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Sea Of Thieves Beta Now Available As Rare Continues To Address Issues

The closed beta has officially begun on Xbox One and PC.

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Update 2: Sea of Thieves' beta should now be available to everyone who is meant to have access, although some new pre-orders may have to jump through an extra step to get in. The beta was offline for a period of time for maintenance but is now back online. Rare continues to work on issues that players are running into.

Update: Rare has announced it is in the process of deploying a fix for the "too early" error message that many players have encountered when trying to access the Sea of Thieves closed beta. "Good news for those currently experiencing the 'too early' error when trying to access the Closed Beta--a fix will be rolled out for you in the next few hours! We'll let you know when this goes live," the developer tweeted. We'll update this story with any further developments.

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Now Playing: Getting Drunk In Sea Of Thieves Gameplay

The original story follows.

The Sea of Thieves closed beta has officially begun. The beta is going on now for select Xbox One and PC players, but it appears many are currently having issues accessing it.

Like the Sea of Thieves technical alpha that took place back in December, the closed beta is only available to those who either joined the Sea of Thieves Insider Program prior to December 1, 2017 or pre-ordered the game. Players who fell into the latter camp received the beta automatically if they pre-ordered Sea of Thieves digitally, while those who reserved the title at retail had to redeem a code in order to install the beta. However, it appears many pre-purchasers are being met with a "too early" error message when they attempt to launch the beta.

Developer Rare has addressed the problem on Twitter and says it is currently looking into a solution, though the studio didn't offer a precise timetable for when it expects the issue to be resolved. "We're aware some players are getting a 'too early' error when attempting to launch the Sea of Thieves Closed Beta. We're currently all hands on deck investigating and will provide updates ASAP," the developer tweeted.

Sea of Thieves is an open-world, co-op adventure in which players form pirate crews and search for treasure. The closed beta is currently scheduled to run until 12 AM PT / 3 AM ET / 8 AM GMT on January 29. Rather than featuring a portion of the full game, Rare says it crafted a tailored experience for the beta "that offers a true taste of the pirate life."

Sea of Thieves launches for Xbox One and PC on March 20 and will support cross-play between the two platforms. Ahead of the game's release, Microsoft will sell a limited quantity of cool-looking Sea of Thieves Xbox One controllers, which come with a Ferryman Clothing DLC set and 14-day trials for Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass. Microsoft also announced that Sea of Thieves will be the first Xbox One-exclusive available on Game Pass the day it launches.

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ballaShotCaller

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Edited By ballaShotCaller

It's an innovative and fresh game that feels too different to some people for them to be able to grasp it. Some guy was saying he doesn't want to play it because you can't unlock high-level gear and ships and he's completely missing the point along with a lot of other people. It's a multiplayer game akin to Overwatch, PUBG, Fortnite and Destiny. You can log in for 20 minutes or a few hours at any time and get to the action. Going on a mission or completing quests are like playing a match in an online game. Then you log out. Just like Overwatch, it's pretty obvious their plan is to grow this game and pour continued support into it. Just like Overwatch, it can appeal to kids and adults and is actually something cool to get for a kid, a game about being a pirate and working with your team, learning how to maneuver on the sea. Just like Overwatch, you don't upgrade your weapons or gear and only grind for cosmetics. Also they made the graphics very variable and kids will be able to play it on bad laptops or you can enjoy it in 4K HDR so the pool of potential customers is pretty large. I don't think it will be as big as Overwatch but it could be a commercial hit, look at how Fortnite launched to how it is today. Whatever time I spent with it, I enjoyed and some moments were thrilling and this is only a beta with one type of quest to do. I'm excited to see where this game goes.

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onehitta323

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N64 graphics at best. Wheres all that x1x power at?

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TwinStripeUK

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Edited By TwinStripeUK

@onehitta323: You do realise that over half of the comments on here are from you, don't you? You're obsessed - get help...

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aross2004

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@TwinStripeUK: Please don't feed the troll, just ignore him.

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onehitta323

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@aross2004: Yes ignore the x bot troll

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WhoIsTheDrizzle

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Edited By WhoIsTheDrizzle

Played the original alpha on Xbox. And now I have played the closed beta on Xbox. Seriously the most underwhelming experience. The map is a ghost town 99% of the time. No real direction still. Graphics are on par with 2004 PC games. You can only go out and collect treasure chests so many times before you just want to quit out of pure boredom. At most, this should be a $20 title and classified under arcade. Heck, even big streamers seem to really be putting in effort to make it seem even remotely fun.

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ballaShotCaller

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Edited By ballaShotCaller

@WhoIsTheDrizzle: That's too bad, I think it's obvious that everybody's experience varies. I logged in second night of the beta and had ship battles and people going to the same islands my crew was which ensued in mayhem. Also, it's not just about looting chests in the main game and I think this game has potential to grow a lot.

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WhoIsTheDrizzle

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@ballashotcaller: The idea of the game is great. And through updates it could be great. As of right now, there’s just no way rare is holding back so much of the game that full release will blow minds. We all know there are just a few things missing from the beta and it won’t amount to anything for full release. But you are right, it does have potential. It’s iust not there right now. And may never be if MS pulls the plug after it doesn’t sell initially. In its current state, it’s not worth $60. Give this game a $20 tag and i would more than likely purchase it. It has $20 worth of fun but no where near $60

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ExoticCharm

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So many butthurt sony fanboys trying to trash a game that has over 100,000 people playing it on Twitch. LOL

It must suck for them knowing that their opinions mean nothing in the long run. I guess they think if they circle jerk each other like they have been doing on this site, then this game will magically stop being popular.

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Creepywelps

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@ExoticCharm: Destiny had over 200,000 day 1, look where that is now.

