The Sea of Thieves beta returns this weekend for server 'scale testing'

The Sea of Thieves closed beta left a lot of players hankering for more open world pirate adventures, so it will come as good news that the beta is making a return this weekend in the form of a server "scale test." Developer Rare is hoping to cram lots of players into their game "to test a lot of the work we’ve done since the Closed Beta, and to try and hit a higher concurrent players number than we’ve ever seen before."

If you were part of the closed beta, the announcement post reads, you'll be able to participate. "As a result of the Closed Beta, we are planning on running a couple of Scale Tests between now and launch, with the first of these beginning on Friday, February 16th at 10am GMT (2am PST) and ending on Sunday, February 18th at 10am GMT (2am PST)."

So, that's good news for those who want a bit more of the pirate life before launch. Keep in mind, though, that this scale test may not be smooth sailing. An email sent to PC Gamer reads:

"While you’re welcome to partake in the tests, this added scale is expected to bring to light issues that Rare can learn from and address, and is not reflective of the final game. Issues may include sessions getting interrupted, inability to join the game at certain times during the weekend, and hiccups when using shops in-game."

For anyone hoping to glimpse the Kraken, you can put down your spyglass. As far as the test goes, we're told that it "will purposefully be similar to the Closed Beta, restricted to the Gold Hoarders trading company and accompanying Voyages", though there will be another proper beta coming before the full launch planned for March.

Christopher Livingston
Senior Editor

Chris started playing PC games in the 1980s, started writing about them in the early 2000s, and (finally) started getting paid to write about them in the late 2000s. Following a few years as a regular freelancer, PC Gamer hired him in 2014, probably so he'd stop emailing them asking for more work. Chris has a love-hate relationship with survival games and an unhealthy fascination with the inner lives of NPCs. He's also a fan of offbeat simulation games, mods, and ignoring storylines in RPGs so he can make up his own.