Sea of Thieves Update Notes Released, Pre-Order Item Issues Fixed

The notes for Sea of Thieves' first big update have been released, an update that's nearly 20GB depending on the platform.

Rare's first big set of changes for the Microsoft exclusive is a full game update, not just a patch, the notes for the update said. The update focuses mainly on bugfixes and various performance improvements as opposed to gameplay and balance changes, and one of the best changes that's included is the fixing of pre-order items not being distributed properly. Following the download of the update, players who already redeemed their Black Dog Pack pre-order bonus will see the promised items in the in-game chests.

The download size of the update differs depending on the platform. Xbox One players will have to make room for a 9.99GB download while the enhanced Xbox One X version is 18.97GB. PC players will have the largest update at 19.53GB.

Sea of Thieves' official update notes can be seen below including a confirmation from Rare that death cost penalty is being removed from future plans.

Fixed Issues

• Players who have redeemed their Black Dog Pack pre-order code will now correctly see these items in their in-game chests. Not received your code? Check your Xbox Live messages over the next couple of days.
• Characters should no longer lose details such as hair colour and scars.
• When digging up a chest, there is no longer a chance that it will be impossible to pick up.
• Players should no longer intermittently be missing items and weapons when loading into the game.
• Weapon, clothing and ship cosmetic changes made after migrating server will now persist across sessions.
• Players will now correctly see other players titles.
• Snakes will now behave correctly, turning to face the player when agitated.
• Animal and skeleton movement around slopes has been improved.
• The game will no longer enter an unresponsive state after accepting a game invitation whilst matchmaking.
• Merchant Alliance notifications for handing in various items have been corrected.
• Lighting has been tweaked in order to improve performance on multiple islands and outposts.
• Fixed tinnitus sound which persists after being killed by multiple explosive barrels.
• Seagulls now fly over floating barrels.
• Players can no longer be held by a seemingly invisible Kraken tentacle.
• Fixed a range of potential game crashes.

Performance Improvements

• Significant performance optimisations across all platforms, specifically targeting the 4K native resolution of Xbox One X.
• Drastically reduced the likelihood of tearing when using the small ship.
• Reduced the likelihood of tearing when inside the Taverns.
• Sizeable framerate improvements when traversing large islands.
• Reduced likelihood of framerate hitches when navigating outposts.
• Optimised Foliage for smoother experience in overgrown jungle areas.
• Further improvements and optimisations for all platforms are ongoing.

Known Issues

• Player gold and reputation can be delayed when cashing in a reward.
• Player achievements can be delayed.
• For an update on both of these issues, please read our Launch Update written by Executive Producer, Joe Neate.
• Bounty quest skeletons sometimes do not spawn or cannot be found.
• If you encounter this bug, a potential work around is to sail away from the island until it's out of range, and then sail back in to trigger the Island Name banners.
• Joining a player whose ship is parked at an active skeleton fort will prevent the joining player's radial menus being opened.
• Rare Lore Items throughout the world will read in English, regardless of current language settings.
• "Hunter of Cursed Crews", Commendation is not updating.
• Players may become comically smaller after fighting the Kraken.

Coming Updates

• Death Cost – Thank you all for your feedback on our previously discussed Coming Update, Death Cost. Due to your passionate comments, we have decided not to move forward with this feature. Thanks for the honest feedback & discussion on this