it has never changed, as Mike said, just the fundamental idea of being a captain. But what that means and how that translates into Sea of Thieves has kind of grown as the game has grown. Choosing to do captaincy now, we have this broad game for players to go out and explore and enjoy. And really what that means as well is that there are so many different things that players can do now. You see that some players, you know, like to play in particular places or like to engage with certain things. That's really an avenue that kind of opened up with players since launch, and so captaincy was an opportunity to go all in on that and say, 'well, we have this new milestone progression system that's defined into these alignments that represent all the things and all these kinds of very broad playstyles and motivations for play.'

From the gold seeker who just wants gold to the ill-fated who perhaps has all the really bad luck, is always catching on fire, or getting lightning struck, or their ship is sinking all the time, even those players, all the whimsical rogues, who are more into roleplay and doing those kinds of activities. On the ship, there are all these different characters and roleplay that players do that's not something that the game puts on them. It's up to you and how you want to express yourself. But through captaincy and the milestone system, you can now actually earn progression within those tracks. And what that does is it means, as you play naturally, the progression that you're getting and the rewards that you're unlocking naturally come to represent the areas of the game that you engage with.

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So if you are that gold seeker, who's after all the gold coins all the time, you'll start getting cabin customizations that feel more swanky, and maybe you'll get the golden picture with the gold hoarder in the frame. When another crew looks at you through the spyglass, they see your ship name and Captain by your ship name, it'll have gold coins on the banner if you've unlocked that, and you'll hear that little jangling of gold coins. It really allows you to go deeper and immerse in that roleplay of how you want to show up.

It's your crew as well. The captain is obviously the person who kind of owns the ship and pays for the ship, but when your crew comes along on that journey, they can earn these milestones for themselves as well. The vast majority of the rewards are based on being either a captain or crew on the ship. And they can bring their little trinkets and you know, maybe they got a picture for doing something different, you know, they do a lot of merchant quests, so they've got the lovely, cute pig picture. And they hang that up and say, you know, 'this is my corner, I'm going to have this hand over here.' So, it really is the right moment in time to bring in everything that was at the heart of that original concept. But really to just bring it in, in an amped up way that I think goes beyond what we originally imagined for it.

Q: Up to this point, there have now been five adventures. So what's been the most valuable lesson from these for Rare?

MC: They're all tied together by this seamless narrative, so it's our opportunity to move the world forward every single month. We've deliberately tried, we use the term archetypes, very different kinds of archetypes for the design of the adventures. We want to try different things and engage players in different ways.

For example, the first adventure was very story-led, very much about investigating the island and seeing these ghostly visions. Whereas adventure two was very much about reinvigorating the sea forts, which were added a few weeks earlier, by giving you this kind of story-based reason to go and engage with that content. And then adventure three, which is probably the biggest one until that point was, really tried to create the sequel to The Hungering Deep, which was our first update back in May 2018 and this awesome set piece where we brought players together on the server and within that world to fight the Shrouded Ghost, this mythical creature within our world.

And of course, let's not forget adventure four, which was probably the most ambitious one so far, which is the one where the community actually got a choice to change the outcome of the world. So players got to side with Merrick or they got to side with the Reapers to determine the outcome of what happened to Golden Sands. In the coming months, we'll start to see that outcome play out. We promised their players that it would be a big impact, no matter what happened to the fate of the Golden Sands. So players are going to start seeing some changes to that outpost based on the decisions that they made. They've been responsible for moving that forward.

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So it's been a really nice mix of having alongside these kinds of 'tools, not rules' emergent sandbox where you make your own story, it's been a pleasure to be able to keep moving that storytelling forward, to keep people more immersed in these emotionally engaging stories that still feel like fun pirate stories, but we want to get people emotionally invested in our world. I think they're actually performing really, really well. Like, we know, the idea behind them was outside these big releases like captaincy that we add with our seasons. The idea was to keep the Sea of Thieves world feeding off this living, breathing world where there's always something new to do. We have seasons where we add new, impactful content every three months, then the adventures happen every month. And so far, they've landed really well with our players in terms of exciting them, getting them to come back and not, you know, grinding them forever. They're meant to be kind of relatively short bite-size experiences, you play for forty minutes, you get your memento, and then you're kind of done. And, you know, maybe you'll come back next month for the story or not, and that's absolutely fine.

What we're actually doing now is looking at them and assessing and learning in terms of those archetypes like which one is landing best. And we deliberately went broad with adventures to just try different things. And now we're looking at the data and the sentiment online to try and work out, 'okay, do we want to push a little bit more story? And where do you want to go more gameplay setpiece with it?' So that's probably the big takeaway so far. They've landed well, the general concept has landed well, but now we want to look at what aspects of the adventures really worked for our core community.

Q: With the community impact on these, you know, it's got to be fun to deal with not knowing which way it's gonna go. So like, what was the sort of plan for this decision around like Golden Sands? Like, how different is the version players are going to get vs had the other choice been made?

MC: Well, it's interesting in terms of the community discourse. It's completely understandable in terms of the Reapers being the change-makers, the Reapers being the ones that are promising to transform the outpost, where we kind of drop teases that it's going to be impactful both ways.

