Watch Phil Spencer Play Sea of Thieves

Sea of Thieves

I’ll never forgive Disney for cancelling the release of their open-world RPG Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned, despite the fact that development on the game was pretty much complete. Because let’s face it, there just aren’t enough pirates in video games these days. I mean sure, we have Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, the mediocre Risen series and a few other scattered titles, but not really much else. And don’t you dare mention Raven’s Cry. Just don’t.

Anyway, the void caused by the lack of decent pirate video games will hopefully be filled when Sea of Thieves arrives later this year. Xbox head Phil Spencer recently sat down with some of the Rare development team to record a nine-minute gameplay video, which showcases everything from swashbuckling skeleton warriors to large-scale naval battles.

Played from a first-person perspective, Sea of Thieves will mix elements of history and fantasy across its multiplayer open world, with activities including plundering, treasure hunting and character progression. Frequent Rare composer Robin Beanland will be handling the score.

Directed by Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts designer Gregg Mayles, Sea of Thieves will be the first big non-sports game that Rare has developed in some time, and could even signal the start of a new franchise. We’ll have to wait until Microsoft Studios publishes the game on Xbox One later this year to see how well it does. If you can’t wait until then, there are plenty of other videos on the Sea of Thieves YouTube channel.

Some of the coverage you find on Cultured Vultures contains affiliate links, which provide us with small commissions based on purchases made from visiting our site. We cover gaming news, movie reviews, wrestling and much more.