Sea Of Thieves Beta Takes Place This Month, Here's How To Get In

Microsoft's anticipated pirate game, Sea of Thieves, is set to launch for Xbox One and PC this spring, but some players will have a chance to go hands-on with the title much sooner. Following a technical alpha in December, developer Rare has announced the dates for its Sea of Thieves closed beta, which is scheduled to take place later this month.

The closed beta begins at 4 AM PT / 7 AM ET / 12 PM GMT on January 24 and runs until 12 AM PT / 3 AM ET / 8 AM GMT on January 29. Players who either joined the Sea of Thieves Insider Program prior to December 1, 2017 or have pre-ordered the title will be able to access the beta. Rare says the beta isn't a sample of the full game but a tailored experience "that offers a true taste of the pirate life."

If you pre-ordered Sea of Thieves digitally from the Xbox Store, the beta will automatically appear in your game library 24 hours before it begins. If you reserved the game at retail, you'll first need to redeem the code you received for the Black Dog cosmetic pack. Once you've done that, the beta will then likewise appear in your library the day before it starts. In both cases, you'll still need to download and install the beta before you can participate.

Sea of Thieves is an open-world, co-op adventure in which players can form pirate crews and plunder treasure, with the object being to become a "Pirate Legend" by increasing your reputation with each of the game's trading companies. Rare recently shared more details on how progression works in Sea of Thieves.

Sea of Thieves releases for Xbox One and PC on March 20. The game will support cross-play between the two platforms. Ahead of its launch, Microsoft is also releasing a cool limited-edition Sea of Thieves Xbox One controller. The controller will be available starting February 6 and comes with a Ferryman Clothing DLC set, as well as 14-day trials for Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass. Dark Horse is also publishing a beautiful Sea of Thieves art book this year, while a Sea of Thieves graphic novel series from Titan Comics is set to debut in March.