Sea of Thieves 2023 Edition Reviews

The toxic community makes it genuinely unplayable unless you want random dudes to threaten sexual assault because you sailed vaguely in their direction, and then for to stalk you off game which, neither of which the devs will do nothing about cause text chat is censored but voice chat is a free for all.

Great game that's especially fun with friends but it's full of hackers and cheaters. I saw countless times that ships appeared out of nowhere when we were sure there was no one around that area. Not to mention ALWAYS hitting and never missing cannonball shots. If only they had anticheat in their game. :( Hackers make the game unplayable because you always freak out about when the next hacker will hunt you down. Playing alone is still fun but harder to get big treasures all by your own. I just hope they'll implement an anti-cheat to their game.

definitely not a solo game, you need 2-3 players on the same ship to make it enjoyable... i like it but i dont love it

I'd really only recommend this game if you have a friend (or few) to play with. It's a steep price to try out and see if you'd like so I'd also recommend it be on sale for getting others to join. SoT wants you to play on their public server mode ("High Seas") and locks MANY cosmetics and gameplay modes out if you don't. The game also encourages players to loot and murder other players- which makes for an UNpleasant experience. Especially when high level players will camp outposts that you HAVE to go to and being a bit TOO true to the pirating part. (Especially when this game drops many hints at the in universe pirate life being friendlier than history). "Safer Seas" allows you to play with just friends or a small group which I'd certainly recommend for new players and a set of 3-4 or smaller. That said, SoT is fun! I've had a lot of laughs and notable moments with my friends that make for great stories. Sometimes it's a biiit motion sick inducing, but the scenery, monsters, and multiple stories / quests make each voyage feel a little different from the last.

Game is amazing, but the playerbase is one of the worst things u will experience in ur life. Imagine being in a kindergarten with mentally sick people and spoiled little children, by buying this game ur throwing urself in a limbo of toxic kids and oldheads + not to mention its full of hackers

alot of aim bots and cheaters but such is gaming these days, over all the game is fun just ignore the neck beards who cant play without help

This imbalance often turns battles into one-sided fights, where we have little to no chance of defending ourselves or winning. These kinds of encounters are frustrating and discourage new or average players from engaging in PvP at all

Sea of Thieves holds a special place in my heart. I've played since release, with about 1600 hours across the Xbox and Steam versions of the game. Both the game itself and the community have changed quite a bit since release (in some positive and negative ways). I haven't played as much in recent years, mostly due some negative experiences I had in the game that burnt me out, but I came back from my hiatus today and had a really fun time seeing all the new features added since the last time I sailed back in 2024. I'll never forget the feeling I had when I sailed across the Sea of Thieves for the very first time in 2018. I was in awe of the immersive world, how good the waves looked, the art style, and most overwhelmingly the sense of danger and adventure that we had being out on the open ocean. Every play session was a great mix of exploration, treasure hunting, PvP, and general silliness with our group of friends aboard our ship. We looted, we pillaged, and we lost it all (frequently). Plus, we met some cool people from all over the world through PvP or general gameplay, and I really enjoyed that aspect of the game. I feel lucky to have experienced the early days of SoT. Feature-wise, Rare has added A LOT of cool gameplay systems over the years. At its heart SoT is a pirate game, but I like that you can choose every session what you'd like to do. Want to build your money up for some fancy new threads? Go treasure hunting or pick up a voyage to kill some legendary skeleton captains. Want to learn more about the story? Do Tall Tales. Want to engage in epic cannon-fire with other crews on the open sea? Throw up a good ol' fashioned Reaper flag and go on a search and destroy mission to steal some loot. It's up to you and your friends. There's achievements/commendations to acquire, reputation levels to grind, and plenty of world events to keep you entertained for hours. There's a bit of a learning curve with the sailing mechanics, and at times the combat system struggles with desync issues that can be pretty frustrating for players who have less than ideal internet connections or slower PCs. I know that Rare's work on this issue is ongoing, and I do feel that they're dedicated to making improvements with each new update. I think my biggest qualm with the game has been how the community has devolved over the years. I'll state again that I really enjoy the PvP in this game, and desync issues aside, find it fairly balanced (especially in recent updates). I have sunk a lot of ships. I've also been sunk...a lot. Some of my greatest memories on the game have been PvP encounters. You'll always have players who exploit, behave in toxic ways, or cheat - that's the unfortunate nature of PvP-centered games. But I saw a shift in the culture of the game around the pandemic (and the elimination of the arena mode) that continued to progress in really negative ways in more recent years. I think this is an issue impacting the gaming community at large; it's not just a Sea of Thieves problem. I can't tell you the amount of times my crew and I have had homophobic, misogynistic, or racist rhetoric yelled at us through proximity chat over the years. You can go to any SoT forum and it'll be filled with people posting about their negative experiences with other players on the game, and it'll usually always have people in the comments trying to invalidate their experiences, which I think only adds to my point. Sinking ships is OKAY! Stealing their loot is OKAY! Camping people, bullying them in voice chat, and griefing them till they're forced to log is NOT. I'll say that if you're a new player and you're unsure whether or not you want to deal with these issues, you should take steps to protect yourself like practicing on Safer Seas to get a good handle on how the game functions, learning how to scuttle your ship to prevent being endlessly camped/griefed (especially as a solo), and remembering that you can turn off voice chat or server hop at any time. For any seasoned players reading this: check yourself. If your first reaction is to scoff or say "get good/this isn't sea of friends/oh no pvp in a pvp game!" then you're missing the point and might be part of the problem. The health of the game relies on people playing it and enjoying it. You're not doing SoT any favors by making it a terrible place to be. TL;DR: In 2025, this game is great for new and returning players alike - as long as you don't mind potential desync issues and/or exposure to the toxic side of its community. Rare has been dedicated to providing an evolving and engaging gameplay experience, so if you like a good balance of PvE & PvP content, the Sea of Thieves is calling!

Its Really fun concept but I think its quite boring if you dont have friends to play with

I’ve been playing since launch and got Pirate Legend, but the PvP in this game is a joke. It’s mostly toxic groups ganking solo players nonstop, stealing everything, and making the game frustrating. Combat is clunky. What’s really dumb is how the game locks most progression and rewards behind High Seas PvP, but everything you earn is cosmetic. So basically, if you want to enjoy the full game without getting your loot stolen every five minutes, tough luck. You either deal with griefers or get a half-baked PvE experience with caps and limits. And the PvP crowd? Even when you make good points about wanting a fair PvE experience, they just ignore you or insult you. They refuse to have a real conversation and just call you a “casual” or “whiner” instead of listening. They don’t want or care to understand that some of us just want to enjoy the game without harassment. Which brings me back to how everything you earn is cosmetic, it’s idiotic gatekeeping just so they can continue to troll and treat everyone else who doesn’t share their view like dirt. More people would probably join and stick around if the PvE experience was actually supported and rewarding. Plenty of players want to enjoy the world, stories, and co-op without the stress of PvP, but right now it feels like those players are punished or ignored. Rare needs to stop locking stuff behind PvP griefing and support players who want to enjoy the game their way. Until then, this game feels like a toxic mess for anyone who just wants to chill and have fun.