Sea of Thieves attracted a record number of monthly players in July 2021, according to its developer Rare.
TheMicrosoft-owned studioclaimedon Tuesday that 4.8 million people played the nautical adventure game last month, the most since its release almost two-and-a-half-years ago.
The game’s record player numbers were driven by the launch ofa Pirates of the Caribbean crossoverwhich arrived alongside Season 3 on June 22.
TitledSea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life, the free expansion sees Disney character Jack Sparrow appearing in an original story set across five tales.
In the wake of record numbers of pirates taking to the seas, Creative Director@ChappersChapmanoffers a heartfelt thank you on behalf of the team for our community’s response to Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life. Cheers!https://t.co/XKPjJZy7kYpic.twitter.com/NZhtKFC2hf
Microsoft said in July 2020 that Sea of Thieves had beenplayed by over 15 million people since launch, cementing the game’s place as “the most successful new IP fromXboxthis generation”.
At the time it said June 2020 was Sea of Thieves’ biggest month to date, with the game reaching over 3.3 million players.
The pirate-themed co-op multiplayer game released forXbox OneandPCin March 2018, when it became the first exclusive title from Microsoft to launch on Xbox Game Pass day-and-date with its retail release.
It has since beenoptimised for Xbox Series X/S. In addition to improved loading times, it runs at 4K and 60fps onXbox Series X, and at 1080p and 60fps on Xbox Series S.
A newseasonal progression systemwas added to the game in January 2021.
