Sea of Thieves’ next update brings in anti-cheat, solo-play Safer Seas changes, and plenty more

Rare might have only just recently put out a big update for Sea of Thieves, but there’s another one on the way that adds some important improvements.

One of the most consistent problems across all online multiplayer games is cheating. It’s a pain, no one likes it except for the cheaters themselves, and it just makes for a worse experience – so Rare is introducing anti-cheat into Sea of Thieves to help curtail issues with cheaters. In a recent Sea of Thieves news video, Rare shared that it would be adding in Epic’s kernel-level Easy Anti-Cheat solution, which is also used in games like Apex Legends and Fortnite, and it plans to add this next week, Thursday, March 14. Hopefully you’ll soon be able to get up to regular pirate behaviour from now on, like killing an opposing player in a fair-and-square duel.

There’s also some great news for those of you that play by yourself. Alongside the update that is introducing anti-cheat, solo Xbox players will be able to jump into the game’s Safer Seas mode without a Game Pass Core or Game Pass Ultimate subscription. For those that haven’t heard of the Safe Seas mode, it’s essentially a private server that you can play with just your friends, meaning you won’t run into other players online. It was a great addition that arrived last year for those that just want a quieter pirate experience.

If you do play with friends (or for some reason, enemies), you will still need a Game Pass subscription of some kind, even on Safe Seas. Thankfully, those of you that plan to try out the game when it arrives on PS5 April 30, also won’t need a PlayStation Plus subscription if you’re planning to play solo on Safer Seas.

The full video also went into a bunch of new arrivals like cosmetics and emotes, so check it out if you want to see what you might be able to pick up next week. It also teased the game’s anniversary celebrations, as on March 20 the game will be six years old – so there’s plenty to look forward to.