Watch the premiere of Sea of Thieves gameplay

Rare's Sea of Thieves was finally on display at Microsoft's E3 presser. A new montage showed shark, ship battles, mer-people, skeletons with swords, hidden treasure—every sort of pirate-y thing you could think up. It's definitely setting out to fulfill a specific fantasy. 

Next up was a short gameplay montage starring a few streamers, embedded above. The crew teamed up on a ship and proceeded to quickly get drunk on grog before piloting a ship through dangerous rock formations and engaging in a chaotic flanking ship battle on the open sea. 

One player piloted the ship, others manned cannons, some called out enemy positions—it seems like a pretty cool way to hang out with friends. 

During the battle, water filled the bottom of the boat, and one player attempted to patch the holes, alas, to no avail. Piloting one of those suckers quite literally requires all hands on deck. The montage capped off with one ship spearing another, cutting off before the catastrophic conclusion. 

It's hard to say exactly what Sea of Thieves lets you do beyond piloting ships. I'm sure there's buried treasure to discover, but how exactly that comes about, and what kind of play that entails is still buried treasure itself. 

James Davenport

James is stuck in an endless loop, playing the Dark Souls games on repeat until Elden Ring and Silksong set him free. He's a truffle pig for indie horror and weird FPS games too, seeking out games that actively hurt to play. Otherwise he's wandering Austin, identifying mushrooms and doodling grackles. 

Latest in Action
Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer still - woman in the front seat of a car, looking out the back window while holding a wad of cash
The specter of a GTA 6 delay haunts the games industry: 'Some companies are going to tank' if they guess wrong, says analyst
Western outlaws with masks and guns
'Players don't explore': former Grand Theft Auto 6 and Red Dead Online designer lays out the perils of 'open world fatigue'
Monster Hunter Wilds palico
Monster Hunter Wilds' first free update will feature 'a whole host of new additions' and a majestic water wyvern for players to blow sky high
Ichiban Kasuga goes divekicking in the Dave The Diver crossover DLC
Ichiban Kasuga makes like a dragonfish and joins Dave the Diver’s latest DLC on April 10th for some fisticuffs and a few rounds of karaoke
Assassin's Creed Shadows Tea Ceremony answers - Naoe about to sip tea from a bowl.
All Assassin's Creed Shadows Tea Ceremony answers
Assassin's Creed Shadows guided exploration - A close-up shot of Naoe with a contemplative expression, inside a dim building.
Assassin's Creed Shadows guided exploration explained
Latest in News
Team Fortress Spy being shocked
An FPS studio pulled its game from Steam after it got caught linking to malware disguised as a demo, but the dev insists it was actually the victim of a labyrinthine conspiracy
Neighbors Suburban Warfare screenshot a child aims a slingshot at a man from across a cul-de-sac.
A beta of backyard FPS Neighbors: Suburban Warfare is out now, and the balance discussion is hysterical: nerf trash can lids and children
Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer still - woman in the front seat of a car, looking out the back window while holding a wad of cash
The specter of a GTA 6 delay haunts the games industry: 'Some companies are going to tank' if they guess wrong, says analyst
Screenshot from Wreckfest 2
Wreckfest 2 has hit early access for your car-obliterating combat racing enjoyment
Alma, the handler from Monster Hunter Wilds, closes her eyes and looks a little disappointed.
Monster Hunter director joined an online hunt, carted first: 'I feel bad about that'
Image for
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide’s getting a new roguelite wave defense mode that sounds a whole lot like a souped-up take on Killing Floor