Content Update
It was a banging start to 2025 in the content department, as a new live Event sent pirates off in search of Gunpowder Barrels for The Reaper’s Bones. Unique Limited Voyages led players to Skeleton Forts to uncover their perilous prizes, while the Servant of the Flame dished out increased rewards for barrels safely delivered. Getting them to The Reaper’s Hideout without incident, however, was no easy feat…
Once the debris from all that excitement had been cleared away, it was time to enter the final leg of Season 14 with the arrival of the January update. The major highlight was the long-awaited arrival of the Mimic Dart, which grants crafty blowpipe users the ability to masquerade as other pirates and skeletons. At the same time, improvements to the Grapple Gun made missing a shot just a touch more forgiving. And as always, you can read through the release notes for a full breakdown of all the tweaks and changes!
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News and Features
As is becoming tradition, we kicked off the news machine for January with a new This Month article to outline everything you could expect from the month ahead – as always, a fine place to find out what’s on the schedule so that you can plan your Voyages accordingly.
Over in the world of Spotlights, we had one focusing on the artistic soul of Penguill, and another delving into the adventures of Stream Team stalwart Arrvocado! Give them a read if you want to know what some familiar faces in the community have been up to lately, or maybe just want some insight into one of those people who uses a computer mouse with their left hand. We like to cater to all readers here.
And speaking of what everyone’s been up to, January marked the conclusion to the Golden Scallywag Awards! After weeks of pirates sharing their sneakiest skulduggery, difficult decisions had to be made about which moments of mischief were most deserving of a prize – and the glory of a Scallywags win.
Elsewhere, a new tune emerged to add a touch of Siren spice to your Spotify playlists, while our friends at Yootooz had some time-limited merchandise for the animal lovers among you. Did you finally manage to get your hands on your very own Shrouded Ghost?
Videos and Streams
Down the corridor in the Tavern, Daryl started his 2025 shenanigans with the first Sea of Thieves News episode of the year. The Tavern was then taken over by Production Director and deliverer of technical news Drew for the latest Developer Update! Sadly no questionable wardrobe choices for this one, but plenty of info on the improvements being made to game performance.
Shortly after that it was time for the January update to get underway, and that meant the Video team had two more trailers to release before the month was out. First up was the update trailer, showcasing the aforementioned changes to the sandbox, before the Pirate Emporium unveiled what was in store for patrons this month. Truly a star-studded collection.
Slightly further afield, Steamforged Games had a handy video to share with all you boardgame fans out there: a playthrough of the official Sea of Thieves: Voyage of Legends game! If you’ve been toying with the idea of adding a new pirate experience to your gaming shelf, this offers up some useful insight. Just brace yourself for some banana slander in the first couple of minutes.
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Social Channels
Naturally, the start of a new year meant that we began January with some lofty ideas about what we wanted to achieve over the next 12 months – some substantially loftier than others, it must be said – and risked trying out a new look while we did it. At the same time, an influx of fresh faces had us sharing as many tips for new pirates as we could think of, filled with advice for every situation. Every. Situation.
The conclusion of the Golden Scallywag Awards got us in the spirit of giving, so it only made sense to join in with the frosty Twitch Drops Fest and hold two rounds of #SoTShot to hand out some more of those Golden Hour Sails. Initially we tested everyone’s ability to work together with a spot of Crew Bonding, before dispensing with the niceties and demanding you show us some cool Explosions. The Community Hub also saw a fresh round of fan creations, while on a more serious but no less exciting note, GameBlast25 opened its doors for sign-ups and saw Sea of Thieves streamers once again coming together to help raise money for SpecialEffect!
The community spirit stayed strong throughout the month, with discussions of crew mottos and GIF summaries, as well as a little healthy anchor management shaming. There were a few sad moments mid-month when we feared we’d have to say goodbye to some loyal pirates, but two days later everything seemed to resolve itself – just in time for some new Season 14-inspired Compass of Chaos shenanigans. Panic over, most of the rest of the month was spent testing the limits of the new Mimic Dart and enjoying everyone’s ingenuity. It’s been a lot of fun.
And so we arrive in February! Even though it’s the shortest month of the year, there’ll be plenty to report back the next time we convene for a round-up, so we’ll simply leave you with the usual rundown of all the places you can reach out to us to share your thoughts: Twitter/X, Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, or via the official Forums and Discord. Until then, we have February mischief to be getting on with…
Previously:
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: December 2024
