Sea of Thieves will introduce PvP-free servers, 24-player guilds and competitive treasure hunts in Season 10

22.09.2023 - 18:01 / rockpapershotgun.com / Will

Sea of Thieves is lining things up for the launch of its 10th season next month, with a multi-month rollout of new features including guilds, a new world event type and a way to play without being attacked by other players.

Rare announced the incoming features ahead of Season 10’s launch on October 19th, adding that the biggest updates would be added over the course of several months - but with everything arriving in the game before the end of 2023.

First for the game will be new player guilds, which can be formed from groups of up to 24 players and are said to be a more meaningful way to party up than temporary ship crews. Each guild will be able to choose their own name and design a custom banner, with any player who has reached the level of Captain being able to start a guild.

Being part of a guild will allow other members to sail the pledged ships of other players while they’re offline, advancing those ships’ Captaincy achievements and contributing to a shared guild reputation track to help unlock a bunch of new rewards for the group across multiple Distinctions made up of 100 levels.

In November, Sea of Thieves will debut a new world event in the form of Skull of Siren Song, a competitive treasure hunt that can be pursued by every crew on a server, who will be invited at the same time.

The competitive voyage is effectively a treasure hunt to find and deliver the titular artefact first by picking up its chest and a key, before transporting the skull to an outpost. As a cursed skull, the treasure will slow down the boat that has it on board, opening up the chance for other players to come along and nick it.

For those who prefer to not see their efforts sunk to the bottom of the ocean, Season 10’s final big update will finally introduce the option to play without PvP from December. These private servers - known in-game as Safer Seas, as opposed to what will be dubbed as High Seas for the original experience - will allow up to four players to sail around without threat of being blasted by random strangers.

Avoiding PvP comes with the price of lower rewards in terms of gold and reputation (though renown will accrue at the same rate), as well as being unable to use features such as guilds or participate in bonus events such as Gold & Glory. On top of that, you’ll only be able to get to level 40 with trading companies, with no progression possible with Athena's Fortune or Reaper's Bones.

For reasons that Rare hasn’t made clear, Captains also won’t be able to show off any of their ship quarters’ custom decor, either, with the interior of vessels restricted to their standard appearance.

The big additions to Sea of Thieves in Season 10 will be preceded by the third and final chapter in