Sea of Thieves will get a few of that Future 2 drip as Sony and Microsoft play pleased households

Uncommon’s Sea of Thieves, the stay service pirate-em-up and one in every of Microsoft’s nice Sport Move stalwarts, has introduced a brand new collaboration with Bungie’s Future 2. This have to be a humorous feeling for Bungie, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2000 and made its title with the Xbox-exclusive Halo video games, earlier than going unbiased in 2007, and at last being acquired by Sony in 2022.

The Lightbearer cosmetics set brings varied Future-themed objects to the open seas, together with new ship flags, liveries, costumes just like the Drifter’s outfit, gun skins, and even the choice to have one in every of Future’s ghosts (the chatty little hoverbot issues) hanging off the bow. Every part could be picked up through the in-game Pirate Emporium.

Sea of Thieves launched in 2018 on Xbox and PC, and at last made the soar to PlayStation in April final yr. That is a part of a wider strategic shift by Microsoft, which has mentioned it plans to launch sure first social gathering video games on PlayStation, reminiscent of Indiana Jones and the Nice Circle (albeit with an exclusivity window). Sony is not fairly prepared to reply in-kind with PlayStation exclusives on Xbox, although it does now launch nearly all of its first social gathering titles on PC.

“Though it may not seem to be an apparent selection, Future’s lessons and co-operative play introduced a ‘crew-like’ bond that we thought was a terrific match,” mentioned Uncommon’s Adam Park, “together with some putting iconography, vivid artwork fashion and a way of being legendary in tone and scope.”

Microsoft’s official announcement says this has been within the works since 2023. “From the earliest idea sketches to finalising designs that honoured each universes, each step challenged us to assume otherwise,” mentioned Uncommon’s Andria Warren. “We explored how iconic Future parts could possibly be reimagined by means of a Sea of Thieves lens, translating tone, visible language, and character into one thing that felt recent however unmistakably devoted. The result’s one thing we’re really happy with!”

Sea of Thieves is at present within the midst of season 15, however the final time I performed it was basically the identical recreation it is all the time been: Larks on the excessive seas, and an exquisite technique to blow up all your pals. Future 2 in the meantime has been a rollercoaster ever since launch, with a chat on the latest GDC delving into how Bungie pulled the sport out of the doldrums in late 2022.