Sea of Thieves season 10 is so big it's delayed 2 months and taking season 11's defining feature

Sea of Thieves developer Rare has announced that season 10 has been delayed to October 19 - roughly two months later than originally planned.

In a video update, Sea of Thieves creative director Mike Chapman explained that the size and scope of season 10, and specifically the way it makes changes to the game's foundation, is the reason for the delay.

"As you look on Sea of Thieves, we obviously have features that speak to the variety of the sandbox, which, although challenging in their own ways, are generally easier to scope and predict how long they're going to take and land at quality," Chapman said. "Whereas something like season 10, it really speaks to those foundational systems that expand the way that you can play on Sea of Thieves and give you new ways to enjoy the content in the game."

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Interestingly, this means season 11's headlining feature, which has yet to be revealed, will now be bundled into season 10, making it even bigger than originally planned. Rare says season 11's defining feature will now arrive at some point in "the second month of season 10," meaning we're getting two new core additions in as many months.

"So we're hopeful that while things may feel a little slow at the moment, we'll be barreling into the last few months of the year with lots of momentum, giving players the sense of a world re-energised by a packed Season 10 schedule including multiple feature releases, events and experiences," reads an update from head of community Christina McGrath.

Despite what sounds like a feature-rich season 10, Rare says it has noticed "a little bit of discontent" in the Sea of Thieves community, seemingly referring to a growing sentiment that there simply isn't enough content being introduced at a regular enough pace to keep everyone satisfied.

There's a good chance season 10 will go a long way in alleviating some of those concerns, and Rare also says it'll be working on addressing feedback regarding the prevalence of cheaters and hit registration issue in updates coming this year.

Here's hoping season 10 is more exciting than Sea of Thieves' first Monkey Island update, which I found shockingly dull.

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.