Rare and Microsoft have announced that ‘The Hungering Deep,’ the first major expansion for Rare’s open-world pirate game Sea of Thieves, will be arriving in just a few short weeks.
According to a new Twitter announcement from the official Xbox Twitter account, The Hungering Deep will launch on May 29:
A new adventure awaits.
The Hungering Deep comes to Sea of Thieves on May 29. https://t.co/aKhb6UaLNn pic.twitter.com/AVmQybNnsf— Xbox (@Xbox) May 17, 2018
The teaser trailer that accompanied the Twitter announcement doesn’t reveal exactly how The Hungering Deep will alter the Sea of Thieves world, but it gives some pretty strong hints. As its title suggests, The Hungering Deep will focus on the ancient monsters that inhabit Sea of Thieves’ ocean, and how in times long since past there were people who could actually summon such beasts or at least keep them satiated with blood sacrifices, allowing ships to pass by undisturbed.
Currently, Sea of Thieves players can encounter one iconic sea monster during their travels, the mighty Kraken, but the Hungering Deep teaser trailer hints at more behemoths to come, behemoths that could include a giant shark (perhaps a Megaladon?). It’s also not clear whether only NPC’s will be able to summon these beasts or if players will be able to unlock such abilities as well. If such an ability was available to players, it would likely have to be earned via a very long and difficult series of tasks, perhaps giving those dedicated few who have become Pirate Legends a new long-term goal to pursue.
The Hungering Deep is just the first of six major content expansions Rare has planned for Sea of Thieves, all of which will be free. After The Hungering Deep, two more expansions titled ‘Cursed Sails’ and ‘Forsaken Shores’ will be released throughout the summer 2018 season, and Rare also has an additional three as-yet-revealed expansions planned for the fall and winter seasons. In-between major expansions, Sea of Thieves will also receive smaller content updates and seasonal events to keep players engaged, though there might still be some growing pains that need to be sorted out in the meantime.