Sea of Thieves’ Arena PVP Mode Will Shut Down To Focus On Adventure Mode

Developer Rare is shutting down Sea of Thieves’ arena PVP mode to focus on the development of the Adventure mode and upcoming Mysteries. Rare previously teased its 2022 preview event for Sea of Thieves in a trailer Monday, hinting that this year would be the biggest ever for the pirate-themed adventure game. Considering 2021 held some huge game updates that were well received by fans, it was unclear how the developers planned to top themselves.

Last year was the beginning of Sea of Thieves’ three-month-long seasons – which kicked off with Season 1 in January 2021 – eventually culminating in its summer crossover event “A Pirate’s Life” during Season 3, which brought Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean to the game. The next two seasons brought highly popular features as well, such as the challenging Siren Shrines from Season 4 or the ability for Sea of Thieves players to bury their treasure in Season 5. The big year of updates enticed more prospective pirates than ever, with Rare celebrating 25 million players in late October with a 25 million gold giveaway. The consistency of updates and new features has given Sea of Thieves new sails, and, as was apparent during Thursday’s 2022 preview event, the developers are taking the game in brand new directions.

Announced in Rare’s Sea of Thieves 2022 Preview Event (via Tom Warren on Twitter), the development team has “made the difficult decision to close arena in Sea of Thieves,” claiming it needs to dedicate developer resources on the Adventure mode instead. Rare said it would officially shut down the dedicated PVP mode on March 10 during Season 6. The developers explained that only 2% of the player base engages in Sea of Thieves’ arena PVP mode, with many more focusing on the game’s PVE elements and Adventure mode. In a subsequent article posted on the Sea of Thieves website, Rare announced that to celebrate those players who were active in The Arena, it would be rewarding them with unreleased cosmetics from the game mode. Those who reached or passed Sea Dogs rank 5 as of January 27 will receive The Azure Scout, The Flaming Jackal, The Golden Chaser, The Lucky Rover, and The Regal Hound for use in the Adventure mode. Those who reached Sea Dog rank 50 will receive The Good Boy ship as an additional bonus.

In December 2020, Rare announced that it would stop active development on The Arena. The game’s consistent updates, however, forced the development team to keep The Arena functioning in its base state and that continuous workload ultimately led to the decision to shut down Sea of Thieves’ PVP mode. In exchange, the development team will focus attention on the Adventure mode and upcoming Mysteries. Rare will release a new Adventure once a month – each with its own story – that will utilize player participation to shape Sea of Thieves’ ongoing lore. The first Adventure – Shrouded Islands begins on February 17.

Considering only 2% of Sea of Thieves players participated in the arena PVP mode, it’s no surprise that Rare would want to focus on the more successful experiences in its game. Sea of Thieves still has PVP elements, though, which players can participate in while exploring the open seas.

Source: Sea of Thieves/YouTube, Tom Warren/Twitter

About The Author

Alden Etra
(412 Articles Published)

Alden is a freelance gaming news writer for Screen Rant. He has a love for video games and tabletop board games, and is an avid fan of all things sci-fi/fantasy.

More From Alden Etra