We speak to several of the developers at Rare about their upcoming gameSea of Thieves, and learn that the multiplayer will be similar toDestiny’s – but ‘more impactful’.
There’s no question about the impactSea of Thieveshas had on critics and gamers alike following its first hands-on availability. Indeed, the game looks to be a perfect blend of pirates and shenanigans, but many are still unsure of how the game itself will actually play out.SoT’s multiplayerin particular is a sticking point for gamers that aren’t quite sure how encountering others in the world will function, but we had the opportunity to sit down and chat with some Rare staff about how this will play out in the final game.
Clarifying that this wasn’t an MMO, the executive producer onSea of Thieves, Joe Neate, went into detail about the vision that the studio currently has for the project. Game Rant posed the question of whether or not it would function in a similar manner toDestiny, a game that renders areas with a handful of others within it. Neate stated that it would be comparable, but stressed that these player encounters would be “more impactful” than the ones featured withinDestiny.
Craig Duncan, studio head at Rare, clarified that this isn’t to say that the player encounters in Bungie’s immensely successful first-person shooter game aren’t impactful, but rather that there is a greater risk when confronted with another user inSea of Thieves. This is simply because of the premise of the game itself and the unpredictability of human nature, coupled with the rewards that can come from sinking an opposing ship, create a melting pot of happenstance. That said, the developers did state that there will be incentives in place for those that want to work together.
Missions will be present in the game that allow users to team up. Battling a kraken, for example, would be just such a scenario that one crew would struggle to complete alone. In these moments, it may be better to work with other player-controlled pirates in the immediate vicinity in order for all of those involved to benefit. In that light, it sounds like there will be a great deal of strategy playing out with each encounter as well.
Sea of Thievesmanaged to secure a nod from us as one of theten best games of E3 2016, and there’s very good reason for that. Adding in claims from Duncan and Neate, it’s easy to see how much potential the final game will actually have when it finally reaches the hands of anxious gamers atsome point next year.
Sea of Thievesis set to arrive on Windows PC and Xbox One in 2017.
