The team at Rare treated Sea of Thieves players to an announcement trailer for the next expansion to the pirate title at X018. The Arena will be the fifth free update in the first year of Sea of Thieves, finally putting a focus on player versus player combat. The Arena is coming to the Xbox One and Widows in early 2019. During its initial beta launch, Sea of Thieves saw a huge boost in players due to the novelty of the game and the backings of a famous studio in Rare. However, after only a few days of playing many of the gamers were turned off by the repetitive nature of the title, a lack of tangible progressions, and the bare-bones open world. With its official release at $60 USD, many found little reason to return to the high seas. Since then, however, Sea of Thieves has continually kept its promise of new and free content. Check out the announcement trailer below:

The Arena will match up crews against one another in a fast paced, competitive mode that will test to see how well crews really work together. However, it’s not a typical player versus player, team deathmatch mode. Each crew will not only have to fend off the opposing team, but will also have to use their skills of uncovering to locate the treasures around them. Whichever crew finds the most treasure will be victorious. This will not doubt add some tug-of-war feeling scenarios with a fresh new competitive mode that will test multiple crews’ sea and land combat at once.

The new expansion is bringing more than just a new game mode to its pirates. The Arena includes a new social space tavern area. Another Trading Company will also be introduced with the Sea Dogs. This faction will offer more goals and rewards for a crew’s exploration and its treasures. The Sea Dog’s company will offer players another avenue to achieve the coveted and grinding title of Pirate Legend.

Sea of Thieves is available for the Xbox One and PC.