Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 403 sampled Steam reviews (308 positive / 95 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- Multiplayer & servers9% mention it
- World & exploration5% mention it
- Progression & loot5% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Multiplayer & servers28% mention it
- Progression & loot19% mention it
- Bugs & crashes11% mention it
- Grind & repetition8% mention it
- Performance8% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
73%
40 reviews
5-15h
79%
92 reviews
15-40h
84%
80 reviews
40-100h
85%
80 reviews
100h+
64%
111 reviews
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (Metacritic) | – | 69 | 12 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 89% | 82 | 1571 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | 58 | 223 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 80% | 74 | 1096 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: since the last significant patch (Aug 20, 2026) · 300 reviews sampled · 1096 total reviews in window · weighted 196.8 up / 63.7 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (70)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 40
“In short, Sea of Thieves lacks for content. There's no mission variety, despite there being three different factions ostensibly hoping to achieve different goals. There's no enemy variety, outside of the variants of skeletons and sharks and, of course, other players. There are no NPC pirate ships to board, no cities or outposts to pillage, no real PVE or PVP encounters to engage with (other than a random Kraken encounter), and no rare booty to find.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Sea of Thieves is not yet the dream game. But it is the most important release of the first part of 2018, and not only for Xbox. Rare has created a wonderful world at a technical, audiovisual and gameplay level. But theor work is not yet finished, and now it's time to fill it with all the good ideas they've already shown they can deliver. ”
read full review ↗ - 60
“As it stands Sea of Thieves feels like a title that gets the ideas in place for an amazing game, yet fails to capitalize on them. There simply isn’t enough content to keep me coming back. I love Rare and I hope this builds into something amazing at some point, but for now this game is hard to recommend sinking a serious amount of time into.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“If you have a regular crew to play with and you can get the game at a discount, Sea of Thieves offers some memorable experiences. If you're flying solo or thinking about paying full price, the rough edges should be enough to make you reconsider boarding this particular boat.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Sea of Thieves is actually the best pirate game available. Unfortunately, although the stunning experience offered by the title, there is a too small amount of content in it. The missions are funny at the beginning, but become boring after a short time. The beautiful environments and the pleasure of cooperation alone can't make the title survive forever. We need more content.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“For now, it's a somewhat hollow game that can be fun for a handful of hours when played with friends, and something worth trying out if you happen to be an Xbox Game Pass subscriber. Even though it's hard to wholeheartedly recommend, I like enough of what I see to hold out hope that things will eventually improve as the game continues to be patched and updated with new content.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Sea of Thieves defies modern gaming conventions in brilliant and refreshing fashion, creating a fairly unique sandbox where you and your crew need to find your own fun. It might be in real need of more variety to the quests and activities, but Sea of Thieves’ curious charms are like a siren’s song that keep drawing me back for more piratical adventures on the high seas.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“A uniquely open-ended online adventure with some of the best co-op of any game, but at the moment there’s not nearly enough content or variety to keep it interesting for long.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Much like No Man’s Sky, Sea of Thieves has the foundation for a game that could be incredible. Unfortunately, it’s current state is more akin to something that should be a $20 Early Access title. The game is also most optimally played with friends, as randoms are typically hit or miss. Solo players probably shouldn’t even bother.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“Just be aware going into this one that after a few outings, you’ve pretty much seen what Rare’s pirate epic has to offer. Sea of Thieves is a “make your own fun” game, but its difficult not to feel like the developers could’ve made a little more fun for you. Sail, stare at the water, and live the life of a corsair, ultimately, its longevity will come down to you and your crew.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Are wonderful visuals, brilliant sailing mechanics, and fun activities like playing music and throwing up on your crewmates after drinking too much grog enough? For a few hours sure, but probably not in the long term. What’s here is extremely polished and wonderful to look at. And if the simple joys of sailing through Sea of Thieves gorgeous world clicks with you as it did me, then however long you spend visiting outposts and islands and strange wrecks, will be time well spent.”
read full review ↗ - 78
“Sea of Thieves is a very risky game. Not only does it come out after very successful multiplayer projects like Diablo, Borderlands and even Destiny, but it presents some difficulties in trying to play with other users and in some of its confusing progress mechanics. But when you are able to play it with people willing to achieve the goal missions and to be communicative, the experience changes completely for the best. ”
read full review ↗
Slant Magazine
SomosXbox
ZTGD
Worth Playing
Eurogamer
GameSpot
TheSixthAxis
Metro GameCentral
Fandom
AusGamers
Atomix…and 58 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes – 3.8.2Aug 20, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes – 3.8.1Jul 23, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes – Hotfix 3.8.0.1Jun 25, 2026
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes – 3.8.0Jun 18, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes – Hotfix 3.7.2.1May 29, 2026
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes - 3.7.2May 21, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes - 3.7.1Apr 16, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Sea of Thieves Community Direct: March 2026Mar 30, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes - 3.7.0Mar 19, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes – Hotfix 3.6.2.1Mar 12, 2026
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes - 3.6.2Mar 5, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes - 3.6.1Jan 22, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes - 3.6.0Dec 11, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes - 3.6.0Dec 11, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes - 3.5.3Nov 13, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes - 3.5.2Oct 16, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes - 3.5.1Sep 18, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Season 17: Smugglers' Tide - Update Out Now!Aug 14, 2025
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes - 3.5.0Aug 14, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes - 3.4.2Jul 17, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes - 3.4.1Jun 19, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes - 3.4.0May 22, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes – Hotfix 3.3.2.2May 12, 2025
- Sea of Thieves Enforcement Policy UpdateApr 24, 2025
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes - 3.3.2Apr 24, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes - 3.3.1Mar 27, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes – Hotfix 3.3.0.1Feb 27, 2025
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes - 3.3.0Feb 20, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Sea of Thieves Release Notes - 3.2.3Jan 23, 2025significant · resets scoring window