Xbox One and PC-Exclusive Sea of Thieves Won't Have Free-to-Play Model

At Microsoft's E3 2016 press conference, we finally got a glimpse of gameplay from developer Rare's Sea of Thieves, an open-world multiplayer game in which you and friends crew a pirate ship. But as it seems to focus on multiplayer, there were questions about what its business model would be. Now, Rare has clarified that it will not be free-to-play.

In an interview with Eurogamer, Sea of Thieves design director Gregg Mayles said that players would have to pay up front for the game. "One thing I can tell you is it's not free-to-play," Mayles stated. "We didn't say anything last year and then some people made stuff up, y'know, 'it looks free-to-play!' But we can clear that up--we will not be free-to-play."

But it also doesn't seem like Rare came to this decision easily, and Rare's determined to support the game after launch. "We've done a lot of thinking around the business model," he explained. "Right from the start, we didn't want to be this single shot release where we launch the game and say 'thank you very much.' If we're still adding things to this game in five years I'll be very happy."

Microsoft has not announced a release date for the Xbox One and Windows 10 exclusive. But we do know that the game will not be an MMO. Rare has also stated that this game is the best game that the studio has ever made.

Check out GameSpot's E3 hub for more news and announcements from E3 2016.