Sea of Thieves release date is March 20

Sea of Thieves, the next game from Rare - studio behind such classics as Banjo-Kazooie, Conker's Bad Fur Day, and GoldenEye 007 - will set sail for Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs on March 20. Oh, sorry. I meant MARRRRRRch 20. The release date was announced during The Game Awards 2017 with a trailer that speaks to everyone's inner pirate:

And you know what a release date means: that's right, the reveal of pre-order bonuses. In Sea of Thieves' case, pre-ordering will get you access to the closed beta, as well as the Black Dog Pack. There's no word on when the closed beta will begin, but we can at least shed some light on the Black Dog extras. Put your money down early and you'll get a set of clothing items dyed deep black with turquoise accents, as well as musical instruments and a cutlass to match.

If you're just getting caught up to speed, yes, Sea of Thieves could be summed up as "a pirate game". But it's not just about the cool ship battles and swordfighting you see in the movies - Sea of Thieves is a multiplayer, shared world game where you and a small crew of mateys will set sail in search of treasure and adventure, coming across mythical creatures and other players as you do. You can team up with your fellow roustabouts or send them to Davey Jones' locker, bury gold on uncharted isles, even sing a shanty or three.

Sound a bit similar to Ubisoft's upcoming Skull and Bones, another pirate game? Check out our breakdown of the similarities and differences to see hi-diddly-dee, which pirate's life makes sense for thee.