I love the outcome. I love the fact that it's kind of the spirit behind the adventure, you know, why does Golden Sands make sense because it's in the Shores of Plenty. It looks quintessential Sea of Thieves. It has beautiful palm trees, blue skies, and turquoise waters, you want to protect it. And, you know, you heard a lot of feedback around people who play Cargo Runs that 'Oh, I really like that cargo and drop-off spots. I really liked dropping off supplies up there, we've got to fight for Golden Sands.'

Even though I think everyone suspected that the Reapers were going to win, the fact that Merrick's team just edged it, I just love that. Because honestly, hand on heart, I wanted to believe that would be the outcome, but I did have this sneaky feeling that you know, bad is going to win because the Reapers are too cool, that they're gonna take this at the last minute. It's wonderful that they didn't, I mean, the question is, what would the Pirate Lord do? The Pirate Lord has seen this outpost in the Sea of Thieves, he's seen it fall under attack from the Reapers. What would he logically do now to Golden Sands, and I won't give you the answer, but I will say you will soon start to see that beginning to change in the world. It should be really exciting for players. I think they're going to love it.

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Q: What can you say for players about the next adventure, a Hunter's Cry?

MC: Oh wellll, you can go into the game, you can read the blurb, and you can kind of know the way it's going to go. Players can read a little intro, a little synopsis that we put into this adventure, and everywhere the storytelling has been going has been setting up the Dark Brethren, with Merrick as their potential target, as players saw in The Forsaken Hunter what happened to Merrick and who's potentially behind it, what we're setting off is this ultimate rescue mission that will take players into the Sea of the Damned. So players will be going back to the Sea of the Damned for the first time since A Pirate's Life, and this ultimate rescue mission to save Merrick.

Q: How did Rare go about balancing and not overwhelming players with the new ship progression system alongside like their personal progression systems and roleplay?

SP: Yeah, it's interesting, because what we never want to do is curtail our ambitions, and things that we want to do and things that we want to add to the game, we always look to try and find a way. And it is a tricky balance, because as you say, it's more progression in a game that already has progression. But the reason why it's there is so distinct from the progression that we have. You know, any player can jump in, and they can do pretty much anything, and they can start earning bits of seasonal progression. So they can work their way through that, but that kind of resets each season. And then there are the commendations, which, you know, perhaps it's in your first session, maybe you play, and you earn a bit of seasonal progression. But as you get to know the game over a couple of sessions, you begin to understand that there are these commendations, and they are more like your sticker book. You stamp them, you've done them, they are a moment in time. It is almost like an achievement; they're done.

Whereas the milestones exist to be a system that tracks players for the long term. So it's not something that we anticipate people to complete, you can't anyway, the numbers track forever. But even in terms of getting all the rewards that are on offer, it's very much a natural reflection of your playstyle based on how you're going to play over not just the season, but many seasons. And of course, we know, there are many different players with many different amounts of time that they put into the game. And it's just something that will travel along with you on your journey.

So all these incredible things that you do, we love things like end-of-year round-ups and things that Xbox does or even Sea of Thieves has done, just in those stats, where you didn't know before. Like 'cool, you know, I vomited seven times,' or whatever it is in Sea of Thieves. And it was taking that spirit of that and really going deep on that. So not only do you have these main things that are tracked, like the number of treasures that you've sold, but you can even dive into that and see it item by item like how many have I done.

It's really just about kind of scratching that itch for players who want to have that deeper level of progression and that deeper tracking of who they are as a pirate. So they exist for very different reasons. And if you think about a player's journey in Sea of Thieves as well, as I say they come in, maybe get some seasonal progression, start to learn about trading companies and they earn commendations, then maybe they become an emissary for the companies. And then captaincy is a goal beyond that. So by the time players are kind of there, the experiences layer up, they're not kind of all presented to you immediately on day one. But I think for us, it's finding a balance between wanting to be ambitious and grow the game, but of course not overwhelming players. And I think the milestones answer that.

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MC: I think what you said there shows a really important point. I think it's a bit of a mindset shift actually, I think for some of our audience because you kind of expect it differently. You look at some of the things we've added in the past like the Sunken Kingdom, commendations for exploring, discovering these mysteries, finding all the lore books, Tall Tale content, and A Pirate's Life. We've had what we added with buried treasure and Christmas time last year, forts, so much. It feels like content that you come back for, you get excited by, you kind of do, and then you wait for the next bit of content. And you'll still do those things as you engage with the sandbox, but they kind of feel like a more bite-sized package of content because.

Whereas captaincy is a little different. Captaincy changes the Sea of Thieves forever from this point. And some players once they have their ship, they might start with a ship, they get emotionally attached to it, that's the ship they're going to sail on forever in Sea of Thieves now because they've got that connection to it. It's their Black Pearl, it's their Queen Anne's Revenge. Or the players will want to buy multiple ships and take them on different journeys, these milestones that Shelley has spoken about them. They might want to align their ships in different ways. So they've got their ship that represents the rogue, they've got their ship that represents the gold seeker. So it kind of amplifies all the existing Sea of Thieves gameplay.