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ExoticCharm

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@creepywelps: Considering that game has sold millions of copies and is still played several months after release, then I'd say it's in a good spot. :)

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Creepywelps

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Edited By Creepywelps

@ExoticCharm: Well the playerbase is dead but that wasn't the point. I was talking about twitch viewers. Having a ton off the bat means absolutely nothing. Plenty of games have gotten popular on twitch for a short period of time then die out.

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WhoIsTheDrizzle

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Edited By WhoIsTheDrizzle

@ExoticCharm: The only reason it got such huge numbers is because before you couldn't stream the game at all. Now Rare gave the green light for this closed beta(and definitely sent big name streamers keys and probably incentive to try it) which resulted in big numbers. And honestly its not even about Sony or MS or PCMR. Its nearly every one coming to the conclusion that the game just isn't going to be good. Don't be so delusional that only Sony fans are dismissing this game. It's everyone doing it besides a small minority.

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onehitta323

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@ExoticCharm: Ummm you do realize that people are simply trying it out to see how it is. Pretty much everyone thinks that its boring and that it sucks. Only x bots want to act like its actually fun. I guess them actually getting a game released on their console makes them happy no matter how bad it is LOL.

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Creepywelps

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It was fun for a solid 3 hours until it got super repetitive. The ship battles are cool tho.

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Edited By ballaShotCaller

@creepywelps: its a beta and only has the part where you loot chests. the game will be more and it will grow. its meant to be something you log into periodically for a few minutes or hours, like any online game.

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WhoIsTheDrizzle

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@creepywelps: This is the part that gets me. I think it would have been worthwhile to have a separate game mode for ship battles. I know Battle royales are getting beaten to death right now, but imagine have 4 or 5 ships(w 4 man crews) starting with one ship and no loot and having to scavenge and eventually battle and loot opposing ships.

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deactivated-5aa080b4ab96f

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@creepywelps: That’s disappointing

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game for kids... so sad.

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LTJohnnyRico

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@bongaconga: Yeah because no-one has kids right? Everyone is an adult! .. I have been playing the Beta as has my eldest son and we both enjoy it .. its fun .. doesn't take it's self to seriously and I like the art style of it .. it may not be for everyone but give it a try you might like it!

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Todddow

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@bongaconga: Agreed. Looks like a Nintendo game.

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ballaShotCaller

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@onehitta323: looks like a Rare game.

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rodoxthedark

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Massively addictive, you need to be in a group though.

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LTJohnnyRico

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@rodoxthedark: Yeah playing in a group is much more fun! always is!

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Lytnin

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@rodoxthedark: Yep. If you try to go solo you pretty much will get about 20 yards offshore before getting killed by everybody else. So basically no single player campaign if anybody was wondering.

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ballaShotCaller

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Edited By ballaShotCaller

@Lytnin: I was testing it out and you can still play alone but a long mission alone could be tough and you have to be more careful. It does make it challenging and intense off the bat but everything your ship does like raise/turn sails and raise anchor is twice or 3 times as fast as the big ship so you can maneuver faster and get away if you see somebody heading towards you.

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alucardswrath

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This game is an absolute bore fest. (Get a tampon if my opinion offends you)

I shut it off after 30 mins of empty sailing. This is the full game itself. The only thing they took out is some weapons, monsters and very few npcs and sides quest, and these features that were taken out are not many.

And seriously what kind of special ed pirate, finds treasure and sells it to someone for lesser money.........The treasure is the bigger pay off!

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alucardswrath

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@onehitta323: That's a bit harsh. I'm just stating my opinion. I like Xbox, I like ps4 and I like pc and switch.

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deactivated-5aa080b4ab96f

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@alucardswrath: don’t bother with “onehitta323” he’s a troll that doesn’t listen to reason. He’s like the rest of the internet trolls whom are self-absorbed , narcissistic with no life other than to insult others because he hates his own life.

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ballaShotCaller

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Edited By ballaShotCaller

@alucardswrath: empty sailing? i played for 2 1/2 hours last night and sailed with 4 people, getting chests and taking down enemy ships. gets crazy a lot like when you got 3 ships arrive on the same island looking for treasure. it's a thrilling game.

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@ballashotcaller: Yeah to be fair I played with a group of friends and had loads of fun .. its silly piratey fun! and does get crazy when multiple groups turn up at the same time ... "man the cannons"!!!!

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onehitta323

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@ballashotcaller: nothing thrilling about using a bucket to get water off your beat up boat for an hour.

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ballaShotCaller

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@onehitta323: for an hour? you just hating the game with no sense. it takes you a minute or two to fix your ship if its in bad condition and you are on point.

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xNSHD

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im having an issue. how do i unlock the fun?

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onehitta323

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@xnshd: LOL pre-order cancelled.

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Edited By xNSHD

@onehitta323: yep ill be cancelling my preorder and maybe one day playing it on game pass for the achievements for free with the one month code i got with my X. thats if i can even be bothered.

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onehitta323

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@xnshd: Ya I don't blame you.

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ballaShotCaller

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@xnshd: preorder the game online

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xNSHD

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@ballashotcaller: nar sorry guys still having problems unlocking the fun in this game. must just be boring.

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ballaShotCaller

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Edited By ballaShotCaller

@xnshd: maybe you're boring, that's a strong possibility since a lot of people are having fun with it.

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xNSHD

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Edited By xNSHD

@ballashotcaller: and alot aren't since people seem to be agreeing with me. if you like it thats awesome good for you. doesn't mean other people including myself can't find a game you like boring.

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onehitta323

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@ballashotcaller: a lot of people actually think it's boring as hell.

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sladakrobot

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@xnshd: turn your xbox on

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xNSHD

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@sladakrobot: nar sorry guys still having problems unlocking the fun in this game. must just be boring.

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