Rare shares first details on Sea of Thieves' next big (and foggy) expansion, Shrouded Spoils
Plus a trailer for next week's Halloween event.
As Sea of Thieves' current Foresaken Shores campaign begins to wind down, Rare has shared first details on Shrouded Spoils - the next major content expansion for its multiplayer piratical adventure, due to arrive in November.
Speaking in Sea of Thieves' latest developer video, executive producer Joe Neate described Shrouded Spoils as a collection of content and features created in response to ongoing player feedback. And while full details will come later, Neate did reveal that it brings expanded ship customisation options - enabling players to change the likes of the wheel, cannons, and capstan - alongside unique Commendations and goals for those that have reached Pirate Legend status.
Shrouded Spoils' most significant addition though, as revealed so far at least, comes in the form of billowing fog - a new emergent weather type that can sweep across islands or oceans at any time. As you can probably imagine, it dramatically reduces player visibility both on land and at sea - making navigation far more perilous, and bringing the potential for very different kinds of PvP encounters. Quite apart from the challenges of battling in fog, braver pirates could, for instance, take advantage of the reduced visibility for more stealthy assaults.
A ship's crow's nest will suddenly be far more useful, being the only way to get a clearer view of your surroundings when the fog rolls in.
Just the Fog from r/Seaofthieves
Neate also mentioned that Rare is working hard to crank up the eeriness factor, with a ship's creaks and groans far more prominent when lost in the fog - which should give the experience a considerably different ambience to anything seen elsewhere on the ocean.
According to Neate, Rare will be sharing more details on Shrouded Sails very soon. And for those eager to learn what else the future holds, it will be unveiling the next major content update to follow Shrouded Sails on November 10th, during Microsoft's X018 event. This, says Neate, is a big one, and brings "a real change" to the Sea of Thieves experience.
Before all of that, however, comes the previously teased Festival of the Damned event - a Halloween-inspired limited-time Bilge Rat Adventure that, as shown in the newly revealed trailer above, introduces new coloured ship lanterns as a simple new mechanic, spooky face paint, and other seasonally appropriate odds and sods.
The Festival of the Damned begins on October 31st, meaning you've less than a week to finish up Foresaken Shores' campaign quest and grab its selection of limited-time cosmetics. Foresaken Shores' big content additions - including the stunning Devil's Roar biome and rowboats - will remain as permanent additions.