You can't look at it as something that 'this whole season, I'm just going to max out captaincy.' It's meant to entertain you and strengthen everything we do from now on in Sea of Thieves. Because now, you can be a captain in Sea of Thieves, and it has meaning as to who you are. It's that impactful. And I think there's a bit of a mind shift, mindset shift in terms of how you perceive it.

Q: With how customizable the experience is, with the interior of the ship, the ship naming, living this fantasy the way you want to live it, is Rare planning more customization like this in the future? Are there going to be things that personalize this experience even more?

MC: Yes, definitely. Why not? Obviously, I need to be careful what I say here, you're going to open your Christmas presents early if I tell you everything we're doing. Generally, that idea of the ship becoming a home and your having more choice, and there being more persistence around your personal pirate journey, I think captaincy is very much the beginning. As we look to the future, of course, we'll do the things that we've always done, enrich the world, give you more mechanics, and more tools to create these different stories. But we also want to give players more options where they feel like they're creating their experience, they've got more control, and it feels deeply personal. So I'm not going to drop any feature names, but like, this is just the start for that deeper side of custom customization. You'll see us do more in the future. Definitely.

How did this Captain Log's feature and concept come about?

SP: Yeah, I mean, it's kind of an expectation, isn't it, that you have this almost formal written down record of you and your crew that's represented in the world. But the way we thought about it was, when we were originally conceiving of this idea and at the same time everything else around captaincy, was wouldn't it be amazing if we could put the two things together? So this whole milestone system that we're working on where you're representing all these things that you're proud of, and that you've done, but also what if they are the things that are written in the logbook?

So while the logbook has some kind of session-based things that are in there for everybody that refreshes each session, because that's another thing that I personally always wanted too. When you've played for a long time, I wonder how much gold we actually earned today or all of these kinds of session-based goals that are represented. But also then, you have a page for your actual ship with a kind of sketch of it, its name, and you, as a captain, choose which things you're proudest of that you want to kind of pinned into the logbook.

Sea Of Thieves Emissary Flags on ships

So out of all the milestones that there are, you can choose. We didn't want to choose like, these are the things that are important. It's up to you. If you want to say, I sank a load of times, or equally, I've never been sunk, that might be the thing you're really proud of. I've done 1000 days at sea, but I've never sunk tells a story. And captains can start to basically paint this picture of how they want to be, and then each player gets through that as well for themselves.

So the idea of this is kind of traditional almost trope of the logbook, the formal written record aboard the ship, but really tying it into how players experience captaincy. And then of course, if you get sunk, then someone can actually pick up that book, and they can read all about it. They can kind of see who you are and how much it's worth to the Reapers depending on how long it was since you last sank. So if you've been going for a really, really long time, you can get a lot. That's a lot more valuable as well. So yeah, it just all ties in, in a way that I'm personally really happy with because I think it just strengthens everything around captaincy.

MC: And then you kind of get those magic with the fact that Sea of Thieves is a shared world and what it means when you have features like the captain's log in the world like that. So, you know, one of the things that has always inspired us was, on top of everything Shelley's just said, the fact that I could sneak aboard your ship Joshua and walk into the captain's cabin and read your log and see what you've done over time. See the stats that you're most proud of, and see the names of the crew that are sailing with you. If I were to sink you, your log would be there in the water. And I could read that, as I'm on the way to the Reapers.

Like Shelley said, it's not only the features themselves, it's how those features can deliver what we believe is that quintessential Sea of Thieves magic. Sure, players can name their ships now, but if I see Shelley's ship out there on the waves, and I look through the spyglass, I see the name coming in, I see the name of the captain, I've seen how that ship has been role-playing in the world. So you know, walking into a captain's cabin and seeing that, you feel like you've walked in into someone's front room in their house in terms of all the personal choices that they've made. It's just the magic of that shared world, and personal stories get amplified by a feature like captaincy. I think that's the thing we're most inspired by, and so far has been the element that really landed with our players. And that's been heartening to see for sure.

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Q: Is there anything else you'd like to add?

MC: Honestly, it kind of goes back to just some of your questions around the future of Sea of Thieves. I think, you know, we are more inspired than ever to keep building this world, to keep telling new stories, to keep giving players the capability to create their own stories. And we've often been inspired by, and I say this all the time, if you truly love pirates, there should be something in Sea of Thieves for you.

And as we look to the future of Sea of Thieves, on top of the success we've seen with this game so far and how many people are enjoying it, captaincy speaks to our ambition for how we want to keep expanding this game. And you know, I can promise you the next season will be equally ambitious. And what we're focused on for season eight, and as we look to next year, there are just some incredible experiences coming to Sea of Thieves.

I often walk around the team and I think to myself, 'if only our biggest fans could see a little window into what we're creating for the next year.' There's some incredible content coming out. And we've said it many times before, this game is a passion project. It comes from the heart. We all deeply love this game. We're just so privileged that we found an audience that loves it too, and we get the chance to keep forging new ground and doing new things. We'll always be ambitious. Captaincy is very much the tip of the iceberg of where we want to take his game in the future.

[END].

Sea of Thieves is available now for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

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