This ocean ain’t big enough for the six of us
Online games require constant improvement, balancing and tweaking. This is especially true for live games, like Sea of Thieves. Recently the game was updated to allow more ships on a given server, but after player feedback Rare decided to call it back.
The change made earlier this month allowed a maximum of six different ships and sixteen players per server. While you might think more ships might be more exciting, the outcome left a lot to be desired. After some quick math, having six ships and sixteen players on a server meant that each ship would have an average of 2.6 crew members.
Not only is this impractical from a gameplay standpoint, but it spoiled gameplay performance. Sure, PC and Xbox Series X|S might be able to handle more ships, but Sea of Thieves needs to be functional on Xbox One as well.
After feedback overnight, we reduced the number of ships per server from six to five, while maintaining the 16 player cap. This allows for a greater variety of ship sizes per server, and our matchmaking system will work to provide this while we monitor the impact on game performance.
– Sea of Thieves Information and Support (@SoT_Support) January 21, 2022
To smooth things out, Rare reduced the number of ships on a server from six to five. However, up to sixteen players can still join a server. This changes the average number of crew members per ship and the different types of ships they can pilot.
Four years after its launch, Sea of Thieves still enjoys a respectable number of players. You can bet Rare will continue to add more content and support the game like they have. Sea of Thieves is available on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
What kind of changes would you like to make to SEA in this game? Let us know in the comments below.
