Rare has announced that they will be shutting down the PvP Arena in Sea of Thieves.
Revealed in Sea of Thieves 2022 preview event, The Arena is officially over because it’s simply not a mode played by most players. Rare to say it’s a tough decision, but one that’s right for the future of open-world pirate gaming.
“Firstly, this was an extremely difficult decision, but we firmly believe it was the right decision to allow us to focus on our plans for a Centralized Free Roaming Adventure mode, ” Rare written in a blog post. “Despite the efforts of an incredibly talented team, The Arena regrettably never achieved the goal we originally set out for – in creating a true alternative to playing Sea of War. Thieves with a competitive spin or a short session experience if you don’t have time to commit to an Open End Adventure session. ”
The Arena will officially close at the start of Season Six, which is scheduled to begin on March 10, 2022. Those who have played in the Arena before and have passed or passed 5th class sea dog Will receive the following cosmetic shipping:
- Azure Scouts
- Fiery wild dog
- The Golden Chaser
- Lucky Rover
- Regal Hound
Anyone who has achieved Sea dog ranked 50 Will receive The Good Boy ships cosmetics also. The point cap for these rewards has passed, so if you haven’t reached either of these ranks, you won’t receive the associated rewards.
Rare says that only 2 percent of player time is spent in The Arena on a consistent basis, and since the mode’s inception, that hasn’t really changed. The studio also says it can understand criticism that it hasn’t invested enough in The Arena to make it a worthwhile mode, but Rare says The Arena has never become popular enough as a mode. degree in Sea of Thieves for them to focus their creative efforts on that, so it didn’t.
“While we’re incredibly proud of where the game is now and the decisions we’ve made since its launch back in 2018, we look back on The Arena with mixed pride and regret. We regret that we didn’t reach a wider audience. has allowed us to continue to build on its foundation. We’ve learned a lot from the launch and growth of The Arena, but one thing that really stands out is that launching a competitive mode is a much larger investment and requires focus. The creation is much bigger than we realize.
While it shares a lot of the same mechanics as Adventure, it’s an entirely different experience, and one that will require a lot of shared wisdom and development to get along with it – and due to disparities. in terms of audience size, that becomes unjustifiable. ”
Development on Sea of Thieves’ Arena actually paused in December 2020, something Rare announced at the time. However, in updating Adventure mechanics and adding quality of life improvements, the team had to bring those to Arena mode as well, which represents an undue amount of work.
“As a result, The Arena has required significant development work just to keep it running at ground level and will continue to represent a significant amount of ongoing work for us – that ultimately. is what led us to the decision we shared with you today.
We understand this will be a huge disappointment to our small but dedicated community of Arena-focused players. We want to thank everyone who has played and supported The Arena, from beginners to those who have run competitive and community-building events, such as the Notorious Arena League and Sea. of Champions. It is truly amazing to see the skill levels of some of the players popping up across The Arena, and how this has played out in the spirit that we want to see: fairness and mutual respect at all times. Put on top. You guys are an amazing and creative community and we’d love to work with you to move forward in a world without The Arena. ”
For more on Sea of Thieves, check out our thoughts on it in Game informant Sea of Thieves Review and then read about why it turns on Game informant list of top 10 co-op games to play right now. Then read about The A Pirate’s Life expansion brings Jack Sparrow, Davy Jones, etc. into the Sea of Thieves.
Are you a fan of The Arena in Sea of Thieves? Let us know in the comments below!
